Meat not from an animal: Would You Eat It?

[AzureBlaze]

Would you eat it?
A scenario:
You see a burger on a plate. It's cooked just how you like it. It smells burgery and good. There are your favorite burger accessories all around it. It feels like a hamburger if you touch it, and cuts like one too. It's made of real meat, and has every nutrition of real meat. It cannot poison you and does exactly what meat does when you eat it.

The catch?
It's not from an animal. Nothing DIED to give you this meat. No one killed, suffered, got electrocuted, ate any grass, caught any disease, took any hormone, released any methane or took up any space.

Are there any vegetarians in the house?
Would you eat it if you were? Their principal is 'no animal should suffer or die so that I may live'. Well, no animals around here...no suffering, no dieing.

Well it's a real scenario, right here today for you to choose. Some dude has got the whole "meat in a lab" thing down so that it makes infinite burger meat you can do whatever with. It's 100% cow from a cow who's still alive and well! If you devoted a factory to this stuff the size of some current cow barn & slaughterhouse, you wouldn't need any more cows. No more mad cow. No more humans eating hormones of cow. No more methane pollution and no more killing the animals.

The problem?
No one will eat the meat!
They say it's disgusting, horrible, satanic, unsafe, unsavory, and simply won't invest. But isn't the opposite true? I mean, you're whacking someone who uses TOOLS here. (cows are proven to use tools to get at food, and to improvise them as well) And the cows live in bad conditions. It seems worse to do it the old way.

What is your opinion? Eat burger? Run away? And WHY.

[InfinityXXX]

If it tastes the same then yeah. I wouldn't even mind if there was a slight difference in the taste, I'll probably still eat it as long as its good to me.

[DrewSeleski]

As I recall they've actually been able to grow animal muscle tissue(meat) in labs. So far they're having trouble getting the texture correct since the muscles can't actually exercise or anything.

Also I would be totally down for eating it if it was cheaper

[ABDUR101]

I've eaten immitation crabmeat, that was a long, LONG time ago though, I'm surprised this topic is just now being brought up.

I never cared, the only thing that bothered me with the immitation crabmeat, when you attempt to cook it, it just gets rather chewy, unlike real crabmeat which you obvious boil the crablegs in hot water, etc.

But, to be honest, meat is meat, I've grown up in the country, I've helped cut up fresh deer during hunting season, plucked feathers from ducks, gigged bullfrogs and filleted fish. I am by no means squemish when it comes to blowing a pigs brains out so we can have a pig roast. Thats the way it has been since everything could eat anything. Infact, I prefer my steak medium rare, and I pay extra if it moo's and tries to crawl off my plate.

Even if all the meat in the world could be grown, it's not going to have the exact same qualities as what we currently have. I like some fat in my steaks and ham, it adds alot of flavor, as well, whatever the animals eat, that adds flavor to the meat itself.(Ever eat a carp? They taste like crud, because they are a junk fish, same with suckers, but there's a distinctly different and great taste from fish like trout, perch, bass, etc)

All in all, I would continue to buy meats that were from a slaughtered animal, not because I find the grown stuff 'worse' in anyway, but because there's a certain texture, taste(and everything else) that goes with how an animal grows, what it eats, etc.

Wise thought: We would'nt need so many slaughtered animals if we slaughtered more people and thinned our own herd every once in a while, but since thats so very inhumane, humanity(haha) is forced to increase herds of livestock, poultry, etc.

[DrewSeleski]

I would think uh.. birthing less children would come to mind before slaughtering people as a way to control our population O.o

[Zelutos]

I heard something on the radio about scientists trying to "grow" meat, instead of killing animals to produce it.

I lol'd.

[Sinue_v2]

If it tastes good and won't kill me - I'll eat it.

