We've talked about GMOs, and the altering of genes in our food, and how this could help the world hunger problem, but what about Lab Grown MEAT!?? Check out this article!
There are a plethora of reasons as to why this advancement in biotechnology is an incredible discovery. Firstly, this would greatly aid the world hunger problem, in that as this technology grows, it will be able to produce meat much quicker and in larger quantities than would be possible by sending foreign aid to poverty stricken countries in the form of livestock. This will also provide a much more controllable source of food production, a blessing considering the rapidly growing world population. Lab grown meat is also hugely beneficial in the pursuit of sustainable living, as meat production is a hotbed of negative environmental impacts. This advancement also creates a more ethical alternative to meat harvested from living creatures, which would decrease the amount of inhumane slaughterhouses, and satisfy animal activists desires to refrain from the killing of animals for human consumption, while still offering meat product to those who wish to consume it. PETA is offering a 1 million dollar incentive prize to the first scientist who is able to produce in-vitro chicken meat that is cost effective to bring a market. Overall I think the issue of “lab grown meat” is an overwhelmingly positive one, and I am very interested to see how both this technology and the issues surrounding it progress. Below I have included a video of an exceptionally upbeat guy explaining all the benefits of lab grown meat for those who cannot be bothered with complex scientific jargon.
A while back, my Internet perusals lead me to coming across something, that at first, stunned me profusely, but as I continued to scroll down, began to weave its way into my subconscious as something less comparative to a sci-fi experiment gone awry, but more as a genuinely groundbreaking initiative. Thus began my research on this cultured meat phenomena, and intrigued by the idea, I posed the reality of it to my family. To my expectation, they were utterly repulsed by the notion, which got me thinking; why are we so off-put by the idea of our food being purely constructed in labs, but are willing to eat meat that has been so over processed it barely resembled meat at all? By the time a lot of our meat reaches the shelves of our local supermarket, or the take out trays at a favourite fast food restaurant, it has been passed through factories that are both devastatingly cruel to creatures they process, but can also pose major health threats to us humans. These corporate-run slaughterhouses can ensure that the burger you’re eating contains meat from hundreds of animals, and that it has been treated with copious amounts of ammonium in order to burn off the escherichia coli found on the mammals, due to a life thigh-deep in their own waste. Besides the corporate corruption, animal cruelty, and health risks that come with the global business surrounding meat production and distribution (which I will not go into detail with, for it is a lengthy venture) the world’s meat market plays a major role in ecological devastation. The greenhouse gasses emitted through the production of meat, as well as the land needed to be made available for the farming and raising of livestock in order to support a growing global population, causes a major cost on the world’s ecology, and still-sustaining habitats. A major example of this is the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, where in Brazil the main cause for the deforestation of its jungles is the opening up of land in order to farm cattle. The production of cattle, and the selling of this meat (to, most importantly, the United States fast food corporations) is one of the country’s major exports, and the reason behind the annihilation of some of the most unique habitats, and ecological systems, in the world. With all of these things weighted, it can be seen that maybe the meat we’ve been eating isn’t as wholesome as the media would like us to believe. All of these aspects still do not touch on the pressing issue of a growing population.
My personal opinion is that we have enough land, and resources, to sustain this growth, as long as some of us are able to adjust our lifestyles a little bit, but if chemically grown meat becomes an option why not utilize that innovative technology as well? If there is a way to produce a food source that can contain the same vitamins and proteins that come only with meat products, in a way that can become available to people who can not access the expensive reality that it is regularly, we have ourselves a vital solution! If we are going create the same life, and same earth for the generations following, we can not be tearing down vegetation, watching the increase in population filter into the poverty cycle, and eating meats controlled by corporations that make it impossible for farmers all over the world to compete on a global scale. We have to continue moving forward, and in doing so, continue to accept changes to some pretty heavily embedded ideas. Why not eat something that is entirely genetically grown? I’m also not saying that we need to run screaming whenever we see a cheeseburger, by all means, enjoy every second of that kids meal, but I am saying that in order to create a more sustainable, and productive future, we need to provide nutrients to people who can not get it on their own. We need to stop tearing down rainforests and feeding the boardrooms that control the entire food industry. We need to accept change, and move towards the common goal of a growing humanity, and maybe it’s just me, but I’d gladly take a hearty petri dish of cultured meat over a Big Mac any day.
