Meat with a Twist

Throughout history, the environment has been getting progressively worse. These environmental issues extend to the mistreatment of animals in standard farms, where animals are raised for meat. There have been numerous attempts to prevent the continuation of these issues, such as persuading people to switch to a vegan diet and organically grown products. However, the effectiveness of these potential solutions has been minimal. Perhaps a better future solution can be found in the production of lab-grown meats. This option allows humans to continue eating their beloved meats while sparing animal lives and helping the environment in the process. This alternative to eating can potentially be the answer the world has been looking for because of its large range of benefits that affect the animal population, the environment, and even the human race.

The concept of producing lab-grown meat, also known as "cultured meat," was first introduced to the world in the year 1998 by a man named Jon Vein. His research set the foundation for future experiments regarding cultured meat. As described by Maastricht University, the process of producing this specific type of meat begins by taking an animal's cell, such as a muscle or a fat cell. The acquired cell is then fed a specific nutrient that allows it to grow and eventually multiply. All throughout the process, the cell is carefully monitored to ensure that there is no harmful bacteria contamination occurring in it. After being nurtured for a lengthy period of time, the meat is then ready for consumption. Even though the methods used to acquire this piece of meat are different from typical methods used to obtain meat, the overall taste is similar.
   
The technology used in manufacturing cultured meat is identical to what is used in biomedicine. Sam Bloch, a staff writer at "The New Food Economy," states, "Cultured meat, for those who don't know, is a new kind of meat that emerges largely from technical advances in biomedicine, such as stem cell biology and tissue engineering. Biologically, it's meat. Like margarine...it could be a big leap forward for the companies that make stuff for supermarket shelves." It is evident that this technology is fully available for human use. However, the procedures in making the meat must still be finetuned for the meat to be widely accessible. Currently, lab-grown meats are not open to the public. But a man named Jonathan Shieber, an editor at TechCrunch and a previous senior reporter for Dow Jones, predicts cultured meat to be on store shelves by 2022.

The lab-approach to the production of meat offers both animals and the environment multiple benefits. It also presents several advantages for humanity. The most obvious benefit is the preservation of animal lives. It is not uncommon for an animal to be abused and mistreated while growing up on a farm. Then, when the time is right, they are taken to a slaughterhouse where they are violently killed. Also, sometimes questionable processes are used to produce profit-driven mutations, highlighting how unethical humans can be when producing meat. Switching to consuming lab-grown meat promotes the concept of modifying animal cells as opposed to animals in general. Protecting animals is just one of many advantages to adopting this way of producing meat. In addition to this benefit, the environment is also positively impacted. In a documentary I saw entitled Cowspiracy, Kip Andersen, "a young, concerned citizen hoping to put an end to sizable ecological crises," explains the roles animals play on environmental conditions. Andersen mentions how cattle typically produce a large sum of gases, including methane and CO2, when being raised. The process of growing cultured meat, however, does not involve as much gas emissions. Another way in which the production of lab-produced meat could potentially help the environment is through its usage of land. Andersen also acknowledges the fact that a large portion of land is devoted to cattle that live on standard farms. Cultural farming, on the other hand, would eliminate most of the land used for livestock by allowing the livestock to be more mobile and not so complacent. This, in turn, would allow the gases to be spread out across the globe as opposed to being cooped up in one single place. One last environmental benefit that comes with lab-grown meats focuses on factories. Factories are known to introduce a lot of harmful gases into the atmosphere. By eliminating the use of large factories that produce uncultured meat, global warming would not be as huge an issue as it is today. The numerous benefits that touch both the environment and the animals already gives plenty of reasons as to why one should support the production of lab-produced meats. However, there are several other benefits regarding humans that one should also consider.
   
In addition to the benefits offered to both the environment and the cattle, cultured meat might someday aid in long-duration space missions. Robert Kunzig, an experienced science journalist who is also a senior environment editor for both National Geographic and Discover Magazine, writes, "Modern Meadow [(a company that constructs Zoa, a platform composed of biologically-produced proteins)] sees an opening for [cultured meat] on long-duration space missions (which won't have room for livestock)" (308). Another advantage to investing in lab-produced meat would be its preservation. According to this idea, "The use of LAB as bioprotective cultures to extend the shelf life of fresh meat can improve microbial stability and safety in commercial meat preservation" (P. Castellano et al.). The extension of meat preservation serves as another small advantage to investing in this product. All in all, cultural farming offers numerous benefits to the animals, the environment, and the human population.