Weither or not an animal died is no concern of mine. However, if this stuff were to try and "replace" meat - then it had damned well better taste exactly like real meat. There's a lot of variables which go into the taste of a chunk of flesh - the animal's diet, it's workload, it's environment, it's heritage, ect... ect. These conditions would be really difficult to reproduce in a lab.

Though, I wouldn't object to the "Lab Meat" becomming a staple of the human diet with "Real Meat" being the exception to the rule and still widely served. The heath and economic benefits are just too great to ignore.

Again, if it tastes spot on like the real slaughtered deal.

[Nitro Vordex]

C'mon eating animals. We kill'em then we eat em. Whoop-de-f***ing-doo. Circle of f http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif ing life.
Every time something dies,another takes it's place,sometimes 2 anothers take it's place. I dunno bout the growing meat thing. sounds weird. >.>

[Kou-Diacyper]

If by that you mean a manafactured way of life, I guess you're right. But it certainly isn't the natural way of things. How would you like it if you were stuffed into a cage not allowed to walk or even see daylight for the whole of you're life.

[Luis]

Nature is wise, indeed that your subjet sounds for the perfect harmony, thats how nature made us, and thats how nature made the animals also, As we eat cows, tigers and lions hunts deers, Sharks eats smalls fish, we as humans are on the Top of the species because our intellectual advantage but still we are part of the nature, what we need to do its to balance things and we allready unbalance a lot because of the Mr Money.

Anyhow thats just my 2 cents

[Russian]

Good points all around. Personally I'd eat it, since I've eaten veggie burgers, tofu burgers and the like already. Even if it wasn't "real meat" I'd at least give it a shot.

As far as the points on nature and the "circle of life" are involved, I have to lean towards the logic that created this "techno-meat" in the first place. It is true that we as humans were not meant to create fake meat in a lab and eat it as a staple of our diet... But it's also true that we weren't meant to breed animals for slaughter simply to continue to feed the ever-growing population on our planet.

We weren't meant to have billions upon billions of cows in pens, being born, living, and dying all in a pen so that we can eat. Goes back to the whole "hunter/gatherer" thing, though we have advanced beyond our primitive means. Killing a herd of buffalo is quite different than sending hundreds of thousands of cows to the slaughterhouse every day. On that point, I would say any alternative to breeding animals in mass quantity simply to feed ourselves is a good one. Science is the gift man has been blessed with, and we should use it to better our lives whenever possible, even if it doesn't seem "natural", if it benefits ourselves and the environment, it can't be bad, IMO.

[tank1]

Aslong as it tastes the same as the meat i would of been eating if it where made of that animal then im all for it.

[astuarlen]

If it tastes like meat, feels like meat, and has the same nutritional value as the meat in question, why not? In that case, it would be vastly preferable to current livestock raising/harvesting practices, in my opinion.

[-memoru-]

Since it's not harming aminals, i would eat it. ;D >_> As long as it doesn;t taste any worst than some brands of veggie burgers. ;o


C'mon eating animals. We kill'em then we eat em. Whoop-de-f***ing-doo. Circle of f ***ing life.

I'll circle of life you! rawr!
But anyway, things can't be replaced if people kill them faster than they are born. >_> Look at what happened to the Do-do.

[DoctorShasta]

If it tasted the same I'd eat it. But if that doesn't happen I'm fine eating cows http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[HUnewearl_Meira]

Who here has seen and understood Soylent Green?



On 2006-07-22 00:22, ABDUR101 wrote:
Wise thought: We would'nt need so many slaughtered animals if we slaughtered more people and thinned our own herd every once in a while, but since thats so very inhumane, humanity(haha) is forced to increase herds of livestock, poultry, etc.


One of the many reasons why I'm not terribly bothered by the concept of going to war from time to time. The lives it costs often contribute rather nicely to improving to balance the dichotomy of Humans and Earth.

[Split]

we're on the top of the frigging food chain for a reason. This "meat" ain't natural.

