# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/21 "2009-12-23T19:46:57Z")
After what happened with that chicken heart (grown in a vat of half blood, half sodium salicylate), I don’t know if it’s such a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/22 "2009-12-23T19:58:27Z")
Absolutely not. It’s disgusting. I only eat meat that comes from genetically modifed cows, packed into giant pens wallowing in their own manure, who are force fed genetically modified corn (which they are not evolutionarily designed to eat) laced with growth enhancing hormones and anti-biotics until they are three times the size they should be in nature and can’t even stand on their own. My meat is only handled by the finest workers from Mexico and Guatamalla who will kill, hose off, butcherize, pack and ship it 1,000 miles in standardized multi-modal containers. It is only once I see the identical shrink-wrapped packages sitting in my grocery store’s butcher section with the cute little cow and barn logos on it will I consider eating it. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/23 "2009-12-23T20:04:31Z")
If it looks like meat, tastes like meat, and is economical, I don’t give a damn where it came from! 😉 I voted “Yes” ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/24 "2009-12-23T20:05:50Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > 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. You can get vegetarian cheese - made with some non-animal substitude for rennet. Anyway, the point about rennet is that you have to kill the animal to get it. Vegetarians aren’t Vegans. I suppose you could do some surgical procedure to produce rennet, but that would run into other [(religious) dietary laws](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_foods#Dead_animals). The same argument MAY be made against vat-grown meat, depending on the technical details. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/25 "2009-12-23T20:09:46Z")
I wouldn’t because I’m a vegetarian whose reasons extend beyond not wanting to participate in cruelty to or killing of animals. Reasons like health and preference…I don’t eat meat because I don’t find it in any way appealing, quite the contrary. Even if I ate meat, (which I did until about 15 yrs ago) I can’t imagine any vat grown stuff would have the same quality with regard to texture, flavor, etc. so I’d probably still opt out. On the rennet/gelatin issue, I avoid them as well…mmmmm, Jello, congealed bones, hooves, and hide. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/26 "2009-12-23T20:16:12Z")
If it were considered kosher, and if it tasted decent, yes. I’m sure there’d be a great deal of debate over the kosher status of meat grown in vats. I could see the decision going either way. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/27 "2009-12-23T20:21:05Z")
Vegetarian here - I’m not sure even cruelty-free meat holds much appeal for me, really, though if it tasted good and if the “bugs” were worked out of the system I might well give it a try. After all, I do eat [Quorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn), which is a processed and flavored strain of a particular soil mold/fungus, so another differently-processed protein wouldn’t be too odd. (It’s pretty tasty, too!) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/28 "2009-12-23T20:27:37Z")
I can’t answer your poll as it is. I would certainly try such meat, but I would only eat it on a regular basis if I found it tasty and nutritious. So mark me down as a passive-aggressive “yes but…” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/29 "2009-12-23T20:37:19Z")
I eagerly await the day. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/30 "2009-12-23T21:08:43Z")
I should note that I am an avid meat eater now. I’m not really fond of the way that many animals are raised and butchered, but I do eat meat. The only meat that I don’t eat is veal, because that’s going too far even for me. I’m not an exclusive carnivore, and I keep my meat portions relatively small…but I regard a dinner without meat as incomplete. I usually eat vegetarian breakfasts and lunches and snacks, but I want meat at least once a day. In my book, poultry counts as meat. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/31 "2009-12-23T21:34:04Z")
As long as taste, texture, nutritional value and cooking performance were equivalent. I’d still want to be able to grill, smoke, fry, roast, etc Frankly I can’t imagine the vat grown tissue having the same muscular texture. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/32 "2009-12-23T21:49:43Z")
As long as its raw, hot, and bloody, I’ll eat it. Or maybe I wouldn’t. But I probably would; I’ve eaten worse. ---
**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, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/33 "2009-12-23T21:55:43Z")
I think for sausages and hamburgers, even pork chops and such I wouldn’t mind synthetic meat, but if I’m going for a steak dinner I would want real cow unless the vat stuff is literally 100% identical. It definitely doesn’t gross me out. When it comes right down to it “this was grown in a vat” isn’t nearly as gross as “we carved this out of a cow’s ass”. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/34 "2009-12-23T22:17:30Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > As long as its raw, hot, and bloody, I’ll eat it. Or maybe I wouldn’t. But I probably would; I’ve eaten worse. As someone who grew up eating my mother’s cooking, I would say “I’ve eaten worse” is far from a hearty endorsement!😉 If the vat grown meat, at its best, turned out marginally better than what my mother did to ‘farm-grown’ meat, I’d still have to have second thoughts! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/35 "2009-12-23T22:27:09Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > If it were considered kosher, and if it tasted decent, yes. > > I’m sure there’d be a great deal of debate over the kosher status of meat grown in vats. I could see the decision going either way. That becomes an interesting thought experiment. If Porq isn’t really porcine, us it kosher? Likewise, would Indians have a problem with Beeph? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/36 "2009-12-23T22:31:04Z")
It’s at this point I’d like to point out that Beeph and Porq will be trademarked poste haste. 🙂 Porq™, it’s what’s for mid-afternoon snax! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/37 "2009-12-23T22:32:27Z")
If nutritionally and tastewise acceptable, I’d have no more objection to synthmeat that is artificially grown protein that chemically and physically simulates animal tissue, than I do to soyburgers. Heck, have the preparers be honest and tell me: _No, JR, this is NOT even remotely going to resemble real BBQ pulled pork or a prime NY strip or free range chicken, it’s going to remind you of the “mystery meat” at the school lunchroom or in the Army field rations_. Level with me and I’ll have no objection, if that’s what’s served. But better have some hot sauce and beer to help wash it down in that case. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/38 "2009-12-23T22:38:21Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > As someone who grew up eating my mother’s cooking, I would say “I’ve eaten worse” is far from a hearty endorsement!😉 > > If the vat grown meat, at its best, turned out marginally better than what my mother did to ‘farm-grown’ meat, I’d still have to have second thoughts! 😃 If my Mommy was still alive and cooking for me, I wouldn’t eat anything else; it’s just since I left home that I’ve eaten worse, mainly my own cooking. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/39 "2009-12-23T22:42:08Z")
> [@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 worked briefly at a potato chip factory, and what could be more harmless and friendly than a potato chip? But, after 8 hours ankle deep in potato peel slime, a bag of Lay’s will be the last thing you want for awhile. Anyway, I’ve been hearing stories about how I’d never eat hotdogs if I knew the real deal since I was old enough to eat hotdogs. I still eat them. I’d eat bugs if they came in hotdogs or burgers. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327/40 "2009-12-24T00:16:33Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > If my Mommy was still alive and cooking for me, I wouldn’t eat anything else; it’s just since I left home that I’ve eaten worse, mainly my own cooking. Well, it makes me happy that your Mom could cook. 🙂 After starting a family, one of my major goals in life was to learn _basic cooking techniques_. Which did _not_ include: cooking meat to the consistency of shoe leather, or cooking veggies until they were “good and dead”! (When my mother drained her broccoli, the water she poured off of it was ‘Irish green’ :eek: ) I actually grew up thinking I _did not_ like veggies, only to discover that I really only dislike them when they are hideously over-cooked! Meat, OTOH (to get back to the OP somewhat. . .) can be cooked almost indefinitely, especially if it’s in the Crock Pot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-we-had-the-technology-to-grow-meat-in-vats-would-you-eat-it/522327.md?page=3)