Meat eaters. Would you?

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Orfy
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Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Orfy »

Would you eat meat that has been grown in a lab?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_meat

Is it any worse/better than eating low welfare animal meat?
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Totally Scrambled »

There would be no welfare issues as there would never have been an animal involved bar the initial cells needed to start the process.
If it became the norm then it would mean there would be no need to raise food animals which would lead to a great reduction/extinction of many of the breeds. Balanced against that, fewer cows means less methane means less greenhouse gasses. Also potentially less forest clearence for animal grazing. It could be a benefit.
Not sure I would eat it out of choice unless I was sure it was safe, plus I'm a bit of a stick in the mud but if there was no choice, I guess I would eat it.
It raises a lot of side issues that would have to be thought about though.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by wendy »

I haven'y looked at the link. But as I avoid GM food...no.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by lancashire lass »

wendy wrote:I haven'y looked at the link. But as I avoid GM food...no.


the link is a well known online encyclopedia of information and is not biased if that is the reason for not looking. Culture/in vitro meat is not GM - there is no manipulation of the DNA. It is a bit like a test tube baby - take some original animal cells and grow them in a culture media which provides all the nutrients for growth. In the medical profession, this is a method of growing a patient's own skin cells for grafting so no risk of rejection from donor cells.

But back to the "would you". Well, we already eat "manufactured" foodstuffs such as quorn, spread (margerine) etc, so I could see how a meat product would be the next on the line.

Meat contains valuable proteins which culturing will provide quite easily, but to enjoy it, cooking usually adds flavour from the fats and sugars present in flesh which I imagine cultured meat would not have. Also, texture would play a part too - somehow a processed frankfurter doesn't give the same pleasure as say a farmer's sausage. And let's not forget that what the animal eats can also leave a subtle flavour - or it's psychological and all been in the advertising to suggest animals fed on certain "natural" foods make the meat taste better.

Would I eat it - maybe not, but who knows ... if it became a viable method of food production, it might get added to real meat in processed foods to bulk it up as a cheaper alternative and no-one might be aware of it anyway.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by wendy »

That wasn't the reason, I just wasn't greatly interested.
I do not eat quorn or anything else that is vegetarian and made to look and taste like meat :? .
It would still be no, as I don't think our food should be messed about with. But I suppose with the hunger in the World they need to think of other ways. But this seems it would be expensive.
Better to make better use of the land we have, maybe. ?
On the fence really, but as said I wouldn't eat it.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Stig »

Yeuch, absolutely no way - sounds nasty!
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Steve the Gas »

If it was meat, even " grown" I would taste it. If it was nice I would eat it.

I will not eat pseudo meat though.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by manda »

I really don't know Orfy...I like to think if it were possible I wouldn't discount it. Would it have those subtle taste differences ..time will tell. It's certainly going to be something to watch for the future....would I eat it now - No.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by ChrisG »

As a personal response, no I weouldnt eat it. I like my food natural and unaduterated, not grownin a lab or genetically modified. We have no idea of the long term effects of such tampering on those who ingest these foods. So no, I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

However, there is one way in which i would encourage it to some extent - if it went anywhere towards alleviating hunger and starvation, then it could be a good thing - in the short term.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by SpeckledEggs »

lancashire lass wrote:Meat contains valuable proteins which culturing will provide quite easily, but to enjoy it, cooking usually adds flavour from the fats and sugars present in flesh which I imagine cultured meat would not have. Also, texture would play a part too .


Someone said the latest chicken processing method involves grinding up the whole carcass then soaking in chlorine to remove nasties, washing thoroughly then adding suitable flavour and colour before selling as "chicken nuggets" etc. So I suppose given a straight choice between that and lab grown chicken .......... Yes I definitely would ..........turn vegetarian .santa.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by ChrisG »

Chicken nuggets? Wouldnt touch them with a barge pole. Or processed sausages either - buy mine from a butcher who makes them on the premises from real meat (not 'mechanically recovered' sludge). Not happy eating meat that has been doctored with antibiotics either!
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Stig
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Stig »

Do we even know what dr-ugs are given to animals we eat? (Or, vegetarians, milk & cheese etc?) I'm not sure it's possible to get "pure" food any more - even wild plants, animals and fish exist in our heavily modified ecosystem.

Even so I'd still rather eat something designed by Nature than something out of a lab though.

Agree with exactly what RuthG said about alleviating hunger and starvation. That would be different, a last resort maybe. However I don't think hunger & starvation are caused by shortage of food, globally, but disparity of wealth. There should be enough food for everyone, if feeding everyone was our objective.
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Steve the Gas »

But that raises many more issues like sustainability, space, knowledge, ecology impact etc etc. :?
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Orfy »

It's not a simple question to answer is it?
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Re: Meat eaters. Would you?

Post by Cranford Steve »

I personally don't have a problem with GM foods, so wouldn't have a problem eating "grown lab meat". If it has been grown then it hasn't been through a grinder or on the floor of the slaughter house. I don't think you can be 100% sure where your meat is from unless your reared it and slaughtered it yourself.

I do believe that something has to be done to combat the shortage of food in the world, but I don't know what. You can manufacture meat in a lab, but if it gets popular then the price goes up and then the poorer countries are priced out of the market and you are back to square one. Wish I knew all the answers, but I dont. :?
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