Lab-grown meat has been referred to as the meat of the future..
And though this product has not yet been commercialized, it's been suggested that this approach is going to dramatically re-shape the market landscape for agriculture as we know it.
Many companies have now invested millions of dollars toward developing a variety of meat products, chicken, duck, beef, seafood etc, that are grown from cultured cells.
How is the meat produced?
To begin the process, stem cells are harvested from an animal in a relatively pain-free manner and from those stem cells they are able to grow the meat in layers to eventually become a product that can be eaten as a hamburger, hot dog, or steak etc.
As research in this area has advanced, the price to produce the lab-grown meat has also declined and thanks to that market experts suggest that we could see lab-grown meat become quite prevalent in the future.
It's suggested that eventually the lab meat will surpass the conventional competition, because the lab-grown meat doesn't require the same heavy land, water, and energy costs that conventional methods require.
As for right now,..
a market-ready lab-grown meat product hasn't hit the store shelves just yet. But there have been taste tests and food critics suggest that there isn't much of a difference between that which is grown from stem cells and the 'real thing'.
Widespread access to this sort of meat is still said to be years away from becoming a reality and they might have quite the marketing challenge ahead of them yet before they can get the general public ready to start eating this sort of food product. But if they plan to toss their meat products onto the shelves without any distinction about the growing method, then perhaps the transition for consumers will be easy.
Aside from the meat being created without animals being harmed, the lab-grown meat is also allegedly able to be grown free of antibiotics and pathogens, the approach is also credited with a 96 percent greenhouse gas reduction. Considering these claimed benefits, you can see here why many people might find this food production method rather appealing.
Numerous companies (like Meat Makers, Memphis Meats, Beyond Meat, and Modern Meadow) are actively researching how to grow a variety of meat products in a lab setting and this could mean millions of people eventually having their food needs met without millions of animals having to be slaughtered in the process.
These businesses hope that within just 5 years or so that we might start to see their lab-grown hot dogs, sausages, burgers, and other meat products, on shelves across the country and eventually around the world.
The move to this cruelty-free production method has been hailed as the next big trend in the agriculture market space.
In the future, we might look back on traditional factory farming models that we have now, in the same way that we look back on how we used to travel around by horse and buggy. That is how much of a difference this lab-grown meat approach might change things for the market.
Pics:
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News via washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/11/americans-have-never-had-so-few-options-in-deciding-what-company-makes-their-meat/?utm_term=.8c7c36ab7c1b
LiveeCo via liveeco.co.za/2013/09/02/lab-grown-beef-lacks-taste-but-could-help-save-the-world/
Jim Cooke via Gizmodo
Pixabay
Sources:
http://gizmodo.com/behind-the-hype-of-lab-grown-meat-1797383294
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/artificial-chicken-grown-cells-gets-taste-test-who-will-regulate-it
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-plant-based-food-trend-0811-biz-20170810-story.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/95109989/laboratorygrown-meat-is-coming-but-are-farmers-ready
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/lab-grown-plant-based-meat-substitutes-impossible-foods-beyond-meat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/95510619/new-zealand-farmers-up-against-the-tide-of-synthetic-meat-need-to-tell-the-natural-story