EDIT: lol fod chain

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Split on 2006-07-22 12:35 ]</font>

[DrewSeleski]

It's pretty ridiculous to talk about what we are "meant" to do. Exactly how is this decided and by who? It's not like we were created to serve some purpose. So really we should do what is best for us. As almost anyone can tell there are few things in this world that are as good as they can possibly be for us naturally. As a species we alter the world around us for our own benefit. Growing meat offers many many more benefits over raising an entire animal. Also while at first this type of meat probably would not be as tasty as regular meat it actually offers the potential to be MUCH more tasty. This is because we would have complete control over how the meat grows. The problem of course is as this is a completely new thing you need to figure out what tastes good and why. But once we figure it out imagine top quality sirloin steak costing 50 cents a pound. Damn that's good.

As I always say, "If it's natural that just means we haven't improved it yet."

[Sord]

I see no way in how us making meat isn't natural. In the case of science humanity has been evolving along intellectual lines for a very long time. The ability to make meat is merely a side effect. Hell, having it could bring back the original natural balance, in which chickens aren't more plentiful then humans (at least in the U.S. We must eat a hell of a lot of chicken and eggs!)

From a Christian point of veiw it's not really that unnatural either. We are creating nothing, merely using what God has already created and mixing it together to make something seemingly new. It's just instead of letting the cows insides grow a new cow for meat and us feeding it through that cow we are now just skipping the mother cow the inteligence (of which there isn't that much.)

In the end it all comes down to a persons perception of what they believe, in truth the only thing religion has to back itself is it's own history. Everything else is based on pure faith, and they obviously can't all be right, so each one is thus subject to some doubt as well.

Anyways, now that the philosophical crap is out of the way, I'd eat it if it taste good and doesn't kill me with anything other than what regular meat can kill you with (I mean, come on, you do realize lots of meat with over-excessive fat can certainly deterioate your health and help to kill you!). Though what about not treating it like typical meat? I mean, since your growing it, you can affect what nutrients it gets. I mean, in time you could make a whole new cuisuine. Breed a new tasting meat on a cellular level. Imagine a succulent meet no one has ever had before in the history of humanity. Teh awesome (and probably an abomination to others, sheesh.)

[navci]

Since Abdur talked about imitation crab meat... I am just gonna say this. That shit taste nothing like real crab meat. So I am not for it.

But otherwise? If it taste good, I will eat it. I bet the grown meat is prolly safer and cleaner than the real thing. Also, considering the while spectrum of food that human beings eat, and some of them being really hard to harvest; I'd love it when there is a grown version of it that is actually affordable so everyone can get a taste of the goodies instead of only the elites.

[Sinue_v2]

The difference between "Artifical Crab" meat and this "Lab Meat" - is that Artificial Crab meat isn't actually from a crab. It's a hodgepodge of different seafaring animals all minced up and flavored to imitate crab. It's like compairing a Hotdog to a Sirloin Steak.

This "Lab Meat" on the other hand, is (from what I understand) cloned flesh from a living animal. The same principal as, say, growing a new liver for yourself in case of ciriosis. Except, instead of an organ to be transplanted - it's a muscle or group of muscles intended to be devoured. It is indistinquishable from the meat you'd get off the actual animal - minus some of the flavor due to it being a early-stage lab creation.

[navci]

On 2006-07-22 22:16, Sinue_v2 wrote:
The difference between "Artifical Crab" meat and this "Lab Meat" - is that Artificial Crab meat isn't actually from a crab. It's a hodgepodge of different seafaring animals all minced up and flavored to imitate crab. It's like compairing a Hotdog to a Sirloin Steak.


I understood the concept in question. I was merely stating that imitation crab taste like crap! (har har!)

[isahn80]

I for one like this idea. I don't see why it can't be every bit as realistic-tasting as actual meat from an animal one day, when they perfect the technique (and if this makes money, they will.)