Alright, let's be real though. For starters, I'm impressed that I've lived to see a world in which biological matter can be safely grown within the sterile confines of a laboratory rather than the filthy, primal outside world. Unlike many, who find this kind of genetic shenanigans to be a step too far for mankind, I rather welcome this kind of advancement, though I'm a little apprehensive of its implications. For one thing, being a supporter of animal rights, it's nice to know that there are ways to obtain suitable meat for consumption that doesn't require the death of an otherwise completely healthy animal, and hey, that'll shut those PETA people up too. Two birds with one stone, am I right?
Anyway, I'd imagine that being able to generate organic matter like this would be cheaper than buying, selling,keeping and feeding living animals such as cows or pigs, which is good for the food industry, but bad for the farming one. This is why I'm a little on the fence about this. Sure it'd be great if we could make this kind of meat production mainstream, but think how many people around the world make a living doing the exact same thing this technology is rendering obsolete. If this method really took off, I'd imagine it wouldn't be long before big companies like McDonalds began to buy the lab-meat, rather than the factory-meat to keeps costs down.
I do find this sort of "god-play" on the part of humans intriguing. If it's 2013 and we're growing hamburgers in a petri dish, what amazing technological wonders will 2025 hold, or 2100? The rate of human advancement fascinates and slightly worries me, and I'm anxious to see where our desire to progress takes us in the decades to come. In closing, I see many benefits for the creation and sale of lab-meat, but at the same time I foresee a slew of new problems and complications that will befall many industries when this technology leaves the laboratory.
I think this is a great idea, if improved on and adapted into a large scale organization, a meat growing farm could potentially aid the issue of world hunger. Although I am almost positive they are not at the stage of mass production, it may one day develop into something a lot bigger, after all, they had to start somewhere. If one were to harness capabilities that they have discovered, they would have simultaneously given animal rights activists a meat that they don't despise, and put a large dent in world hunger. With this meat not coming from an animal though, the question "Can vegans eat this stuff?" comes to mind.The definition of a vegan is "the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals." So again I would wonder, could a vegan eat lab grown meat? I think that as long as it has no affect on an animal, they should be able to partake, but I'm sure the real picky ones will find an excuse not to.
If it looks like meat, smells like meat, tastes like meat, and doesn't give me cancer, I'd say I'm alright with this.
ReplyDeleteIf it helps me pass this class, I'm alright with it
DeleteThere are a plethora of reasons as to why this advancement in biotechnology is an incredible discovery. Firstly, this would greatly aid the world hunger problem, in that as this technology grows, it will be able to produce meat much quicker and in larger quantities than would be possible by sending foreign aid to poverty stricken countries in the form of livestock. This will also provide a much more controllable source of food production, a blessing considering the rapidly growing world population. Lab grown meat is also hugely beneficial in the pursuit of sustainable living, as meat production is a hotbed of negative environmental impacts. This advancement also creates a more ethical alternative to meat harvested from living creatures, which would decrease the amount of inhumane slaughterhouses, and satisfy animal activists desires to refrain from the killing of animals for human consumption, while still offering meat product to those who wish to consume it. PETA is offering a 1 million dollar incentive prize to the first scientist who is able to produce in-vitro chicken meat that is cost effective to bring a market. Overall I think the issue of “lab grown meat” is an overwhelmingly positive one, and I am very interested to see how both this technology and the issues surrounding it progress. Below I have included a video of an exceptionally upbeat guy explaining all the benefits of lab grown meat for those who cannot be bothered with complex scientific jargon.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOfZtuKeTyM
A while back, my Internet perusals lead me to coming across something, that at first, stunned me profusely, but as I continued to scroll down, began to weave its way into my subconscious as something less comparative to a sci-fi experiment gone awry, but more as a genuinely groundbreaking initiative. Thus began my research on this cultured meat phenomena, and intrigued by the idea, I posed the reality of it to my family. To my expectation, they were utterly repulsed by the notion, which got me thinking; why are we so off-put by the idea of our food being purely constructed in labs, but are willing to eat meat that has been so over processed it barely resembled meat at all? By the time a lot of our meat reaches the shelves of our local supermarket, or the take out trays at a favourite fast food restaurant, it has been passed through factories that are both devastatingly cruel to creatures they process, but can also pose major health threats to us humans. These corporate-run slaughterhouses can ensure that the burger you’re eating contains meat from hundreds of animals, and that it has been treated with copious amounts of ammonium in order to burn off the escherichia coli found on the mammals, due to a life thigh-deep in their own waste. Besides the corporate corruption, animal cruelty, and health risks that come with the global business surrounding meat production and distribution (which I will not go into detail with, for it is a lengthy venture) the world’s meat market plays a major role in ecological devastation. The greenhouse gasses emitted through the production of meat, as well as the land needed to be made available for the farming and raising of livestock in order to support a growing global population, causes a major cost on the world’s ecology, and still-sustaining habitats. A major example of this is the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, where in Brazil the main cause for the deforestation of its jungles is the opening up of land in order to farm cattle. The production of cattle, and the selling of this meat (to, most importantly, the United States fast food corporations) is one of the country’s major exports, and the reason behind the annihilation of some of the most unique habitats, and ecological systems, in the world. With all of these things weighted, it can be seen that maybe the meat we’ve been eating isn’t as wholesome as the media would like us to believe. All of these aspects still do not touch on the pressing issue of a growing population.
