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If the energy costs are higher than those of normal farming, the whole enterprise becomes hard to justify.
by whatshisface 4y ago
If the energy costs are higher than those of normal farming, the whole enterprise becomes hard to justify.
- NoZebra120vClip 4y agoOn one hand, you have a highly artificial process in labs with high-tech equipment, probably all patented and proprietary. On the other hand, you have a process that occurs completely naturally, that man has understood for millennia, that is open-source and public domain. Which one to justify to consumers, farmers, and developing nations? Hmm.
- mgrandl 4y agoYou fail to mention that the second options causes immense amounts of suffering to both animals and slaughterhouse workers and absolutely destroys our environment due to GHG and manure runoff. It also completely fucks up the biodiversity on this planet as now 80% of mammals by weight are livestock.
- NoZebra120vClip 4y agoIt doesn't have to. None of that is an intrinsic property of animal husbandry. All of what I mentioned seems to be intrinsic to cultured/manufactured meat, though.
- vintagedave 4y agoIt is intrinsic to the animal production in the quantities we consume, though. If we returned to 1950s levels of meat consumption (my parents and grandparents regarded eating a chicken as a treat), or grew chickens or cows in our own backyards, maybe. But in a world of 8 billion people with our diets, cruelty, pollution, carbon impact etc are all intrinsically tied to our meat consumption. So lab-grown, cruelty-free, without the carbon impact especially for highly polluting animals like cattle -- it's a wonderful idea.
- NoZebra120vClip 4y agoSo it's not intrinsic; it's related to quantity. Please have a look at the definition of "intrinsic".
- mrshadowgoose 4y agoDepends on your target customer. Some people are willing to pay more for what they consider to be "ethical meat".
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y agoIt's unlikely we can virtue-signal our way out of any problem. If something costs more, that's a good proxy for that product being more energy-intensive. And where thst isn't the case, the higher cost is likely lining someone's pocket, who will then go on to consume more, thereby generating more pollution.
- hombre_fatal 4y agoWhat’s your definition of virtue signaling here that doesn’t just cash out into someone having different ethical concerns than you?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- DoreenMichele 4y agoIf something costs more, that's a good proxy for that product being more energy-intensive. New products that come from new tech always cost more and early adopters tend to be people with money to spare. Unless you can come up with a source showing the higher energy usage -- one with a comprehensive lifetime comparison, not cherry picked -- this is a baseless comment.
- amusedcyclist 4y agoYeah we can also ban factory farming, like we ban murder.
- planter 4y agoThe correct definition of murder is as such: > Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse [...] Animals are not humans, killing an animal is not a murder. Attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to animals is called anthropomorphism.
- petesergeant 4y agoThere are far more negative externalities to production of meat than energy expenditure, especially if the alternative can use renewables