Live data from Hacker News

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

slashgear.com

341–350 of 350 posts

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

#341

Let's consider that cultured meats are okay as future historically-correct delicacies. We are religiously-attached to meat agriculture now, but we must kick the habit because it's killing us and going to kill us: resource utilization, climate change, antibiotics resistance, and pandemics. How about we design a specific protein product that is healthiest first? And then second: how to produce it as efficiently as poss…

That only works if you can convince the 90% of people who are non-vegetarian to switch over. Assuming you won’t legally ban it (I presume you’re not planning a revolution), that means you need a product that people will prefer to normal meat, which means tastier or cheaper than normal meat.

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

#342
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agreed - competitive flavor at superior price will make those other arguments disappear. That’s why I think we should view this as a foregone conclusion and get positioned to simply own the future, or at least not have our future owned by someone else.

...sure, like Carob was a foregone conclusion to replace chocolate: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/how-c... As someone who actually had to eat Tiger's Milk bars as a kid, good luck at it.

We are not talking about alternative faux products, but meat fibres that are grown form actual animal tissue at the start (AFAIK thats how they do it).

In theory this should taste similar to traditional meat and in the future they will work out marbling etc

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

#343
post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're ultimately right, but let's not forget food has historically been used to signal status as much as anything else.

To an extent, but you can do that with lab-grown meat too, by producing "limited edition" meats that are arbitrarily exclusive. Want a steak that is "designed molecule by molecule" by a top chef? That'll cost you.

As my parent comment quite rightly said, humans (like other animals) definitely use food to signal status and other social cues.

Lab-grown meat will no-doubt eventually become a common ingredient once it is economically viable. However it'll likely start off in highly processed foods where consumers are not especially discerning or seeking to signal status through consumption. This would include products like ready-made frozen meals and fast food.

It may eventually enter fine dining, but it won't obtain market dominance in our life times. People just get too set in their ways as they age, for instance the elderly in Japan drive demand for Whale meat. Older people tend to have the disposable income required for fine dining.

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

#344
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't surprised to see that beef was left out initially. Even without the religious objection, they aren't likely to have much of a market for vat-beef locally because cow-beef isn't desired locally. But once they go more global, there's a really big market for vat-beef. And I would love to know of the religious implications of this as well... Both for cow and pig, for various religions and other beliefs, such as…

Why do you think that cow-beef isn't desired in Israel? We eat plenty of beef.

Ignorance of local customs. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about religions and where they're practiced, and just assumed wrongly. Sorry!

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

#345
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that cow-beef isn't desired in Israel? We eat plenty of beef.

Ignorance of local customs. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about religions and where they're practiced, and just assumed wrongly. Sorry!

No worries. I thought you might be trying to suggest that Israelis eat less beef compared to e.g. Americans, which is possible, though no idea if that's true.

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

#346
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many animals are we talking about in a scenario where all the animals were being used for crop/grazing rotation? I've heard about this and it sounds good to me, but without having looked into it at all, it sounds to me like something that probably wouldn't support the number of animals we're using right now for meat production?

Even if you could convert all the corn/soybean land in the United States to more regenerative methods, you probably wouldn't be able to meet the current demand for meat. Additionally you have a logistical problem with the animals being distributed across an enormous area vs concentrated in a CAFO. Now, you would easily be able to grow enough food for the country and possibly the globe, but meat demand cannot be susta…

Do you have a source for not being able to meet meat demand? using which "regenerative methods"?

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

#347
post #141
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're usually far from natural (tons of chemicals) I really object to marketing use of the word 'natural' and 'chemicals'. I don't mean to single you out - these concepts are widespread in marketing. Plenty of 'natural' things are bad, like small pox, the Ebola virus and salmonella. Plenty of 'unnatural' things are good, like antibiotics to treat infection. All matter is made from chemicals. Whether a chemical li…

When it comes to food, I use the following criteria: could I make it myself in my kitchen? (Some "minimal processsing" like fermentation and curing therefore fall under "natural".) I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" for most of the plant-based fake meat. It's also "no" for McDonald's burger so I'm not just hating on plants.

I prefer the criteria "would a prehistoric person eat this?". Our bodies evolved with food you could pick off a plant and put in your mouth sometimes after applying heat. Or meat. This is "natural" food. Plenty of ingredients you buy in a modern store are processed like flour and sugar. You can make donuts in your kitchen and I'd call that one of the worst foods you can eat nutritionally.

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

#348
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to feel similarly, but now, I'm not so sure. What worries me is that lab-grown meat will allow big ag practices to continue, which will do more harm to our co2 emissions and world's soil health. To expand on this further, there is active research and practices into sustainable farming practices that show diverse crop rotations along dense but short grazing across the land has the ability to rebuild top soil 10…

How many animals are we talking about in a scenario where all the animals were being used for crop/grazing rotation? I've heard about this and it sounds good to me, but without having looked into it at all, it sounds to me like something that probably wouldn't support the number of animals we're using right now for meat production?

Gabe Brown uses 700k pounds of cattle per acre, but he moves the cattle daily. On his site, he claims the pastures are 15-40 acres. [1] So I presume 700k pounds of cattle per 40 acres would give you the figure you're looking for.

[1]: http://brownsranch.us/grazing/

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

#349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, no. Many of those (Confederate "heroes") were more principally known for treason, sedition, and waging war in defense of slave ownership rather than their personal predilection toward owning slaves.

Thomas Jefferson statue pulled down in Portland: https://www.opb.org/news/article/thomas-jefferson-statue-pul...

Congrats, you found a single counterexample, namely the founding father that was by all accounts the worst human being of the bunch, what with the likely raping and impregnation of his slaves and all.

I'm all for replacing TJ statues with ones honoring better human beings.

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

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Is it in a "reasonable" amount? As in, is the concentration comparable?

[deleted]
Post reply on HN