People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal-rights group, has announced a $1 million prize for the first person who can create test-tube meat.
Parts is parts? PETA says that growing meat without real animals is more humane and environmentally friendly.
Still, I doubt if consumers will find the idea of lab-grown Frankennuggets appetizing.
But don’t scoff, says Slate writer William Saletan, who points out that scientists are already having success growing replacement organs such as livers and hearts.
“To put it crudely,†he writes, “if you can grow a hunk of flesh for transplant, you can grow it for food.â€
Are we on the verge of a Brave New World of food?
20 Comments
I also don’t like the idea of hormones injected into cows to create more milk. And we wonder why there are increases in diseases in children.
Would test tube veal have to be mistreated?
Gives a whole new definition to “tube steak.”
Wow. And you could grow ‘any’ meat. We may hear that line in real life:
“It’s people! Soylent Green is people!”
And we waste so much meat by burying the dead people
Would the calf have a navel?
I bet if PETA put that money towards actually finding homes for the dogs and other animals they “rescue” they wouldn’t have to euthanize the 90% plus they do.
Of course the media won’t tell you about all the animals PETA “rescues” then euthanizes.
This isn’t news – McDonalds has been serving artificial meat in their hamburgers for years.
Lets look at some of what these PETA people do:
“Trial set to start for PETA workers caught euthanizing, dumping cats and dogs”
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/0118/PETA_ctv.html
PETA Killed 97 Percent of ‘Companion Animals’ in 2006, According to VDACS
http://sev.prnewswire.com/publishing-information-services/20080111/DC1129510012008-1.html
I’d eat test tube meat if it tasted good, then wouldn’t have to go to Texas Roadhouse during my visits home and get hassled about ordering their chicken.
Maybe they can grow test-tube tuna…that stuff is may favorite sushi ever, and yet I stay away from it since it’s really not sustainable. I cheat though. Eat it once a week because it’s just so damn tasty.
Oh yeah, petakillsanimals.com.
Wahine? LOL Tara!
Appropriate, I must say.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahine
Tara – I read recently about a new ocean fish-farming technique off the HI coast – raising tuna. Great for sashimi and perhaps sustainable.
Tara – I read recently about a new ocean fish-farming technique off the HI coast – raising tuna. Great for sashimi and perhaps sustainable.
Ben, I was wondering: I like tuna, and I would really like sustainable, mercury-free tuna even better. How much contamination are we looking at off the HI coast, roughly speaking?
They were claiming the fish was undetectable for Hg. Ironically some of the fed is land-based – chicken by-products. That way it does not deplete the biosphere; it also might help protect from Hg bioacccumulation.
When I lived in LA I ate sashimi weekly; the ‘grandmother’ across the street bought it for me from the local fish-monger. I watched her once – scared me :) It seemed like she really let the guy know what’s what and that she expected the best! (even though I couldn’t understand a word she said)
It couldn’t be any worse than the crap they pass for food now.
No thanks! I’m carnivorous; I want genuine dead cow for dinner, not tofuburger, not texturized soy product, not soylent green. I want a steak rare enough to bleed and bawl when I cut it, and provide my minimum daily requirement of cholesterol and sodium. Meat!
Thanks, Rage. I recently took up surfing, so I thought it was appropriate.
“Tara – I read recently about a new ocean fish-farming technique off the HI coast – raising tuna. Great for sashimi and perhaps sustainable.”
Now, that would be something else! But I kind it hard to believe that we could ever farm tuna to a degree where we wouldn’t have to feel any guilt eating it. A few months ago I took a class I’m TA-ing to the fish market, and there were some 400 lb tuna for sale! I don’t think we can fence off enough ocean to farm enough 400 lb tuna to satisfy Japan’s (and to a much lesser degree, our) appetites.
“No thanks! I’m carnivorous; I want genuine dead cow for dinner, not tofuburger, not texturized soy product, not soylent green. I want a steak rare enough to bleed and bawl when I cut it, and provide my minimum daily requirement of cholesterol and sodium. Meat!”
Jed, I actually feel the same way–I loved (and still love, sigh) my medium rare kc strips with all the juices pooling at the bottom, YUM! But hey, if we can get our steaks from a meat-vat and they still taste good, everyone wins, right?
Hi Tara,
Do you really think Slig will taste as good as your KC Strip?
Tara – i think one of the keys to the farming is that they harvest the eggs and are able to get orders of magnitude higher hatch and survival rates.
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