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World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

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Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#131

Post by akoncius »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #42

I always wonder about the morality questions. This is like a lab experiment for subjective morality. For the sake of the experiment, let's assume the sci-fi writers are right, and eating animals will eventually be considered immoral. This is an extreme stance at the moment (hello PETA) but let's assume it will eventually be accepted as the only moral stance. How long will it be between the introduction of lab-grown m…

> Will we get to the point where statues of now-famous people are pulled down because they ate animals?

Could you tell me any case where statue of famous people were pulled down because they used cotton products made by slaves?

eating meat is not equal to agitating for keeping slavery. so I think meat eaters are safe :)

on the other hand, hardcore people who insist on killing animals without consideration for alternatives could be condemned later after 50 years or something, but I think it's fine. bigger problem is when people keep insisting on immoral things without consideration of alternatives.

overall it's really interesting to see such a big focus on "cancel culture" in this comment.

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#132

Post by doitLP »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #42

I always wonder about the morality questions. This is like a lab experiment for subjective morality. For the sake of the experiment, let's assume the sci-fi writers are right, and eating animals will eventually be considered immoral. This is an extreme stance at the moment (hello PETA) but let's assume it will eventually be accepted as the only moral stance. How long will it be between the introduction of lab-grown m…

Probably so. But one thing is for sure. We’ll soon start seeing an apparent grassroots movement against lab grown meat, complete with talking points about its dubious manufacturing process and how it’s actually more unsanitary and now that we mention it morally questionable than good ol beef/chicken/pork

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#134

Post by tofukid »

i_haz_rabies wrote: post #110
shafyy wrote: post #30

Note that they are not yet "pumping" out anything. Their plan is to start selling next year, which means that it probably will take another few years. I think that it makes much more sense to make meat and cheese directly from plant proteins, without going through the trouble of growing meat in bioreactors. Assuming that both will have a similar endproduct (and Impossible shows that it's possible), making from plant…

There are amino acids you can't get from plant protein.

All essential amino acids are found in plants, and some plant proteins (soy or hemp for example) contain all the essentials in a single protein.

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#136

Post by iammisc »

wcoenen wrote: post #75
marcus_holmes wrote: post #42

I always wonder about the morality questions. This is like a lab experiment for subjective morality. For the sake of the experiment, let's assume the sci-fi writers are right, and eating animals will eventually be considered immoral. This is an extreme stance at the moment (hello PETA) but let's assume it will eventually be accepted as the only moral stance. How long will it be between the introduction of lab-grown m…

I suspect reality will be a lot more boring. Animals are a low efficiency method of converting plant material into meat, both in terms of calories and protein mass input/output. So with scale, eventually lab-grown meat should become much cheaper than traditional meat. At the same time, it will be higher quality. Sterile production will eliminate E. Coli, salmonella, antibiotics... Input nutrients will be tightly cont…

Animals are extremely efficient at converting inedible food to edible nutrition.

For example, goats eat almost any plant, including many natives. Unless you think humans are going to be able to eat chaparral.

The fact is that modern edible agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil fuel and mined fertilizers. Until we solve that problem, it's better to stop growing too many plants, let native vegetation regrow and set loose the troops of goats and chickens.

People have this idea that plants and vegetables are clean..they're not

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#137

Post by growt »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #42

I always wonder about the morality questions. This is like a lab experiment for subjective morality. For the sake of the experiment, let's assume the sci-fi writers are right, and eating animals will eventually be considered immoral. This is an extreme stance at the moment (hello PETA) but let's assume it will eventually be accepted as the only moral stance. How long will it be between the introduction of lab-grown m…

A quick google search told me that 12 US presidents where slave owners. So far I think none of their statues have been torn down because of the fact although slavery is almost universally outlawed and condemned. For shorter term analogies I think something like gay-marriage fits. "Progressive" countries allow it, while the more "backwards" or religious countries fight it. I guess it will play out something like this (And you habe to factor in that in case of lab-meat it will probably more expensive at the start, so people and countries have to be able to afford their morals - or eat vegetables I guess).

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#139

Post by vidarh »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #42

I always wonder about the morality questions. This is like a lab experiment for subjective morality. For the sake of the experiment, let's assume the sci-fi writers are right, and eating animals will eventually be considered immoral. This is an extreme stance at the moment (hello PETA) but let's assume it will eventually be accepted as the only moral stance. How long will it be between the introduction of lab-grown m…

To be honest, I think what will happen first is a multi-pronged marketing assault on "natural" meat from an environmental, animal rights, cost and quality angle.

E.g. producers of lab-grown meat has an interest in:

* Pushing for taxes or reduced subsidies on "natural" meat with environmental reasoning. This will get easier the more people switch.

* Pushing a "our meat never had a face but is still real meat" angle.

* Undercutting on price.

* Providing "impossible" meat. E.g. cuts that are impossible, compositions that are impossible. Species that are impractical or annoying (e.g. quail and many other birds have so little meat relative to bones that while they're tasty they're a nuisance to eat - lab-grown meat can potentially be "better" than natural meat that way), or meat with other ingredients embedded directly in the meat. Marketing "old meat" as "old fashioned", boring and lower quality.

* Pushing a "do you know where their meat has been? We know where ours has been" angle.

I don't think a ban will happen until a ban is mostly pointless. That is, I think lab-grown meats have to succeed first, and then when most people have stopped caring because they mostly eat lab-grown meats, it's possible a ban would get sufficient support.

Re: World’s first lab-grown meat facility pumps out 5k burgers per day

#140

Post by Jeff_Brown »

paulirwin wrote: post #116
wcoenen wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect reality will be a lot more boring. Animals are a low efficiency method of converting plant material into meat, both in terms of calories and protein mass input/output. So with scale, eventually lab-grown meat should become much cheaper than traditional meat. At the same time, it will be higher quality. Sterile production will eliminate E. Coli, salmonella, antibiotics... Input nutrients will be tightly cont…

This is spot on. (I'm a long time vegetarian, so I've thought a lot about this.) Hunting, fishing, and even specialty slaughterhouses will likely continue. The economics will cause mass meat production to go out of business, though. Beef first, probably. Engineering can evolve much faster than cows and chickens and fish can. No politician, at least in the U.S. mainstream, is going to commit political self-destruction…

The ironic counter-ads will be viscious: "Be a real man! Risk getting sick from one of our real burgers! Each one is made from the hormone-pumped flesh of a real baby cow that never knew its real mom!"
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