"Can I have fries to go with it"
skylight
Posts: 1,915
The first "synthetic" burger is to be eaten today at a restaurant, it's not cheap, will it taste ok? They say that in 10-20 years time it could replace conventional sources of meat.
It would mean less bovines needed to be bred and fed, more agricultural land and cereal available for human consumption rather than animal feed too.
Meat made in a lab, doesn't grab the tastebuds so easily and I can't help thinking about "Soylent Green" but if it becomes economically and edibly viable then a lot of vegetarians will be pleased as it will cut the amount of animals slaughtered.
Wonder if McDonalds are taking an interest?
It would mean less bovines needed to be bred and fed, more agricultural land and cereal available for human consumption rather than animal feed too.
Meat made in a lab, doesn't grab the tastebuds so easily and I can't help thinking about "Soylent Green" but if it becomes economically and edibly viable then a lot of vegetarians will be pleased as it will cut the amount of animals slaughtered.
Wonder if McDonalds are taking an interest?
Comments
I can't imagine the energy balance works out. Currently we have:
1) Fields full of grass grow using the sun as their enery source.
2) Cows eat the grass thus getting the energy they require to become juicy steaks.
3) We eat the cows.
Now, if we are growing meat in a factory and we have turned all the land over to growing plants for biofules for cars (seems to be a growing idea recently) then where is the energy going to come from?.
Vegetarians who refuse to eat meat because it requires killing animals have not really thought the thing through.
Consider:
1) Most large animals that are not farmed or domesticated are on the verge of becomming extinct due to the growth of the human race. Many of them already have.
2) The ones that are thriving in huge numbers are exactly the ones we eat. cows, sheep, pigs etc.
I conclude that if all humans suddenly adopted that vegetarian stance and meat consumption ceased it would be a very short time before cows, pigs, sheep etc joined the endangered spieces list.
Conclusion: If you want to save animals, eat them!
Having said that, I would like to see our food animals living in much better conditions. We should have respect for them and they should have happier lives. Besides it makes for a better meal in the end.
Humans have domesticated themselves to expect processed foods, including meat. We look at a steak and say, "that looks tasty!" We don't look at a cow and say "that looks tasty!"
Most folks I know are disgusted to be reminded that meat came from a real animal, and prefer not to be reminded of that small fact.
Taste will evolve as production improves and cost goes down. When we work out how to take sunlight and directly generate plant material, and turn that directly into animal material, then we can have long term space travel. Maybe.
I couldn't agree more.
As long as it is wrapped in styrofoam and clear plastic and bought, not hunted, we'll eat it!!! Throw it on the grill with some barbeque sauce and "them's good eats!"
How on earth can that be good for anyone? Not to mention the unavoidable Darwinian resistance buildup and the whole thing degrading into a completely unsustainable mess.
-Tor
All this brillig food talk has my tummy howling for some sun-dried slithy toves!
Animals require a lot of food to produce their meat. For every pound of animal protein grown, requires something like ten pounds of plant protein. I'd hope the artificial meat could be produced more efficiently than the natural stuff.
I look forward to planting something which produces a "fruit" the size of a large zucchini but instead of zucchini inside it's filet mignon. I'm not sure why space travellers would need meat though.
I've heard several arguments to suggest the kind way to eat meat is to only eat meat killed in a hunt. This allows the animals to live normal lives while they are alive. Or as heater put it.
Wouldn't the animal prefer to roaming in the wild than be penned in?
I don't see the "obviously" part. Plus I'd think it wouldn't be too hard to grow the meat in sterile conditions. Lots of foods require sterile conditions during their production. Couldn't the immune system be included in the lab grown meat (though I admit this would present problems). It would probably be easier just to keep the whole thing steril.
Sterile conditions on an industrial scale, with no antibiotics? Call me sceptical. Besides, the only reason antibiotics and low-germ conditions work in the first place is because there's an immune system there too: Antibiotics and other germ killers work as when you use a shovel to remove sand from a floor. Their job is to remove enough of the sand so that itttle ants (the immune system) can remove the remaining grains one by one, without getting overwhelmed. That's important because these 'grains' proliferate. You need to get rid of every one of them.
