9 ms·

I'm not sure if I'd eat this burger, but if lab-grown meat was available and as good as the natural alternative, I think I would definitely switch. Sadly if ev

I'm not sure if I'd eat this burger, but if lab-grown meat was available and as good as the natural alternative, I think I would definitely switch. Sadly if everyone did this it would probably mean we would only see cows, sheep etc in zoos, rather than grazing in fields.

hombre_fatal 8y ago
The industrial meat/ag complex loves that you think of their products as coming from the sort of happy pasture-grazing farms you see on the side of the highway.
- deadmetheny 8y ago
  Most of them do. Chickens are the main exception, and I would agree that their conditions are pretty bad. Downvoters - I live in the Midwest. I grew up on a farm. Much of my family still farms and raises livestock. Factory farming of livestock is not the norm for non-poultry.
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    I beg to differ - it has basically become the norm for pigs. It didn't used to be, but it has become so. I grew up in Indiana. Now, I've not lived there in 5 years, but I did live quite some time in a place that pigs outnumbered people in the county. The county seat was 3000. Even smelling pigs was becoming a rarity while out on a country drive and a flood meant that thousands of pigs drowned in a flooded barn ("pig factory"). Perhaps you are in a place where the pigs usually roam free, but I certainly wasn't.
    - deadmetheny 8y ago
      Hogs are not a very common livestock animal in my area, so I have no knowledge of their conditions. I do know that sows are commonly caged separately from their piglets to avoid the mother accidentally rolling over and crushing them while they nurse, but that's about it.
  - kawsper 8y ago
    According to the ASPCA, over 95% of farm animals in the U.S. are raised in factory farms[0]: [0] https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare According to Dr. Hershaft, a holocaust survivor which has dedicated his life to researching animal rights, it is estimated that less than 1% of the meat in the US are from smallscale family farms, he and his team did an AMA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2h8df0/i_am_an_80yearold_holocaust_survivor_who/ckqbak1/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2h8df0/i_am_an_80year...
    - maemilius 8y ago
      According to the ASPCA: > A factory farm is a large, industrial operation that raises large numbers of animals for food. That's an _extremely_ broad definition that says nothing about the condition of the animals.
      - deadmetheny 8y ago
        On top of this, that percentage is most likely due the sheer volume of chickens in the world. From what I remember there's something like 750 million head of cattle in the world, and like 18 billion chickens. This doesn't make up for the awful treatment of poultry, but it doesn't really extrapolate to animals like cattle and sheep.
- gadders 8y ago
  I live in semi-rural England in Kent. In the collection of fields around my house are pigs, sheep and beef cattle. I'm lucky enough that I can buy meat from happy pasture-grazing animals. On the flip side, I also get to interact with the animals - stroke them, feed them apples etc. It makes me happier that they have a good life, and also sadder as I can see that they're actual creatures with a life.
Broken_Hippo 8y ago
"Sadly if everyone did this it would probably mean we would only see cows, sheep etc in zoos, rather than grazing in fields." Eh, not really, as cows and sheep and goats still provide valuable resources. Milk and wools, for example. I'm guessing lots of other things can be taken as they die naturally - leathers and stuff from bones and pet foods and whatnot. Sure, we could eventually engineer ourselves out of needing farm animals, but it is going to take some time. Granted, I am excited for this meat/burger to be available to the public even if you shy away from eating it. I don't eat meats outside of fish anyway and I'm always excited to get tastier edible stuff.
- kkhire 8y ago
  there's nut milks and faux leather. nearly everything has a plant-based alternative and if something doesn't, it will have one soon.
  - RussianCow 8y ago
    Nut milks are nowhere near the same as animal milk. I have tried all sorts of alternate milks, and none of them come close to the flavor or texture of good whole milk from cows. So I'd say there are many things we really haven't figured out how to replicate without animals yet.
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    We do have faux leather. I have yet to find one that behaves like leather for footwear, however: Faux leather causes me to develop foot fungus. I can wear cloth, but by the time it gets treated as necessary, I'm not sure we are improving over the leather. But hey, it can improve. Nut milks are an odd thing. They aren't really nutritionally the same nor do they behave similarly while cooking. The taste is lacking and I highly doubt they can make cheese. And if I remember correctly, many nuts milks are also bad for the environment - much better to just eat the nuts. I don't know if this is the same for oat milks. Soy milk is simply not edible. (I don't personally drink milk, but do cook with it). Milk is truly one of those things that has to replace all functions for it to be a viable switch. The same goes for eggs. All this basically to say that just because there is an alternative doesn't really mean it is viable. Cotton doesn't replace wools and neither do synthetic fabrics, for example. Not to mention that at least some synthetics are made with petroleum products. I always hope they are otherwise waste products from producing fuel (like many other plastics), but I'm not sure.
sc4les 8y ago
See how happy they are: https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko
delecti 8y ago
You should really give them a shot before entirely dismissing them out of hand. Admittedly my opinion is less informed, being a vegetarian, but I love them. My wife loves them too though, and her favorite food is steak.

