Partly because some of the attributes of meat we currently eat are the result of the physiological function of the body part we’re eating when it was part of a living animal - shoulder of lamb is different from neck is different from leg. Belly pork is different from ribs is different from trotters.
I’m sure some clever techniques are possible to approximate some of the factors affecting these variations, but unless we’re talking about vat-growing whole animals with non-sentient robot heads, it’s not going to be the same.
It would be the equivalent of vat grown tofurkey…which only tastes like real turkey to a vegan trying to delude him or herself into thinking it’s tasty.
The OPs question made me think of the salmon we had just last night, farm raised, color added, flavor gone.
Assuming the OPs soylent red is just as good as the real thing, people will still want to try the real thing, just to confirm. There will always be people who think one or the other is better. And the wealthy will still want real meat, because it will be rare and expensive.
Betting against technology has a poor track record. And, heck, fake hot dogs already are pretty decent.
Agreed, you can tell the difference. But they’re way ahead of where they were ten years ago. What will the next ten bring? I recently had a Thai dish made with “Mock Duck.” Okay, it wasn’t quite as good as real duck…but it was very good, and, frankly, if I hadn’t known, I wouldn’t have noticed.
(The amusing giveaway was that the pieces were in the same shape!)
Given all the other advantages listed above – environmental, etc. – and given that the price will be so much less than real meat – I see this as a big win for all concerned…except for meat farmers, of course. But, hey, tell it to the horseshoe makers…
Not to forget the convenience of being able to bulk buy it in 44 gallon drums, choc-coated and sugar frosted, with probably unlimited shelf life.
Personally, given the trenchant rejection of genetically modified “francken-food” I’m unconvinced the prospect of feeding your family Purina’s Meaty Chum is (or as for that matter) a starter.
I can imagine a future where live cows are geneticaly engineered to not even be aware of their surroundings or death for than matter. If it makes them burn less calories, improve taste and reduce production costs you can bet it will happen. Essentialy they would be like growing meat in a jar.
I don’t believe that genetically modified foods have, in fact, been trenchantly rejected by a meaningfully large part of the U.S. population, let alone the world’s population. A few people, usually terribly poorly educated, are trying to mount a scare campaign, but it isn’t really gaining traction.
Ranch cattle are already so close to brainless as to make little difference. They are (and I speak from some real experience) among the stupidest damn critters around (cheap joke at the expense of certain segments of the human population diplomatically omitted.) I actually do agree that the process could go further; as you say, they could be made even more oblivious. But as it is, they have less long-term memory than a goose, and worse survival skills than a turkey. They have been severely diminished by centuries of selective breeding for docility.
A lot of it I understand is just attempts by various companies to get laws passed restricting sales of their competitors’ products; which if successful just results in their equally genetically modified foods being sold instead of their competitor’s.
I think the real potential of vat-grown meat is when we can engineer the cells in it so that the meat
naturally forms the ideal ratio of carbs/protein/fats
naturally includes all the necessary trace minerals in their ideal ratios/amounts (this means the meat HAS to be grown in a mineral-rich nutrient solution, but that’s not that hard, seawater contains all the necessary minerals)
naturally has the perfect ratio of omega-3/omega-6, as well as saturated/mono-/polyunsaturated
Or, to put it more simply, it really would be a major game-changer to be able to grown a complete source of perfect nutrition in a vat.
My guess is that all you’d ultimately need would be a mineral-rich growing solution, the right temp/lighting/etc., and the starter cells. It would certainly be possible to genetically engineer your starter cells to take up the minerals and convert them to meat (or something that tastes like it, to be precise–I’m not sure if “meat” is the appropriate term for something THAT dissimilar from regular animal cells).
I’d certainly eat it, if it were shown to be safe, and if I experienced no noticeable health problems from eating it. I’m sure it would be delicious.
But your major game changer already exists; TVP has been around for nearly half a century.
It’s of comparable nutritional value, has benefits in processing, comes at a significant price advantage, and hasn’t exactly become an alternative other than in fast food staples such as fake hot dogs.
What niche is vat meat going to fill in comparison?
I agree with those who think that genetic engineering is the way of the future. If we can just engineer brain-dead cows, chickens and pigs, then the ‘problem of suffering’ (I don’t believe in it personally) is over and done with. This will be much easier than synthesizing meat from scratch, I think.
TVP is not comparable to meat in terms of digestibility. It’s not comparable to what I’m talking about, anyway. I’m talking about fundamentally altering the nature of meat’s DNA so that it can directly take raw minerals from seawater and transform them into every vitamin and macro-nutrient we need, in exactly the right ratios. That’s not remotely similar to tofurkey.
We’re supposedly stewards of the animals, so if we can find ways to no longer “need to kill them”, Iwould think that would be the ultimate in stewardship.
Of course there are dunderheads that think stewardship means subjugation.
How can you not believe in the ‘problem of suffering’? Have you never felt any distress or pain in your life?
As a consumer of “fake hot dogs,” I would say “fake hot dogs are easy because no one wants to taste what’s in real hot dogs.” This is even more true of breakfast sausages – fake ones can use the real spices that traditional sausages use, which overpower the bland scrap meat anyway, so the fakes taste very similar (although the texture can be somewhat different…but at least you don’t get gristle).
Tofurkey already is pretty good… but it’s not turkey, which is also pretty good. I think vegan/vegetarian chefs do themselves a disservice when they try too hard to make their food seem like meat.
I am actually rather fond of tofu and learned to make my own. I just happen to like the way it tends to suck in the flavors it is cooked with. I have tried tofu dogs, tofurkey, tofu based cold cuts and I would just rather have tofu as tofu, and not try to fake out meat. Though I did used to get little packets of seasoning that turned tofu into scrambled egg surrogate by mashing them together that was quite good.
Improvements in the plant based meat substitutes are probably closer to proffering a more alternative than lab grown meat. Not quite meat in a jar but a definite option.
The company Beyond Meat is producing a plant based chicken substitute that is comparable in price to chicken and was good enough to fool a food critic with regards to mouthfeel and texture that so many other meat substitutes fall down on. Currently distribution is quite limited as only Whole Foods markets in parts of Northern California are being supplied, and only for ready made food items for now. Production is expanding.
The company is ramping up production and expects to bring a ground beef substitute to market in the coming year.
While I thoroughly enjoy meat, I have no qualms about trying a product that is similarly priced and which offers a similar experience to eating real meat. All the better if it is better for my health and less environmentally damaging to produce.
