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Hmm.. pretend this takes off and the quality of the meat is good. Would a vegan be inclined to eat this lab meat? Seems like most vegans that I talk to are most

Hmm.. pretend this takes off and the quality of the meat is good. Would a vegan be inclined to eat this lab meat? Seems like most vegans that I talk to are mostly motivated by animal cruelty issues. Just curious.

marshallp 15y ago
Animal tissue grown without a brain is basically a plant, so in principle there should be no problem for a vegan to eat lab meat.
- ebiester 15y ago
  Not all vegans are ethical vegans. Religious vegans and vegetarians likely would not eat it, for example, nor would vegans for health reasons.
  - merlincorey 15y ago
    Please cite your sources regarding veganism being healthy.
    - _delirium 15y ago
      I just read him/her as saying that people who avoid meat for health reasons would likely avoid this meat as well. Whether they're mistaken to avoid meat for health reasons doesn't seem specifically tied to artificial meat.
    - sneakay 15y ago
      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12826028 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12826028
    - latch 15y ago
      wiki has a number of sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan#Health_arguments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan#Health_arguments
    - ebiester 15y ago
      The claim is that there are individuals who believe veganism is healthier, not that it is healthier. I am not a vegan.
kleiba 15y ago
I'm vegetarian, and I would be happy to have that "meat", depending on the exact production process.
thristian 15y ago
My sister is a vegetarian, and from what she's told me she started because of animal cruelty issues, but she kept going because (a) it's kind of a point of pride to maintain a lifestyle deliberately different from other people's, no matter how minor, and (b) after not eating meat for a while, the taste becomes strange and unpleasant. Like any 'new' food, she could reacclimatise to it if necessary, but it would require effort. So I'm guessing that many existing vegans and vegetarians wouldn't eat lab-grown meat. It might well cut down on the number of people who become vegetarian in the first place, though.
- bwarp 15y ago
  I didn't eat meat for about 5 years. One day I just bought a quarter pounder with cheese from McDonalds for no particular reason other than I felt crappy after being sick for two weeks. That was the tastiest thing I'd ever eaten! At the same time, I don't know why I do eat meat now but I seem to crave/need it and just can't shift that. I don't usually actually like it either ironically (apart from that one quarter pounder above).
  - dkersten 15y ago
    I don't know why I do eat meat now but I seem to crave/need it A friend of mine was vegetarian for many years and one day, about two years ago, she collapsed and the doctor told her she needed to eat meat again because her body had stopped processing protein properly and she wasn't getting enough from non-meat alternatives anymore (or something like that, don't remember the exact details now).
latch 15y ago
I'm pretty sure strict vegans (is there any other kind?) would continue to have a problem with it. The original definition is: Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals Note that they consider honey to be an exploitation of animals...so I assume extracting muscle tissues from a cow would also be considered exploitation of animals. Furthermore, it pretty explicitly states "living on the products of the plant kingdom".
- Sniffnoy 15y ago
  Yes, but one has to wonder whether linear output requiring nearly constant animal input, vs. linear output requiring linear animal input, will cause some people to rethink this (thus resulting in a split in veganism). Every burger may ultimately come from exploitation of a cow, but if the burger in front of you does not come from any additional exploitation of a cow, many people may not have a problem with it. Unless there are already existing products that have this property, in which case I guess we have our answer. Or if it's not so non-linear as it sounds, in which case there's no question.
  - latch 15y ago
    Well, there's still the issue of "living on the products of the plant kingdom." The only thing I can think of that's similar would maybe be recycled leather. I still think ethical vegans would have a problem with it, and I don't see this changing the opinion of anyone doing it for health reasons. I think environmental vegans are the most likely to buy into this..if it even becomes an efficient way to produce nutrition/calories. I could certainly see some more pragmatic organizations throwing their weight behind it.."if you must eat beef, at least eat this kind of beef (but consider X, Y and Z as even better alternatives)."
    - ido 15y ago
aaronblohowiak 15y ago
PETA, the world's largest pro-vegan organization, offers a $1 million prize for petri-dish meat. http://www.peta.org/features/in-vitro-meat-contest.aspx http://www.peta.org/features/in-vitro-meat-contest.aspx
hkarthik 15y ago
I'm a converted vegetarian, so I miss meat a lot and still crave it quite a bit. I would gladly eat this. My wife, on the other hand, is a lifelong vegetarian that can't stand the odors of cooked meat and anything resembling real meat. So I think among vegetarians it will be a matter of preference and taste. Thankfully the ethics will be left out of it.

