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Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

asteriskmag.com

61–70 of 78 posts

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#61

Talk to anyone who has real experience in biotechnology and mammalian cell culture, and they will point out that this fantasy. The epitome of ZIRP. You should regard any companies in this space with extreme scepticism, and look for signs that they are scams.

Including those that work directly on cultivated meat? There are literally companies out there selling cultivated meat right now. Regressive countries like Italy and conservative states in the US like Florida and Alabama have banned the sell of cultivated meat. Did they buy into the fantasy? Or are they scared cultivated meat will impact traditional animal farming?

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but I hoped we could become more than animals in the future.

Why? I like food and sex and raising my children. I _am_ an animal, even if I have mastered fire and language and agriculture.

Well, what has this to do with killing animals?

How did someone say? To kill someone, cut off his head and build a nice vase out of it is called culture. To have to go to prison for it is called civilization.

Besides that, raising animals for meat is terrible energy inefficient.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? I like food and sex and raising my children. I _am_ an animal, even if I have mastered fire and language and agriculture.

Well, what has this to do with killing animals? How did someone say? To kill someone, cut off his head and build a nice vase out of it is called culture. To have to go to prison for it is called civilization. Besides that, raising animals for meat is terrible energy inefficient.

There is quite the difference between slaughtering an animal for food, and murder. Do you disagree?

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How the hell does Israel do this?

Billions in foreign aid certainly helps

The foreign aid is mostly dealing with the fact that Israel is surrounded by hostile countries. Those countries are also hostile to the US, so it's really paying Israel to be its toe hold in the Middle East.

That is a deeply uncomfortable relationship for a whole lot of reasons.

But it's mainly aimed at the military. The country is otherwise pretty wealthy on its own terms. It's got a GDP per capita of $55k per person, mostly from manufacturing and tech, plus agriculture. So it generally has a European level of culture.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#65

The idea of cultured meat sounds wonderful. Its real meat, but without the guilt. But there is the cold reality of enshittification and the numerous sketchy practices of the industrial food industry. So one has to make a choice: the traditional "Iowa" meat industrial complex or the new "valley bro" meat industrial one? For now at least I feel safer with the former.

Funny. I share your skepticism somewhat but I was thinking about cultured meat as the solution to those problems. I'd imagine no need for antibiotics. Cynically, they probably would still have to bleach the meat or something. Though the US does that to chicken now.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#66
All that is required for the skeptics to be right is for the selectively bred cow to be the most efficient bioreactor for beef, wasteful as it is, and I nevertheless consider that to be a very realistic possibility.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#67
post #50

I like thinking about space colonization. Whether it be a the first colony on Mars or a robust space station orbiting Jupiter, what do you think their food is like? Do you think they have farms growing cows and pigs and dogs? Or do they have a bioreactor that uses substantially less water and organic inputs to output whatever meat they want without fear of zoonotic diseases and PETA? I'm willing to bet Star Trek ring…

I'm doubtful of any future space colonization, but given likely resource constraints, any sort of meat would be a serious luxury. As far as I know, plants are far and away the most efficient way we have of converting energy into a format compatible with human metabolism (though now that I type that out, I wonder how plausible creating synthetic carbohydrates from in-situ resources might be).

I completely agree with you. HN is very anti-vegan, so mentioning not eating meat always comes with a torrent of downvotes. I imagine any self-sustainable colony would not have meat in their diet because there is no need for it.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most environmentally friendly is to not eat meat.

If you continue this ad absurdum, the only logical step would be to perform a variant of seppuku. I see relatively little sepukkus performed around me.

As a vegan of four and a half year, I can confidently say being vegan is not similar to killing oneself.

Re: Is Cultivated Meat for Real?

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, what has this to do with killing animals? How did someone say? To kill someone, cut off his head and build a nice vase out of it is called culture. To have to go to prison for it is called civilization. Besides that, raising animals for meat is terrible energy inefficient.

There is quite the difference between slaughtering an animal for food, and murder. Do you disagree?

Given the existence of delicious foods not made of meat, the difference is one of law, and of which of the major world religions' ethical norms you follow.
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