this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2024
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As a thinking experiment, let us consider that on the 1st of January of 2025 it is announced that an advance making possible growing any kind of animal tissue in laboratory conditions as been achieved and that it is possible to scale it in order to achieve industrial grade production level.

There is no limit on which animal tissues can be grown, so, any species is achieveable, only being needed a small cell sample from an animal to start production, and the cultivated tissues are safe for consumption.

There won't be any perceiveable price change to the end consummer, as the growing is a complex and labour intensive process, requiring specialized equipments and personnel.

Would you change to this new diet option?

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[–] unfnknblvbl@beehaw.org 3 points 31 minutes ago (1 children)

I am extremely unkeen on handing control of all food production to large corporations.

[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 3 points 31 minutes ago
[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 1 points 19 minutes ago

I'd want to try some exotic synthetic meats you can't or shouldn't get anymore like dodo or dolphin. I wouldn't have the stomach to try it but you can bet there'll be some market for synthetic long pig. For normal consumption though I don't eat much meat now so I'd probably just go with whichever if there's no difference in cost or calories.

[–] zod000@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

As long as it scaled to reasonably the same price as current meat, I'd absolutely do it unless there were some significant downsides like it somehow being even worse for the environment.

[–] a2part2@lemmy.zip 2 points 51 minutes ago

This ^

If it's better for the environment and doesn't involve the industrial scale poor treatment and wanton slaughter of animals, AND it tastes just as good, I'd be on-board instantly. Even with a premium price hike for consistency.

Roll on quality facon, wagu beeef, and octo-chi k en drumsticks.

I do think that flora missed a trick with vegan, fake meats though...

"I can't believe it's not bacon/ burger/ chicken" they would have slaughtered that ad campaign

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 32 minutes ago* (last edited 29 minutes ago)

Is this really up for debate?

Florida bans lab-grown meat, adding to similar efforts in three other states

Much like with the fossil fuel industry squeezing out renewable energies at every opportunity, I suspect we're going to see the powerful agricultural lobbies shut down competitors until the owners of these big businesses can insert themselves as the sole proprietors of the lab meat industry.

On the flip side, retailers are going to want to drive down their costs, so they'll only switch when the price drops below the current floor set by firms like Tycoon and Cargill. But once it does... you'll be foolish to assume what you're eating isn't lab grown if it means a business increasing its profits.

Despite these potential benefits, Haracz believes that the high cost of lab-grown meat products will remain an obstacle for McDonald's and other fast food establishments. He mentions the deals that the restaurant gets when it purchases beef and surmises that these great prices will not be available with lab-grown beef. Haracz also cites pressure from the beef industry, which will likely use its influence to dissuade McDonald's and other establishments from using meat that comes from non-traditional sources.

The end result will be people who want lab meat finding themselves prohibited from buying it and people who don't want lab meat unwittingly consuming it.

Well price would probbly drop if the large scale production method using factory machines arrives. A laboratory synthesis will be scaled if people would buy

[–] surph_ninja@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

It already exists. We need to be pouring subsidies into it. I would absolutely switch, if it was widely available.

Not only is it better for the environment, but it’s also not loaded with antibiotics or been exposed to fecal matter at the farm.

[–] uis@lemm.ee 2 points 4 hours ago

1st of January of 2025 it is announced that an advance making possible growing any kind of animal tissue in laboratory conditions

Let me tell ya.

https://youtu.be/EJG3t5Omteg

[–] uis@lemm.ee 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Which protein? Sonic hedgehog? Tell genetic engieneers what protein you want, and they will make yeast make that protein. Or ecoli. Or rice. Or tomato. Or anything else.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Reminder that the meat you buy at the grocery store is as also as human modified as it gets and NOTHING like the wild game that our ancestors ate or even the farm animals from 100 years ago. The animal itself is probably GMO, spends its entire life in a steel cage standing in its own shit and piss and is given specialized processed feed to optimize how much meat it produces (or just has a tube down its throat so we don't have to worry about it eating fast enough). Not to mention tons of antibiotics that are given to the animal just to ensure it survives the hell we put them through which definitely makes it into the meat and therefore into you as well. And they're slaughtered and butchered by underpaid overworked factory workers who have to balance fulfilling brutal quotas with carefully extracting the meat and not getting it contaminated with shit from the animal's guts or the myriad other disgusting things around the meat that you wouldn't want to eat (you can guess how well that usually goes).

Animal cells (without the animal itself and also no central nervous system to experience suffering) growing in a clean, well controlled lab in tanks of sterile cell media doesn't sound so bad in comparison.

Additional reminder that nearly all of the worst infectious diseases in history have been caused partially or completely by animal agriculture: the plague, spanish flu, smallpox, whooping cough, swine flu, bird flu, covid, etc. So if you're worried about the long term health implications of lab grown meat, you should be ten times more worried about long term the health implications of regular meat, to the point where you should be worried even if you don't eat meat.

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 10 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Impossible Burgers already exist and are fucking delicious.

But, sure, if I can have pastrami or corned beef again without requiring a cow experience a life full of torment, emit a cow's lifetime of methane, or have any of that happen where a forest should instead have been left untouched, I'd try it!

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 3 points 2 hours ago

I had some impossible patty from restaurants and it's actually not bad and fairly close to meat flavor.

The beyond stuff is a hard pass.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 6 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

If it was healthy, affordable, and tasty, then yes.

If it isn't all three, then Veganism can continue to go fuck itself.