Nature invented a perfect way of growing meat: In the form of animals.
-Tor
For the record, I added the strikeout to my post above before seeing post #10.
Nature also provides a nice sun for light. I still like my light bulbs.
I contend (hopefully in a non-contentious way) animals are relatively inefficient at producing animal protein since they use their energy in lots of other ways beside just growing meat. I'm still hoping for my filet mignon zucchinis.
1) Most higher animals do not like live in their own poo. Ever checked out the behavior of rabits, pigs, cats, dogs, etc The modern day cow is a bit careless but like the sheep he is a brainless derivative of his wild ancestors for whom running around in huge areas meant being carefull with poo less important.
2) As for parasites, did you know that 90% of the cells in your body are not human? We, perhaps, do not. I do. Really. Do tell me, when you are in deep space, where is this sunlight going to come from to power all this?
Maybe you should check THIS out...
They don't even get grass either, they are fed corn to fatten 'em up quicker. At slaughter time, many of the cows cannot even walk.
This is why I like to fill my freezer with Venison that I personally harvest.
Regards,
Mickster
Why have you linked us to a Netflix sign up page?
I presume this is about cows. Did I mention above that the modern farmyard cow is a totally man made animal. Bred over millennia to maximize milk and meat. It is only a sick inbred descendent of it's fine ancestors.
Oops, really? For me it's a link to the documentary "Food Inc.". I figured the Netflix thing would be a convenient way to see it.
Yes it's about factory farming. Your statement may well be the case but what is not the case is your apparent belief that cows grow fat, happily chomping on green grass in sunny pastures.
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/they-eat-what-the-reality-of.html
Regards,
Mickster
I believe no such thing.
I don't know about "fat" but I grew up in a world were cows were exactly "happily chomping on green grass in sunny pastures" (Well, it was sunny in the summer sometimes in England)
I'm very aware that in the modern world this has all gone horribly wrong.
I call bull-doo on this. Who the hell would order the lower portion of a calf's legs??? A more reasonable explanation is that this calf was born with a deformity of the legs and a research veterinarian surgically attached those prosthetics. BTW, I grew up on a farm so raising and slaughtering livestock is something I am familiar with.
http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx?id=2439
The calf lost the legs to frostbite.
You should be ashamed of yourself. Either:
1) You are telling that lie deliberately.
2) You believed the lie that you heard from elsewhere without thinking.
3) It's some kind of sick joke.
As for connecting the McDonalds logo there. I'm not sure I get the idea. Whilst I might loath McDonalds with a passion I'm sure this is just some trumped up anti-McDonalds propaganda that I cannot condone.
P.S. If McD served up cows feet in their restaurants that might be improvement.
Got it.
-Tor
Let's everyone play nice, and not have this thread go too sideways.
Perhaps I was too hard. On the other end of the intertubes it's often hard to fathom the original intent of the message.
@Tor,
Yes "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe", Millyways that is, where the genetically engineered pig like thing on the menu was intelligent, self aware, conscious and could speak. Engineered such that it's prime motivation in life was for you to enjoy eating it. In fact it wold be deeply offended if you refused.
Thus creating a moral dilemma for those vegetarians who profess to not eat meat on moral grounds.
My apologies. I should have been more sensitive and done my research more carefully. Had I done a better job of googling things, I probably would have stumbled over Boston Dynamik's latest attempt to develop lab-grown meat manufacture while still satisfying the "free range" labeling requirements.
Cool. Robocow !
sigh....i think i will go and code something...
You do that. That's exactly what the "economic aristocrats at the top of the plutocratic food chain" want you to do. Don't make a fuss.
You know, depending on what you snack while you code (and other environmental conditions), you could market your code as "organic"......now, there's a money maker in some demographic groups!!
lyrics can be found here:
http://www.willerup.com/tull/lyrics/a.html