Cultured meat - Pros and Cons?

Plaffelvohfen

It's fascinating though... I don't know, I guess that for me, taste will be a deal maker or breaker... I hope it's successful, the environmental cost of the actual system is really heavy and it could be a good solution. But it's probably not economically viable on a large scale atm, we'll see.  

AmericanFurryBoy

I mean, as long as it tastes and looks the same its fine for me

MayCaesar

This makes sense to me, as in the nearest future cultured meat can become economically more efficient than the one received from livestock after years of maintenance. At the same time, I would expect more focus to be given to synthetic shakes such as soylent, which are easy to produce and contain exactly the elements humans need, removing the necessity to worry about a proper diet, or meticulously pick dozens different food items in grocery stores.

CheckerbordStrangler

@ZeusAres42
--Are you referring to "lab grown meat"? 
I am assuming that's what you are talking about, hope I didn't make a mistake

Oppolzer

As some have already mentioned, if we can get the cost down to the current price of meat, then cultured meat would be an excellent benefit. Cultured meat has immense advantages over farm-raised meat, in the sense that there's a lower chance of contamination, no necessity for antibiotics or steroids, and most of all, no suffering pertaining to the animal.

CYDdharta

It seems like a lot of people who are against GMOs are for cultured meats, it seems oddly inconsistent.

MayCaesar

@CYDdharta

I have not noticed this trend, although it would not surprise me. A lot of animal activists would support cultured meats while believing them to be inferior, but justifying it by the need to reduce the amount of animal suffering. On the other hand, GMOs do not really reduce anyone's suffering by themselves, and the argument that GMOs would feed billions of people is more indirect and will not necessarily be accepted by everyone.

There is also the fact that some people simply oppose established corporations. Corporations grow GMOs, and corporations keep farms with billions animals on them. But, say, organic food at this point is much more marginal and is mostly grown on small local farms, and cultured meat is, well, still mostly a prototype.
Anti-corporate or anti-globalist people are quite likely to oppose GMOs based simply on the fact that they require large companies to be produced, and to support cultured meats because in the nearest future they are likely to be developed by small labs and start-ups. 

Not saying that I see any of these positions as very reasonable, but they are consistent in certain ways.

ZeusAres42

CheckerbordStrangler said:

@ZeusAres42
--Are you referring to "lab grown meat"? 
I am assuming that's what you are talking about, hope I didn't make a mistake

Yes, that is correct.

CheckerbordStrangler

ZeusAres42 said:

CheckerbordStrangler said:

@ZeusAres42
--Are you referring to "lab grown meat"? 
I am assuming that's what you are talking about, hope I didn't make a mistake

Yes, that is correct.

We've been moving in the direction of lab grown, or "cultured" meat for several generations at this point, what with all the processing already going on with standard meats.
At this point, it comes down to a cost/sustainability factor, and all that is left is for cultured meat to adapt to the economies of scale, and if you're the least bit familiar with the march of technology, that's a foregone conclusion and it's not a matter of "if" but rather "when".

Food suppliers would love nothing more than to cut out the suppliers and do it all in house. 

ZeusAres42

@CheckerbordStrangler

Do you have any thoughts about whether or not it is ethical? It seems to me to be more ethical than livestock, and a possible alternative to being a vegetarian.

CheckerbordStrangler

ZeusAres42 said:

@CheckerbordStrangler

Do you have any thoughts about whether or not it is ethical? It seems to me to be more ethical than livestock, and a possible alternative to being a vegetarian.

Personally I cannot see how growing meat in a factory lab setting can possibly be unethical. Whether it's actually safe or even nutritious is another matter entirely, one I expect would be subject to regulations and quality standards. But it is not possible to label such a thing as unethical.
What ethics are violated? (rhetorical question) 

As to a veggie alternative, that depends on the vegetarian because if they are veggie due to compassion for animals (never eat anything with a face) then they can certainly consume this product with no pangs of conscience. 
If on the other hand, they object to meat consumption altogether, this is still meat, so it gets a NO vote from those types anyway.

With almost eight billion population, I cannot see how livestock can continue to be sustainable anymore, not on a mass scale to feed that many anyway.

In the end it all boils down to quality and safety standards, and last but not least, price. Once those three conditions are met, it's probably the end of factory farmed beef cattle except maybe for the absolute wealthiest who want it as a delicacy.
Even so, by that point, lab meat might equal or even surpass in terms of taste and quality anyway.

If the ingredients used to grow such a product are the protein and mineral equivalent of what a meat animal consumes, then I wouldn't care that it was cultured in a lab. My palate, stomach and body won't know the difference.

CheckerbordStrangler

By the way, I've sampled two kinds of lab grown meat so far, both were actually excellent.