I wrote an essay about animal cruelty once (I had no choice; my teacher was a complete vegetarian/tree-hugger), and the conditions these animals are industrially farmed in are horrendous. Did you know they feed cows their own shit? It's true; they mix it in the feed to cut costs. Not to mention their hooves sometimes rot off from standing in their own excrement all day. I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Not all places are like this, and I actually think things might have improved (I'm just remembering things I read about 10 years ago), but still.

Now, I love animals, and therefore I love eating them and have gone hunting, gutted elk and things of that nature so consuming the flesh of other creatures doesn't bother me. However, I say that if there IS a way that the animals don't need to suffer for us to eat meat, then why the hell not use it?

Now if this stuff tastes like shit, I'm either going back to the slaughterhouse-prepared goodness or loading up on steak sauce.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: isahn80 on 2006-07-23 06:32 ]</font>

[space_butler]

sure, id eat it. then id laugh as all the beef heards were killed. id do the same with any other meat too...

yay, lets make domesticated animals extinct!

[Blitzkommando]

For some people, like myself, imitation crab meat is all we can eat as regular crab and lobster meat makes us sick. I'm not overly allergic, but I do get nasty stomach pains when eating the real thing. Limited amounts of shrimp is okay, but richer shellfish aren't so okay. So, I for one, am very happy about imitation crab meat and find it to taste close enough for me.

As for the question at hand... It involves a cloning process of sorts, correct? If that is the case then, no, I have a bigger problem with cloning than I do with the slaughtering techniques used today. That's just my view on things though. Then again I'm one that truly believes in a Pavlovian animal world. That is to say, animals simply act and react based on enviornmental conditions. On the flip side, I don't believe in purposely hurting animals outside of self defense, defense of my property or livlihood (such as hunting rabbits that are damaging my crops or termites eating my house), or for food.

In any event, something has to be done to keep animals in check to prevent problems with the environment in which they live in. Too many cows and there are problems with methane, manure, as well as natural deaths creating pollution. They also take away food from other animals in the area, such as deer. Thus, keep them in check while getting a meal out of it is a good trade-off. Likewise, deer also should be kept in check as they can become a nasty risk for people in the area. You become more likely to hit one while driving, mating season can become rather dangerous to pets or livestock left outside for too long, and they can generally wreck havok on farms.

If they aren't kept in check by eating a percentage of the population, then how would one keep them in check? All animals can become overpopulated (Ask some Australian farmers about kangaroos, rabbits, and mice). All people need to eat. The logical decision then is to eat the animals to allow growth of the population, but to limit the explosive growth that can cause damage to wildlife as well as property and people.

[astuarlen]

However, Norvekh, I do believe that the vast majority of meat consumed in contemporary Western society comes from animals raised and confined in huge factory farms. These pigs and chickens and cattle are not in danger of overrunning the country any time soon. ;>
I'm all for eating meat. Meat is healthful and a natural part of the human diet (you can bet our pre-agricultural ancestors weren't chowing down on cornflakes or pasta). On the other hand, the conditions most livestock are kept in are downright gross, encourage the spread of disease, and result in the feeding of crazy amounts of antibiotics to your future hamburger.
I don't care if ya'll want to go out and shoot some deer or whatever. I am not much of an animal sympathizer. ;p
Food for thought.

P.S. Surimi may not taste like authentic crab, but I find it quite nummy in its own right. Plus it's a helluva lot cheaper here, at least.

Arr, too much meat talk make hungy.

[REJ-]

Imitation crab isn't that bad...


...It just fails in every way when compared to real crab

[Solstis]

What would we do with the hordes of domesticated animals? Let them free?

I'd rather not find a bunch of dead cattle in my backyard.

Also, I don't believe that there's all that much science behind this. It's possible, but cloned items tend to... deteriorate, right? The slaughter industry is bad enough, but there's no way that I'm trusting the cloning industry to produce something safe with universal safety laws. Heck, forensic labs don't have mandatory standards.

