6 ms·

It seems like this is all for solving the wrong problem. Why isn't there a shift away from the perceived need for more meat.

myko 13y ago
Could you elaborate? I don't understand what you mean by perceived need for more meat - to me this seems like a project geared at creating more ethical, future proof meat products.
- runarberg 13y ago
  Humanity has never -- with the exception of extreme cases, historical or modern -- eaten as much meat as the western man does now [1]. The only reason we eat as much meat as we do, I think, is out of marketing. The perceived need for more meat is therefor to saturate the marked. The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. [1] I suppose I need a reference for this claim, but think in terms of economy and you'll find that no other culture can afford this much land and resorces to go under meat-farming other than current western cultures --edit-- I forgot about humans living in extreme environments that live (by necesity) almost exclusively on meat, like the inuits in Greenland, before major western influence. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of all culteres do, and have in the past, eaten but a porportion of the meat that the average westerners eat today.
  - VMG 13y ago
    > eaten as much meat as the western man does now sexist > The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. Most of these problems are addressed by artificial meat
  - speeder 13y ago
    Actually, the land/people ratio now is vert low, there is research named "original affluent societies" that show that stone age people were rich and lived better, because low population means they almost did not had to work, with plenty of food, including hunted meat available.
  - oh_sigh 13y ago
    > The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. That's the whole point of growing meat in a lab. It isn't economical to do it now, but it also wasn't economical to have a personal computer 30 years ago, or to get your DNA sequenced 10 years ago.
  - jeltz 13y ago
    > I suppose I need a reference for this claim, but think in terms of economy and you'll find that no other culture can afford this much land and resorces to go under meat-farming other than current western cultures Yeah, you do need a source here. An obvious counterexample is the Inuits, but there have been several other societies with high meat consumption. Also note the high meat consumption of the upper class in Europe during some centuries (the popularity of meat varied over time).
  - bane 13y ago
    > Humanity has never -- in no culture, historical or modern -- eaten as much meat as the western man does now Absolutely incorrect. There are several well known groups of humans who survive off of a diet of principally animal products. edit -- apologized for snark I agree. In most places historically with good arable land, meat is not nearly as prevalent in a meal as today's Western diet. In many places, meat is pretty much just used as a flavoring in dishes like you might find in Chinese-American Szechuan String Beans (the little salted pork bits).
    - runarberg 13y ago
      You are right, and I edited me original comment accordingly
      - bane 13y ago
        Sorry, I realize my reply came off a bit snarky and pedantic as well. I think my inner-neck beard was choking me.
  - venomsnake 13y ago
    There have been observation that when tribes move from hunting to agriculture (usually of desperation) the average height collapses and the decay of teeth is brutal in just a few generations. Blaming marketing for meat consumption is somewhat unfair - people love meat - in the past it was reserved for the rich and wealthy - gout was called "The illness of kings". A lot of people just love meat.
    - runarberg 13y ago
      > Blaming marketing for meat consumption is somewhat unfair - people love meat - in the past it was reserved for the rich and wealthy Don't be confused, it still is. The sepparation now just spans continents instead of classes.

myko 13y ago

Could you elaborate? I don't understand what you mean by perceived need for more meat - to me this seems like a project geared at creating more ethical, future proof meat products.

runarberg 13y ago
Humanity has never -- with the exception of extreme cases, historical or modern -- eaten as much meat as the western man does now [1]. The only reason we eat as much meat as we do, I think, is out of marketing. The perceived need for more meat is therefor to saturate the marked. The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. [1] I suppose I need a reference for this claim, but think in terms of economy and you'll find that no other culture can afford this much land and resorces to go under meat-farming other than current western cultures --edit-- I forgot about humans living in extreme environments that live (by necesity) almost exclusively on meat, like the inuits in Greenland, before major western influence. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of all culteres do, and have in the past, eaten but a porportion of the meat that the average westerners eat today.
- VMG 13y ago
  > eaten as much meat as the western man does now sexist > The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. Most of these problems are addressed by artificial meat
- speeder 13y ago
  Actually, the land/people ratio now is vert low, there is research named "original affluent societies" that show that stone age people were rich and lived better, because low population means they almost did not had to work, with plenty of food, including hunted meat available.
- oh_sigh 13y ago
  > The problem arising from growing meat consumption include, pollution, maldistribution of food, animal suffering, wasting of land and resources, wasting of water, etc. That's the whole point of growing meat in a lab. It isn't economical to do it now, but it also wasn't economical to have a personal computer 30 years ago, or to get your DNA sequenced 10 years ago.
- jeltz 13y ago
  > I suppose I need a reference for this claim, but think in terms of economy and you'll find that no other culture can afford this much land and resorces to go under meat-farming other than current western cultures Yeah, you do need a source here. An obvious counterexample is the Inuits, but there have been several other societies with high meat consumption. Also note the high meat consumption of the upper class in Europe during some centuries (the popularity of meat varied over time).
- bane 13y ago
  > Humanity has never -- in no culture, historical or modern -- eaten as much meat as the western man does now Absolutely incorrect. There are several well known groups of humans who survive off of a diet of principally animal products. edit -- apologized for snark I agree. In most places historically with good arable land, meat is not nearly as prevalent in a meal as today's Western diet. In many places, meat is pretty much just used as a flavoring in dishes like you might find in Chinese-American Szechuan String Beans (the little salted pork bits).
  - runarberg 13y ago
    You are right, and I edited me original comment accordingly
    - bane 13y ago
      Sorry, I realize my reply came off a bit snarky and pedantic as well. I think my inner-neck beard was choking me.
- venomsnake 13y ago
  There have been observation that when tribes move from hunting to agriculture (usually of desperation) the average height collapses and the decay of teeth is brutal in just a few generations. Blaming marketing for meat consumption is somewhat unfair - people love meat - in the past it was reserved for the rich and wealthy - gout was called "The illness of kings". A lot of people just love meat.
  - runarberg 13y ago
    > Blaming marketing for meat consumption is somewhat unfair - people love meat - in the past it was reserved for the rich and wealthy Don't be confused, it still is. The sepparation now just spans continents instead of classes.