Half way through 2017 I decided I would no longer eat meat. A big part of this was due to the unnecessary killing of animals and also the massively devastating effects animal cultivation has on our fragile planet. I often talk to people about this change (of course in a polite, non-angry-vegan way) and have by far found the most common reason people don't want to change their dietary habits is because of taste. This sounds like a job for SCIENCE!
I totally understand 100% the need for a good tasty meal. I ate meat for 37 years and for the most part enjoyed ever single bit. Although I've personally transcended the idea that pleasing my tastebuds means more than an animal's life, I fully realise that taste is the one of the biggest experiences we can have as human beings. When I first heard about this 'lab grown meat' my first instinct was one of intrigue but also disgust and worry. Also knowing what humans are like, I knew it wouldn't fair too well with the scared-of-anything-new mentality most of the population generally has. It pleases me though that many major financial investments are being made to make this new meat a reality and to gain a further understanding of how this could help us survive on our Pale Blue Dot.
Companies such as Mosa Meat, Memphis Meats and Beyond Meat, as well as large financial investors like Richard Branson and Bill Gates, are daring to change the world and create a sustainable meat industry that could very well be the new era of the basic human diet. Quite possibly, as the methods become easier to replicate and cheaper to create, it may even help reduce starvation in third world countries and eliminate diseases. The immediate advantages are obvious, from it being completely disease free, environmentally friendly, quicker to create, easier to modify flavours and less animals to be harmed. Of course there will be negative effects no doubt but as with everything it is all a learning experience pushing forward. From what I understand there still will need to be a level of animal usage because these meats will be created from the animal cells.
There will be minefields to navigate and it will require a huge amount of marketing to ease many people's weariness towards a food that is created in this way. A huge concern would be keeping the hardworking farmers around the world employed and stop their farms from going bankrupt. How we can do this is anybody's guess. While I do feel for the farmers which will feel the massive brunt of the financial impact, we can't hold back this initiative and need to figure out ways to help them survive financially in other ways. We've done it before throughout history as businesses need to change to keep up with the way society is changing and no doubt will figure it out as the food industry changes. I am hopeful this is just the very beginning of a new way we look at what we put on our plates.
What do you think? Would you be willing to try a lab grown meat?
