4 ms·
Could an ethical vegan weigh in on this? Separate this from health considerations for the moment. Would you feel that it is morally acceptable to eat meat cultu
by hirundo 6y ago
Could an ethical vegan weigh in on this? Separate this from health considerations for the moment. Would you feel that it is morally acceptable to eat meat cultured voluntarily from the cells of another competent adult human ... or from yourself?
I can't think why not.
Does it make a difference if the meat is cultured from a non-consenting cow, who is only briefly inconvenienced?
- Swizec 6y ago> Would you feel that it is morally acceptable to eat meat cultured voluntarily from the cells of another competent adult human ... or from yourself? Doesn’t cannibalism lead to various health issues or risks? Or does the lab-grown part fix that?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- presidentender 6y agoThe risk in cannibalism is around prion diseases, which is mostly a problem when we ingest brain tissue. Both mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) and kuru (a close human analogue) are more problematic when infected brain tissue is on the menu. With mad cow, the cattle were fed from recycled parts of the same species, mostly organ meats (including the brain). With kuru, the prions propagate mostly through brain tissue. Those prions sometimes find their way into muscle tissue, but unless we seed the lab-grown meat with proteins which include prions, it's unlikely to be an issue.
- ramraj07 6y agoNot vegan but trying vegetarian, and all I can say is, you do you buddy. Just yuck from me.
- ajharrison 6y agoVegan or nothing. Fuck vegetarianism.
- mac-chaffee 6y agoOn the first question, yes I don't see a problem (aside from the whole issue of people who are willing to donate stem cells for money would probably much prefer to have their financial needs met without requiring a medical procedure). On the second question, yes I think there is a slight difference since animals can't consent. If the question is strictly "would you rather do a biopsy on a cow or a consenting human" I'd choose the human. I'd think most people would agree on the rule "don't hurt a person unless you have a good reason". Vegans just extend that to "don't hurt an animal (the kingdom) unless you have a good reason". And to me, informed consent free from coercion is a good reason, but taste is not.
- TheRealNGenius 6y agoNot strictly an ethical vegan, but I wouldn't eat meat cultured from anything. Eating cultured meat from an animal seems no worse than normal meat, but eating cultured human meat seems straying into cannibalism. I'm sure there are reasons other than health for why this is not more popular.
- jobigoud 6y agoVegans are typically 100% ok with human milk consumption in the context of breast feeding, that's the closest precedent I can think of.