hombre_fatal 8y ago

The industrial meat/ag complex loves that you think of their products as coming from the sort of happy pasture-grazing farms you see on the side of the highway.

deadmetheny 8y ago
Most of them do. Chickens are the main exception, and I would agree that their conditions are pretty bad. Downvoters - I live in the Midwest. I grew up on a farm. Much of my family still farms and raises livestock. Factory farming of livestock is not the norm for non-poultry.
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  I beg to differ - it has basically become the norm for pigs. It didn't used to be, but it has become so. I grew up in Indiana. Now, I've not lived there in 5 years, but I did live quite some time in a place that pigs outnumbered people in the county. The county seat was 3000. Even smelling pigs was becoming a rarity while out on a country drive and a flood meant that thousands of pigs drowned in a flooded barn ("pig factory"). Perhaps you are in a place where the pigs usually roam free, but I certainly wasn't.
  - deadmetheny 8y ago
    Hogs are not a very common livestock animal in my area, so I have no knowledge of their conditions. I do know that sows are commonly caged separately from their piglets to avoid the mother accidentally rolling over and crushing them while they nurse, but that's about it.
- kawsper 8y ago
  According to the ASPCA, over 95% of farm animals in the U.S. are raised in factory farms[0]: [0] https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare https://www.aspca.org/animal-cruelty/farm-animal-welfare According to Dr. Hershaft, a holocaust survivor which has dedicated his life to researching animal rights, it is estimated that less than 1% of the meat in the US are from smallscale family farms, he and his team did an AMA on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2h8df0/i_am_an_80yearold_holocaust_survivor_who/ckqbak1/ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2h8df0/i_am_an_80year...
  - maemilius 8y ago
    According to the ASPCA: > A factory farm is a large, industrial operation that raises large numbers of animals for food. That's an _extremely_ broad definition that says nothing about the condition of the animals.
    - deadmetheny 8y ago
      On top of this, that percentage is most likely due the sheer volume of chickens in the world. From what I remember there's something like 750 million head of cattle in the world, and like 18 billion chickens. This doesn't make up for the awful treatment of poultry, but it doesn't really extrapolate to animals like cattle and sheep.
gadders 8y ago
I live in semi-rural England in Kent. In the collection of fields around my house are pigs, sheep and beef cattle. I'm lucky enough that I can buy meat from happy pasture-grazing animals. On the flip side, I also get to interact with the animals - stroke them, feed them apples etc. It makes me happier that they have a good life, and also sadder as I can see that they're actual creatures with a life.

Broken_Hippo 8y ago

"Sadly if everyone did this it would probably mean we would only see cows, sheep etc in zoos, rather than grazing in fields." Eh, not really, as cows and sheep and goats still provide valuable resources. Milk and wools, for example. I'm guessing lots of other things can be taken as they die naturally - leathers and stuff from bones and pet foods and whatnot. Sure, we could eventually engineer ourselves out of needing farm animals, but it is going to take some time. Granted, I am excited for this meat/burger to be available to the public even if you shy away from eating it. I don't eat meats outside of fish anyway and I'm always excited to get tastier edible stuff.

kkhire 8y ago
there's nut milks and faux leather. nearly everything has a plant-based alternative and if something doesn't, it will have one soon.
- RussianCow 8y ago
  Nut milks are nowhere near the same as animal milk. I have tried all sorts of alternate milks, and none of them come close to the flavor or texture of good whole milk from cows. So I'd say there are many things we really haven't figured out how to replicate without animals yet.
- Broken_Hippo 8y ago
  We do have faux leather. I have yet to find one that behaves like leather for footwear, however: Faux leather causes me to develop foot fungus. I can wear cloth, but by the time it gets treated as necessary, I'm not sure we are improving over the leather. But hey, it can improve. Nut milks are an odd thing. They aren't really nutritionally the same nor do they behave similarly while cooking. The taste is lacking and I highly doubt they can make cheese. And if I remember correctly, many nuts milks are also bad for the environment - much better to just eat the nuts. I don't know if this is the same for oat milks. Soy milk is simply not edible. (I don't personally drink milk, but do cook with it). Milk is truly one of those things that has to replace all functions for it to be a viable switch. The same goes for eggs. All this basically to say that just because there is an alternative doesn't really mean it is viable. Cotton doesn't replace wools and neither do synthetic fabrics, for example. Not to mention that at least some synthetics are made with petroleum products. I always hope they are otherwise waste products from producing fuel (like many other plastics), but I'm not sure.

sc4les 8y ago

See how happy they are: https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko

delecti 8y ago

You should really give them a shot before entirely dismissing them out of hand. Admittedly my opinion is less informed, being a vegetarian, but I love them. My wife loves them too though, and her favorite food is steak.