Marni Soupcoff: The future of meat has arrived

Chicken bites made from lab-grown cultured chicken developed by Eat Just. PHOTO BY EAT JUST, INC./HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

 In a world that is constantly evolving it is clear that it is “normal” for absolutely everything that surrounds us to evolve, but now, has the future of meat arrived? That said, it is necessary to indicate a relevant fact of interest to the public and that is that from ethics to environmental responsibility, laboratory-grown meat has more advantages to offer than any other food innovation in recent memory.

Now, in a move that is being hailed as a major turning point for the food industry, Singapore regulators have become the first in the world to approve the sale of lab-grown meat without slaughter. But what if consumers disgust the idea of chicken cells being grown in bioreactors to make development the watershed it should be?

Certainly, cultured meat has the potential to be better than “normal” meat in many ways, and while few people will care about all the benefits, most people will be touched by at least one of them.

A very considerable alternative

It is clear that anyone who cares about the suffering animals endures while being industrially raised and slaughtered for food must appreciate a system that eliminates industrial agriculture and slaughter. And if not, they are probably letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. It may sound unnatural to create meat from a cell bank, and yes it may. However, there is probably no better way to protect nature.

Environmentalists should be interested in all the land, energy, and water that could be saved by growing meat rather than raising animals, especially in the case of beef, which typically requires 14,982 liters of water per kilogram to get from pasture to pasture plate. Similarly, farmed meat should eventually dramatically reduce air and water pollution caused by livestock. An industrial farm can easily generate millions of liters of animal waste per year, whereas a bioreactor does not generate any.

What is clear is that helping to ensure that everyone on earth has enough to eat would, in itself, be reason enough to support this: Test tube meat is a boon for food security. But from ethics to environmental responsibility, lab-grown meat has more benefits to offer than any other food innovation in recent memory.

Source: Marni Soupcoff | National Post