ReplyDeleteMy personal opinion is that we have enough land, and resources, to sustain this growth, as long as some of us are able to adjust our lifestyles a little bit, but if chemically grown meat becomes an option why not utilize that innovative technology as well? If there is a way to produce a food source that can contain the same vitamins and proteins that come only with meat products, in a way that can become available to people who can not access the expensive reality that it is regularly, we have ourselves a vital solution! If we are going create the same life, and same earth for the generations following, we can not be tearing down vegetation, watching the increase in population filter into the poverty cycle, and eating meats controlled by corporations that make it impossible for farmers all over the world to compete on a global scale. We have to continue moving forward, and in doing so, continue to accept changes to some pretty heavily embedded ideas. Why not eat something that is entirely genetically grown? I’m also not saying that we need to run screaming whenever we see a cheeseburger, by all means, enjoy every second of that kids meal, but I am saying that in order to create a more sustainable, and productive future, we need to provide nutrients to people who can not get it on their own. We need to stop tearing down rainforests and feeding the boardrooms that control the entire food industry. We need to accept change, and move towards the common goal of a growing humanity, and maybe it’s just me, but I’d gladly take a hearty petri dish of cultured meat over a Big Mac any day.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteAlright, let's be real though. For starters, I'm impressed that I've lived to see a world in which biological matter can be safely grown within the sterile confines of a laboratory rather than the filthy, primal outside world. Unlike many, who find this kind of genetic shenanigans to be a step too far for mankind, I rather welcome this kind of advancement, though I'm a little apprehensive of its implications. For one thing, being a supporter of animal rights, it's nice to know that there are ways to obtain suitable meat for consumption that doesn't require the death of an otherwise completely healthy animal, and hey, that'll shut those PETA people up too. Two birds with one stone, am I right?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'd imagine that being able to generate organic matter like this would be cheaper than buying, selling,keeping and feeding living animals such as cows or pigs, which is good for the food industry, but bad for the farming one. This is why I'm a little on the fence about this. Sure it'd be great if we could make this kind of meat production mainstream, but think how many people around the world make a living doing the exact same thing this technology is rendering obsolete. If this method really took off, I'd imagine it wouldn't be long before big companies like McDonalds began to buy the lab-meat, rather than the factory-meat to keeps costs down.
I do find this sort of "god-play" on the part of humans intriguing. If it's 2013 and we're growing hamburgers in a petri dish, what amazing technological wonders will 2025 hold, or 2100? The rate of human advancement fascinates and slightly worries me, and I'm anxious to see where our desire to progress takes us in the decades to come. In closing, I see many benefits for the creation and sale of lab-meat, but at the same time I foresee a slew of new problems and complications that will befall many industries when this technology leaves the laboratory.
I think this is a great idea, if improved on and adapted into a large scale organization, a meat growing farm could potentially aid the issue of world hunger. Although I am almost positive they are not at the stage of mass production, it may one day develop into something a lot bigger, after all, they had to start somewhere. If one were to harness capabilities that they have discovered, they would have simultaneously given animal rights activists a meat that they don't despise, and put a large dent in world hunger. With this meat not coming from an animal though, the question "Can vegans eat this stuff?" comes to mind.The definition of a vegan is "the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals." So again I would wonder, could a vegan eat lab grown meat? I think that as long as it has no affect on an animal, they should be able to partake, but I'm sure the real picky ones will find an excuse not to.
ReplyDelete