marshallp 15y ago

Animal tissue grown without a brain is basically a plant, so in principle there should be no problem for a vegan to eat lab meat.

ebiester 15y ago
Not all vegans are ethical vegans. Religious vegans and vegetarians likely would not eat it, for example, nor would vegans for health reasons.
- merlincorey 15y ago
  Please cite your sources regarding veganism being healthy.
  - _delirium 15y ago
    I just read him/her as saying that people who avoid meat for health reasons would likely avoid this meat as well. Whether they're mistaken to avoid meat for health reasons doesn't seem specifically tied to artificial meat.
  - sneakay 15y ago
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12826028 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12826028
  - latch 15y ago
    wiki has a number of sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan#Health_arguments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan#Health_arguments
  - ebiester 15y ago
    The claim is that there are individuals who believe veganism is healthier, not that it is healthier. I am not a vegan.

kleiba 15y ago

I'm vegetarian, and I would be happy to have that "meat", depending on the exact production process.

thristian 15y ago

My sister is a vegetarian, and from what she's told me she started because of animal cruelty issues, but she kept going because (a) it's kind of a point of pride to maintain a lifestyle deliberately different from other people's, no matter how minor, and (b) after not eating meat for a while, the taste becomes strange and unpleasant. Like any 'new' food, she could reacclimatise to it if necessary, but it would require effort. So I'm guessing that many existing vegans and vegetarians wouldn't eat lab-grown meat. It might well cut down on the number of people who become vegetarian in the first place, though.

bwarp 15y ago
I didn't eat meat for about 5 years. One day I just bought a quarter pounder with cheese from McDonalds for no particular reason other than I felt crappy after being sick for two weeks. That was the tastiest thing I'd ever eaten! At the same time, I don't know why I do eat meat now but I seem to crave/need it and just can't shift that. I don't usually actually like it either ironically (apart from that one quarter pounder above).
- dkersten 15y ago
  I don't know why I do eat meat now but I seem to crave/need it A friend of mine was vegetarian for many years and one day, about two years ago, she collapsed and the doctor told her she needed to eat meat again because her body had stopped processing protein properly and she wasn't getting enough from non-meat alternatives anymore (or something like that, don't remember the exact details now).

latch 15y ago

I'm pretty sure strict vegans (is there any other kind?) would continue to have a problem with it. The original definition is: Veganism is a way of living which excludes all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, the animal kingdom, and includes a reverence for life. It applies to the practice of living on the products of the plant kingdom to the exclusion of flesh, fish, fowl, eggs, honey, animal milk and its derivatives, and encourages the use of alternatives for all commodities derived wholly or in part from animals Note that they consider honey to be an exploitation of animals...so I assume extracting muscle tissues from a cow would also be considered exploitation of animals. Furthermore, it pretty explicitly states "living on the products of the plant kingdom".

Sniffnoy 15y ago
Yes, but one has to wonder whether linear output requiring nearly constant animal input, vs. linear output requiring linear animal input, will cause some people to rethink this (thus resulting in a split in veganism). Every burger may ultimately come from exploitation of a cow, but if the burger in front of you does not come from any additional exploitation of a cow, many people may not have a problem with it. Unless there are already existing products that have this property, in which case I guess we have our answer. Or if it's not so non-linear as it sounds, in which case there's no question.
- latch 15y ago
  Well, there's still the issue of "living on the products of the plant kingdom." The only thing I can think of that's similar would maybe be recycled leather. I still think ethical vegans would have a problem with it, and I don't see this changing the opinion of anyone doing it for health reasons. I think environmental vegans are the most likely to buy into this..if it even becomes an efficient way to produce nutrition/calories. I could certainly see some more pragmatic organizations throwing their weight behind it.."if you must eat beef, at least eat this kind of beef (but consider X, Y and Z as even better alternatives)."
  - ido 15y ago

aaronblohowiak 15y ago

PETA, the world's largest pro-vegan organization, offers a $1 million prize for petri-dish meat. http://www.peta.org/features/in-vitro-meat-contest.aspx http://www.peta.org/features/in-vitro-meat-contest.aspx

hkarthik 15y ago

I'm a converted vegetarian, so I miss meat a lot and still crave it quite a bit. I would gladly eat this. My wife, on the other hand, is a lifelong vegetarian that can't stand the odors of cooked meat and anything resembling real meat. So I think among vegetarians it will be a matter of preference and taste. Thankfully the ethics will be left out of it.