# If we had the technology to grow meat in vats, would you eat it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327 "2009-12-23T15:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/1 "2009-12-23T15:49:03Z")
It seems that everyone I know in person thinks that the concept of vat grown meat is disgusting. I find it hard to believe that killing a living animal is less disgusting than not doing so. So, here’s a poll. If the technology was available, would you eat vat grown meat? ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/2 "2009-12-23T15:53:53Z")
Whadda ya mean “if”? > **[The Times & The Sunday Times](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/)** > > News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/3 "2009-12-23T15:54:13Z")
Yes, if it was as good as the natural version. Or meat grown on some genetically engineered “meat plant” for that matter. I like the taste of meat, and eating it makes me feel better; but I don’t really like killing animals to get it, and it’s ecologically expensive. I’d really prefer some more efficient method of getting it. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/4 "2009-12-23T15:55:09Z")
I used to work in a hot-dog making plant. I’ve \*seen \*vats full of meat. I don’t care where it comes from, you get a load of a giant cauldron of pink goo that used to be meat, and you’ll never eat another hot-dog. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/5 "2009-12-23T15:55:22Z")
Yep. What’s the downside? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/6 "2009-12-23T16:00:43Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I used to work in a hot-dog making plant. I’ve \*seen \*vats full of meat. I don’t care where it comes from, you get a load of a giant cauldron of pink goo that used to be meat, and you’ll never eat another hot-dog. Well, I consider that a pretty normal thing about food. Think too much about where it comes from, and you’ll lose your appetite ( at least in a society as fastidious as ours ). Plants in the field with bugs and dirt and manure and pesticides isn’t very appealing either to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/7 "2009-12-23T16:17:01Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Whadda ya mean “if”? > [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6936352.ece) > [@](#): > > the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat in as little as five years’ time. So this is coming along but it certainly isn’t right around the corner. I’ve been a vegetarian for a while. I wouldn’t eat this stuff because I don’t have the desire to eat meat. I do think this sounds gross, but from a veggie ethics standpoint this would be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/8 "2009-12-23T16:20:39Z")
Yes IF taste, texture, nutrition content etc didn’t give me a reason not to. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/9 "2009-12-23T17:17:48Z")
For some reason this thread makes me think of [post=7288287]this post[/post]. I’d probably eat vat-grown meat, if it seems appetizing enough, but probably not vat-grown _human_ meat. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/10 "2009-12-23T17:25:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I do think this sounds gross, but from a veggie ethics standpoint this would be a good idea. The majority of veggies I know refuse to eat regular yogurt because of the rennet that’s used to make the culture thrive. Yet (to my understanding) that rennet may have originally come from a cow’s stomach many years ago and just been cultured. So for those people, I’m sure this would be a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/11 "2009-12-23T17:29:50Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > For some reason this thread makes me think of [post=7288287]this post[/post]. I thought you were going to link to a **Sentient Meat** post. > [@jjimm](#): > > The majority of veggies I know refuse to eat regular yogurt because of the rennet that’s used to make the culture thrive. Yet (to my understanding) that rennet may have originally come from a cow’s stomach many years ago and just been cultured. So for those people, I’m sure this would be a no-no. Are these people vegetarians or vegans? I’ve never known a vegetarian who wouldn’t eat yogurt, but I expect vegans avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/12 "2009-12-23T17:40:07Z")
I don’t know, how would it taste? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/13 "2009-12-23T17:43:34Z")
If it tasted like meat, I would eat it. But I _wish_ they would find a better way to describe it. Every time I hear about meat in vats, I have this mental image of scientists growing _tumors_ in a lab somewhere, and you know, yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/14 "2009-12-23T17:54:05Z")
Assuming it can be produced economically in large quantities, it will be one of the ten greatest technological advances in history. Hope it tastes good, though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/15 "2009-12-23T18:17:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Are these people vegetarians or vegans? I’ve never known a vegetarian who wouldn’t eat yogurt, but I expect vegans avoid it. Vegetarians. However, on review it seems that I misremembered and meant [cheese](http://www.vegsoc.org/info/stumbling.html) not yogurt. The objection to yogurt is that it _sometimes_ contains gelatin. So substitute “cheese” for “yogurt” in my post above and it will make sense - and the point stands. Vegetarians who won’t eat rennet-made cheese would almost certainly not eat vat-grown meat. (Would the meat have to be stimulated to bolster the muscle fiber, I wonder. Maybe by putting an electrical charge across it. Can you imagine it throbbing…) ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/16 "2009-12-23T19:07:11Z")
Couldn’t say yes or no - too many variables as has been pointed out above. Vat-grown animal protein slurry doesn’t sound too good but as a rather tasteless base for balogna or sausage who could tell? A sliced chunk presented as a “roast” would probably be pretty awful, although not too much worse than some of the watery insipid factory-farmed meat you can currently buy at your grocers. So assuming there was no nutrtional reason to avoid it (excessive salt, preservatives, sugars), sure I’d eat it within limits. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/17 "2009-12-23T19:18:34Z")
Could this stuff be made remotely healthy at all? Today, processed meats have so much salt and chemicals in them you’d probably be better off as a vegetarian than eating that stuff all the time. So vat-grown sausage might be more ethical, but it doesn’t sound very good for you. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/18 "2009-12-23T19:23:13Z")
I voted “yes” since: – Either it will really taste like something we call “meat,” in which case who care? And possibly who know?! – Or it won’t, in which case the question of eating vat grown **meat** would be moot… And I’d either eat whatever it was they grew in those vats if it tasted good (even if it isn’t meat) or, if it didn’t. I wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/19 "2009-12-23T19:25:21Z")
I voted yes. I don’t think I would seek it out, or be one of the first people to try it in its experimental phase, and I might not eagerly dive into a huge slab of vat loaf, but if it had been on the market a while and someone offered me a vat-meat hors d’ouevres, I might have a nibble. ---
**Author:** ![Redwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@Redwing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redwing)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/20 "2009-12-23T19:30:07Z")
Mmmm. Meat. Vat grown, industrially farmed, free range, shot, trapped, hit by a car, if it’s not spoiled it’s still meat. Gimme. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327.md?page=2)