Consider eating a piece of meat that has not been produced by slaughtering any animals. Confused? Or excited? Of course this will most likely depend on your food preferences. If you are a meat lover like me, then you must be at a loss to understand this right now just as I was the first time I learnt of this new scientific breakthrough. On the other hand, if you are a vegan then the mere mention of this phrase would be enough to get you jumping up and down with joy. Okay, maybe not jumping with joy, but you will most likely be excited by this news.
Anyway, let’s put all you meat lovers out of your misery and explain what this whole thing is about. So basically, this Silicon Valley startup by the name of Memphis Meats has come up with a meat product that can save hundreds of millions of animals from being slaughtered for food every year. Plus it can enhance the environment and completely transform the face of agriculture. After introducing a “cruelty-free” beef some time ago, the San Francisco Bay Area company has now successfully developed chicken and duck grown in the laboratory. Dubbed “the clean meat”, this will be the first lab-grown meat to reach consumers.
Memphis Meats
Memphis Meats, with the support of billionaire philanthropists Richard Branson and Bill Gates, utilizes an innovative technological process to prepare real meat from cells obtained from living animals. The company claims that this lab-produced variety of meat is actually healthier than the conventional meat obtained from slaughtering animals. And it tastes just as good. Apart from protecting animals from slaughter, this new process also provides a viable solution for sustainability and addresses human health concerns with regard to rearing animals for slaughter.
Consider this. About 9 billion chickens are slaughtered for food every year in the USA alone. Indeed, chickens are by far the most slaughtered animal. More chickens are bred and slaughtered for food than all other animals collectively. And consumers part with approximately $1 Trillion for different types of meat every year. What’s more, the current demand is likely to increase by as much as one hundred percent in many parts of the world in the coming years. This lab-grown clean meat could be a viable solution both in terms of dealing with the environmental aspect and also managing the expected increasing demand for meat.
Even though initial products have tended to be insanely expensive, Memphis Meats has something else in mind. The first-ever clean meat burger introduced in 2013 cost an eye-watering $330,000. Memphis Meats, on the other hand, is preparing its clean meat for $40 per gram. The eventual target for the company is to produce meat that is cheaper than the cheapest conventionally produced meat.
The Process
At Memphis Meats, a number of small animal cells are obtained from living animals and allowed to regenerate. This is done separately and away from the animal. The finished product obtained is claimed to be one hundred percent real meat that tastes just as good as meat sourced from the conventional way of slaughtering animals. What’s more, Memphis Meats asserts that the production of its clean meat needs only one-tenth of the amount of water and one-hundredth of the land normally used for raising livestock.
Many animal rights groups and vegan activists have hailed this as a major breakthrough. A spokesperson for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has publicly appreciated the clean meat production process which has the potential to save hundreds of millions of animals from being slaughtered for food every year.
Financial Backing
As already mentioned, Memphis Meats enjoys backing from big names such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson. To date, $22 Million have been raised with most of the funding coming from Branson, Gates, and Cargill Inc, a renowned agriculture company. In particular, Richard Branson is a big fan of this new concept. Speaking exclusively to Bloomberg News, the Virgin Group owner said that he was quite excited about this new development and looking forward to a time when there will be no need to slaughter any animals for meat.
Environmentally Friendly
Memphis Meats is also putting a dent in the carbon emissions generated by the meat industry. By developing meat from cells obtained from living animals, the company eradicates the need to have animals breed on hormones and antibiotics and emit methane in the atmosphere only to be slaughtered for food in the end. This means that emissions can be decreased by as much as 90 percent which can be a big plus in the fight against global warming and climate change.
Unfortunately, the product isn’t quite ready for mass production yet. However, the day is not too far away when you will be able to enjoy some delicious animal-free clean meat.