[Sord]

On 2006-07-23 12:51, Solstis wrote:
What would we do with the hordes of domesticated animals? Let them free?

I'd rather not find a bunch of dead cattle in my backyard.

Also, I don't believe that there's all that much science behind this. It's possible, but cloned items tend to... deteriorate, right? The slaughter industry is bad enough, but there's no way that I'm trusting the cloning industry to produce something safe with universal safety laws. Heck, forensic labs don't have mandatory standards.


they do indeed deterioate, because you can't make an old cell young, so it only clones old cells that soon die.

also, it's not like we would all just suddenly start eating clone meat and not real meat. It would be a gradual shift, so that as supply goes down, mass breeding the cows isn't needed and thus isn't done anymore.

[space_butler]

On 2006-07-23 12:55, Sord wrote:


On 2006-07-23 12:51, Solstis wrote:
What would we do with the hordes of domesticated animals? Let them free?

I'd rather not find a bunch of dead cattle in my backyard.

Also, I don't believe that there's all that much science behind this. It's possible, but cloned items tend to... deteriorate, right? The slaughter industry is bad enough, but there's no way that I'm trusting the cloning industry to produce something safe with universal safety laws. Heck, forensic labs don't have mandatory standards.


they do indeed deterioate, because you can't make an old cell young, so it only clones old cells that soon die.

also, it's not like we would all just suddenly start eating clone meat and not real meat. It would be a gradual shift, so that as supply goes down, mass breeding the cows isn't needed and thus isn't done anymore.



and you still end up with extinct cows...

[Sinue_v2]

What would we do with the hordes of domesticated animals? Let them free?

I say we take the states of North and South Dakota and dedicate them entirely to slaughtering the livestock, preparing the meat, and to hosting the world's largest BBQ cookout in human history. Invite the whole world to come, though BYOB, of course.

Then we take the bones and leftovers and dump them in the ocean to help rebuild the coral reefs.

Everyone would love America once again - even if just for one weekend. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Orange_Coconut]

I've kind of always been a picky eater... I know it's not very healthy, but I need to try to survive by the deranged views on food I have. I used to eat meat, and excessive amounts of it, now I won't touch any. It's all about how taste and certain experiences have affected how I eat. So right now, silly or stupid as it may sound, I would not eat anything that tasted like real meat. I never really liked Steak, Pork, hamburg meat (unless it was with taco sauce), sausage, any kind of seafood (for they always made me throw up)... I would eat chicken, turkey, tacos... Not much else. Varieties of each, of course, but I eventually just lost interest in their taste. Now whenever I have anything of the sort, it's a habit for me to vomit.

So it's not the fact that it -is- meat, it's that the taste of literally all meat I have tried makes me sick. Even when I liked some of the fish I tasted, I would still throw up. I would rather eat something and not have to throw up, rather than having to. So it's difficult to find things that suit my taste a lot of times, but there are a lot of innovative things nowadays that can help with a perfectly balanced meal plan. Whether I eat according to a balanced plan or not, I'm still trying.

However, the concept sounds kind of neat. Everything needs to die at some point in time, there are animals that are hunted for food of course. That's perfectly natural, just as certain animals hunt other usually smaller animals. There are some species that have become extinct due to our greed in profit and such, but I am hoping that the environmentalists and animal protection agencies can help against that from ever happening again.

[Hunter-Hucast]

Depends how it tastes! If it's okay then i'll eat it! ^.^

[navci]

On 2006-07-23 12:26, astuarlen wrote:

P.S. Surimi may not taste like authentic crab, but I find it quite nummy in its own right. Plus it's a helluva lot cheaper here, at least.



Surimi isn't exactly what they sold here as imitation crab meat tho. :< I love surimi, but the imitation crab stuff I had was horrible. :< Granted, it could just have been my luck.

I didn't take allergy into account, that be my bad. How did allergy happen anyway. :<