Randomly came across this article last night and it made me wonder: could this spell the end of vegetarianism? Obviously this stuff is still in the experimental stage, but if it were to become a viable, marketable product, would vegetarianism be obliterated?
I suppose it would depend on one’s reasons for being a veggie. Would those who are vegetarian because of animal-rights issues be satisfied with this alternative to slaughter? The article mentions that even PETA wouldn’t have an issue. How many people are vegetarian strictly for health reasons, or just don’t like the taste of meat, but don’t care about the animal rights aspect?
My parents don’t eat meat due to religious reasoning. They’ve grown up that way culturally steeped in the concept that animal flesh itself is what you want to avoid, and that is still meat right there. I don’t see synthetically grown meat really changing that view point for most religious people at least, so Vegetarianism will still live on.
But you might be right on the other end of the spectrum-
It might convince a few more lax vegetarians, but even then I’d see that as a “I won’t stop being a vegetarian until all the animals are saved!” sort of Peta extremist views. I’d see though as more likely you’ll get people who eat it, but will still adamantly point out they’re a vegetarian in all other senses of the word, or you’ll simply still have people who are squicked out by the idea of eating something’s flesh, no matter where the place it comes from.
I’d say it depends on the cost too of the synthMeat vs. real Meat and the taste too slightly.
It’s grown by feeding a broth made from animal fetus’ and you think that’s going to be fine with vegetarians? I’m a major carnivor myself and even I think that is icky.
Yeah, that’s definitely not “animal friendly.” I get that the intent is to take one little sample from a pig and use that to indefinitely culture pork to feed millions, but… so far all they’ve managed to do is use a fairly gross method of making “soggy pork” that doesn’t even have texture.
As a vegetarian who usually doesn’t mind “meat-like” food I do eat some odd-sounding stuff occasionally, like mycoprotein, but this isn’t exactly ready for prime time.
Clearly it’s still in the rudimentary stages of research, but it certainly has potential. If successful, is it really all that different from meat substitutes that are specifically made to look and taste like meat? Why not just eat tofu or yams or gluten or whatever fake meat is made from without trying to make it look and taste like meat? So what if it’s grown in a lab? Mushrooms grow in garbage and shit.
While I believe the term “animal rights” is an oxymoron, I certainly dont want animals to needlessy suffer, but that is not a significant aspect of my not eating meat—For example I have no problem with wearing a pair of leather shoes, or looking at pictures of Mary-Louise Parker toying with a leather riding crop…
Even if this required no animal products at all, and tasted and felt perfectly like meat, there would still be vegetarians who just like eating veggies and don’t like meat. OR do it for ritualistic reasons.
Plus, even if you did eat it, would you actually stop being a vegetarian? To some, meat is only meat if it comes from a live animal.
I remember this being used as a defense on Star Trek, where one of the people was a vegetarian, but wound up eating a bologna sandwich. Fans argued that, in the future, bologna was not considered meat because no products from living animals were in it.
I think the first product they should make is a soup base. That way texture isn’t an issue. It could be used for flavor as well. As a stand alone solid product, it’s got a long way to go.
I think it’s the biggest advance in animal rights in human history, and potentially even more important in terms of developing sustainable food sources. I don’t think it will eliminate vegetarianism entirely, or even much more than half, though.
They mentioned that point in the article - they’re working on a synthetic nutrient broth.
I don’t think vat-grown meat will end vegetarianism, but I am looking forward to the day when an omnivore like me can eat all the meat I want with no concerns about animal conditions (or bone chips to break my teeth).
I originally became a vegetarian for animal rights reasons but, 25 years later, I don’t particularly care about that; I just find meat revolting. And given the choice between a non-vegan option and an equally-good vegan option, I’ll take the latter because I find that I feel crappy (literally and figuratively) after too much dairy. If advances are being made that allow people who wish to consume animal products to do so without the cruelty aspect, I think that’s objectively a good thing and I wholeheartedly endorse it. But it’s not going to change my own eating habits.
There will remain many reasons for people to be vegetarian, as mentioned above, but in addition to those, many people today are choosing to eat fewer artificial, processed, or hormone-filled foods. I predict that many people will react to this meat the same way.
I’m veg, and I really can’t imagine a scenario where I would rather it the frankin-food described in the OP rather than a nice plate of grilled veggies. Well, barring straight out starvation, but I suspect many people widen their definition of acceptable food products when they’re starving so that doesn’t really count.
I really hate the term “frankin-food.” Genetically-modified food is in common use already, and will become an even larger player as we need to develop foods that grow under challenging conditions as the earth and population changes.