[–] Camille@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

You are not limited to meat and lab-created meat, you know? Vegetarians can tell you to eat eggs and cheese if you want. Vegans will tell you that there are large varieties of plant-based proteins, amongst: lentils, soy, whole cereals, even green vegetables. While these tend to not be as complete nor bio-available as meat or eggs, if you combine them you can have various, delicious and protein-rich meals. I am personally working out a lot and my mostly vegan diet (some eggs and cheese from time to time) is enough for my protein needs.

I mean, if your goal is to keep the meat experience, then yeah, I get your point. But other than that....

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 1 points 43 minutes ago

Because Veganism is yet another new age fad diet based in pseudoscience and I will have no part in it. It's just Einstein Pain Wave nonsense.

[–] pixelscript@lemm.ee 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, if your goal is to keep the meat experience, then yeah, I get your point.

I think that was indeed very obviously the point. The point of both the comment you were replying to and this lab grown meat idea as a whole.

[–] Camille@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 hours ago

I'm not really good with obvious subtexts, I'm sorry ^^

[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Cutting down on eating meat is as good as going vegan

Villianising anyone and everyone who even so much as touches a chicken breast is a damn blunder and totally puts me off against the community

Then again, most vegans that are decent wouldn't be pushy and tell people they're vegan

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 0 points 43 minutes ago

Why would I ever cut down on meat though? It's filling, delicious, and the reason why humans evolved intelligence in the first place.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I've been vegan for almost 25 years, and vegetarian for couple years before that... and I'd be happy it existed, but I wouldn't eat it. I don't miss meat, and the idea of eating any of it just grosses me out.

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Same, I get why beyond meat exists but I can't touch the stuff myself and it sucks when that's the only option available

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

I actually like Beyond/Impossible lol. I guess for me it's about knowing that it's made out of vegetables.

[–] PanArab@lemm.ee 3 points 12 hours ago

I’d rather go vegan. Falafel all the way.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

I'd try it if the price came down. Fake meat is in the store now but I still eat the real thing. Maybe the current stuff isn't what OP is talking about.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago

If I could afford it yeah of course

[–] juliebean@lemm.ee 11 points 21 hours ago

hell yeah. soon as its not way more expensive than normal meat, i'm down. your proposed technology also sounds like it should mean lab grown replacement organs with zero chance of rejection, which would be amazing.

[–] Shimitar@feddit.it 11 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Yes, absolutely. No risk of virus or bacteria, or worse...

Grown to the size you want...

Of the shape and type you want...

No fat (maybe?)....

What's not to like.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

What kinda idiot would want no fat?

[–] Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 hours ago

The kind that wants realllllly consistent beef jerky.

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I'd say price is definitely a factor. I already pass over good cuts of meat for that reason. Also taste/texture/overall experience. If it checs those boxes, and it has been on the market long enough to be confident I won't get instant cancer, then 100%! A little marbled fat makes it better though.

[–] Shimitar@feddit.it 1 points 10 hours ago

Yeah, definitely some fat is needed...

But I can see hordes of healthy people looking for fatless meat, as they already do I the supermarkets.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

For seafood yes, but I'm unlikely to bother regrowing the necessary gut biome for other meats

[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 1 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Jesus, people bitch about processed foods but have no issues with whatever shit has to be put into this to make it grow?

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 hours ago

Most that bitch about processed foods have no idea what "processed" actually means.

Most of the 'chemicals' they're worried about occur naturally at quantity in plants and fruit.

The lab-grown meat uses the same organics that happen in the animal to trigger growth.

That said, price-wise, real meat will have to become very very expensive before lab-grown meat will be competitive. Breeding cattle is expensive, but a lot of it is just making sure life happens. Cows are hearty, self feed and have immune systems.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You haven't mentioned if there are any ethical concerns with this new meat; e.g. environmental cost of the production process, what kind of human labour is required to create it, who is providing that labour and under what conditions are they working.

Provided I had no ethical concerns with it, sure, but a lot of modern innovations tend to have these issues and I assume lab-grown meat would have these issues too.

Edit: Also, I'm opposed to animal captivity, so if there's an ongoing need to collect samples from captive livestock then no, I wouldn't. If it's a "collect it once then it keeps reproducing from the lab samples forever" type of thing then sure.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 6 points 1 day ago

I would definitely eat cultured meat as long as it’s not too expensive.

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

No, i'd go vegan before i'd eat cultured meat. I'm not opposed to it and it's probably better for the economy and environment, but I have a mental thing about it. Granted if I had to catch and clean my own meat, i'd also probably go vegan. Maybe I'm just squeamish about my food.

[–] flashgnash@lemm.ee 2 points 4 hours ago

I do wish more people would come to terms with that, I have no issues with people eating meat provided they're actively aware of what's happened to put that meat on their plate

Too many people never even think about it

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Sorta sounds like you already think meat is gross.

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm pretty picky about the meat I do eat. It's the fat and gristle that I can't stand. After a pork chop, it looks like a dissection. I don't like to eat around bones. If I think about it too much, old probably end up vegetarian, which would probably be better for me given my other health issues. I don't think anybody ever died from eating too many vegetables.

[–] Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 2 points 15 hours ago

This actually happened to me too for quite a long while. I knew I would be vegan for maybe 10 years before I decided I should just do it one day. Life's weird like that. I will say its pretty important to have fresh veggies and fruits nearby or else its practically impossible no matter what.

[–] argarath@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

What is the mental thing you have against lab grown meat?

[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

It sort of grosses me out. I don't know how to explain it.

[–] GhiLA@sh.itjust.works 2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Can I see the lab?

no

Darnit...

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 5 points 20 hours ago

Don't ask to see a slaughterhouse...

[–] bruhduh@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)
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