While there are several obvious benefits to changing one's diet by incorporating lab-produced meats, one might still wonder why a different approach to solving the environmental/animal crisis, such as organic farming, would not be just as effective. After all, switching to consuming organic only products would inevitably result in healthier soil. Additionally, popularizing organic farming would eliminate certain pesticides and fertilizers, thus improving human/environmental health concerns. David Biello, a journalist and associate editor of "Scientific American", claims that several farmers look to organic farming as a means to "minimize environmental and human health impacts by avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and hormones or antibiotic treatments for livestock, among other tactics" (262). This resolution, to an extent, is true. However, while organic standards may reduce pesticide exposure and be better for the environment, it does not address the issue of animal slaughter and abuse.

Another method one might consider when attempting to save both the environment and the animals is to become vegan. Unlike organic farming, veganism does address animal treatment issues while also addressing environmental concerns. One quote written by Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and widely published author/journalist, states that "going vegan is 50 percent more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than switching to a hybrid car according to a University of Chicago study" (230). A common misconception many people have is the idea that he or she can influence the environment greatly if they discontinue the various activities they perform, such as prolonged showers and, like McKibben said, switching to a hybrid car. Just as McKibben mentions, humans can do more good for the environment by becoming vegan rather than stopping habits that might have little to no effect on the environment. However, I do not see a future in which a majority of the world is on a vegan diet. For many individuals, there is a strong desire to eat meat. Whether the reasoning for this is to satisfy a craving or due to the comfort of a family memory, it is still difficult for a large sum of people to come together and give up their love for meats in order to do the environment and the animals a favor. For this reason alone, I believe that people becoming vegan only has the potential to be an incremental improvement, not a comprehensive solution.

One final opposing viewpoint that a person might have regarding the lab-produced solution is based on cost and quantity. As of 2019, both the cost and the amount of meat able to be produced in one cell is less than desirable. However, I believe that through continued effort to improve production efficiencies and to develop technological breakthroughs, humans will be able to cut the price for producing cultured meat significantly while also improving the yields of lab-grown meat. As a matter of fact, Nicole Axworthy, a recipe developer and author, notes that prices are expected to drop from an initial $280,000 per patty to a final $10 per patty by 2021. This reduction in price would not only help the meat become affordable, it would also contribute towards better yield results. 

Without a doubt, cultured meat is arguably the most efficient way to protect both the environment and the animals. Although other forms of saving the environment, such as consuming organic products, and saving animals, such as becoming vegan, are available for human use, they are not the best approach to solve the festering issue involving both animal welfare and ecological stability. Through advanced research and new innovative technologies, humans, animals, and the environment can benefit from eating lab-produced meats.

Axworthy, Nicole. “Price of Lab-Grown Meat.” VegNews, 14 July 2019, https://vegnews.com/2019/7/price-of-lab-grown-meat-to-plummet-from-280000-to-10-per-patty-by-2021

Biello, David. “Will Organic Food Fail to Feed the World.” Food Matters. 2^nd ed., edited by Holly Bauer, Bedford St Martin’s, 2017, pp 262-265

Bloch, Sam. “The Hype and Hope Surrounding Lab-Grown Meat.” The New Food Economy, 23 July 2019, https://newfoodeconomy.org/new-harvest-cell-cultured-meat-lab-meat/

Castellano, Patricia, et al. “A review of bacteriocinogenic lactic acid bacteria.” ScienceDirect, July 2008, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030917400700314 2?via%3Dih  ub

"Cow" by maraker is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 

COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret. Directed by Kip Andersen, performances by Michael Pollan, Howard Lyman, Michael Klaper, Chad Nelsen, Heather Cooley, Susan Hartland, Bruce Hamilton, Lindsey Allen, Will Anderson, Netflix, 2014

"Environment" by harris nasril is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Kunzig, Robert. “Test-Tube Meat: Have Your Pig and Eat It Too.” Food Matters. 2^nd ed., edited by Holly Bauer, Bedford St Martin’s, 2017, pp 307-310

Maastricht University. What is Cultured Meat. https://culturedbeef.org/what-cultured-meat. Accessed 9 Dec 2019

McKibben, Bill. “The Only Way to Have a Cow.” Food Matters. 2^nd ed., edited by Holly Bauer, Bedford St Martin’s, 2017, pp 229-232

"Meat lab" by UGA CAES/Extension is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 

Shieber, Jonathan. “Lab-Grown Meat Could be on Store Shelves by 2022.” TechCrunch, 10 Oct 2019, https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/10/lab-grown-meat-could-be-on-store-shelves-by-2022-thanks-to-future-meat-technologies/
"Vegetables" by HatM is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0