There’s an interesting article in a recent post on the NY Times Dot Earth blog: “Can People Have Meat and a Planet, Too? The first international conference on manufacturing meat was held earlier this month in Norway. Manufactured meat is produced by growing muscle cells in culture in a laboratory. The technology can produce ground-meat type products such as chicken nuggets and burgers. It is a long way from being economically more feasible than current production. There are also numerous regulatory issues and product safety testing, so it will be years before this becomes a consumer choice issue.
I admit my first reaction was envisioning “Soylent Chicken” and a big yuck!
Taking a second, more practical look, however, one can see some advantages: Cultured meat avoids animal welfare issues (”no animals were harmed in the making of this Happy Meal”) because no animals are involved. Theoretically, cultured meat is produced with less impact on the environment. Because it is produced under controlled conditions, food safety should be higher and nutritional profiles can also be modified and improved.
I’ve been listening to NPR’s Morning Edition series on food shortages and rising food costs worldwide. I was surprised to hear this is the 3rd year in a row that world food production has fallen short of world food consumption. The answer to increased production needs has been more industrialized agriculture; bringing along with it environmental and welfare concerns. There is no doubt that concentrated animal protein production produces environmental pollutants and costs more in terms of fossil fuels than pasture-based production. Contrary to the blanket statement that eating meat is bad for the environment, grazing animals are much more efficient at converting solar energy(via vegetation) to protein than we are.
I am a big proponent (and producer) of local, pasture-based agricultural products. I am also a beef connoisseur; I can describe a unique flavor and texture profile for each animal we have harvested, and even give them “Wine Spectator” type ratings in my mind. For my family and my customers, there is no doubt this is a great option. But what about the rest of the country and the world? My beef is priced equal or just above the top meat-case beef at the upscale local grocery. I can’t sell it any cheaper or I can’t pay my ranch mortgage. Can we feed the world without industrialized agriculture?
The Dot Earth article quotes Jesse Ausubel of Rockefeller University’s Program for the Human Environment as saying that the trend toward concentrated food production will eventually lead to manufactured meat. When it comes down to it, I think I feel the same way about “cultured meat” that I did about “Textured vegetable protein” when it came out. I don’t think I’ll have any desire to eat it myself, but I can see where it meets some needs.
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