The initial idea of eating meat grown in a test tube may well sound a bit queasy, but once compared to current meat production techniques, in-vitro produced meats make an appealing alternative.
The $1 million prize PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) set food scientists to create marketable, in-vitro meat products by 2012 may extensively benefit animals, people and our environment. For people who lack the restraint to stop eating meat – despite irrefutable evidence of mass-produced animal products are very unhealthy, in vitro grown meat is a viable option with advantageous effects.
For starters, millions-upon-millions of animals would be spared from pain and suffering. Over 39 billion chickens, pigs, cows, and numerous other animals are slaughtered for their meat each year in the USA alone. The eradication of battery farms and abattoirs would mean an end to painful practices like branding, castration and de-beaking used in the industry today. Cows would no longer be dismembered, while they're still conscious and chickens won’t be blistered alive in de-feathering tanks.
As a result of producing in vitro meats, we will have an environmentally friendly planet and it could possibly end the global food crisis. Greenhouse gasses, like CO2 and methane, would be considerably less and animal waste won’t contaminate our waterways. It might eventually become feasible to cultivate millions of kilograms of protein from a single cell. This would be a monumental advancement for modern-day animal agriculture methods.
With our current meat cultivation practices, it takes up to 7 kilograms of grain to produce just 0.5 kilograms of meat. An astounding 800 million tons of grain will be used to feed animals this year alone, while only 100 million tons will be used to produce bio-fuels. Approximately 1.2 billion people could be fed with the soya beans and grain that is being used to feed the USA’s cattle alone. In the future, we won’t need to produce so many cattle, thus reducing how much grain they get given (Since they don’t exist!); grain which could feed starving people.
Also, humans will be much healthier. Not only because in-vitro meat contains no antibiotics or salmonella, but also because there will be no use for pollution- emitting animal factories. A recent study on farm pollution warned of catastrophic cases of pollution, sickness, and death that occur in areas where animal farming operations are concentrated. This will no longer be a problem.
Once in-vitro meats are commercially viable, our oil problems will also be considerably reduced. More than 1/3 of all the fossil fuels produced in the USA are used to raise livestock. Also, every single stage of meat production requires a lot of energy; and therefore extensive costs Lab-grown meat will have a major ethical, ecological and economical impact. Even though large quantities of in-vitro meat might not be viable for a few years, tasty meat-substitutes and other vegetarian alternatives can already be found in shops today, meaning there is no reason not to start making the world better today.
Muun
The $1 million prize PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) set food scientists to create marketable, in-vitro meat products by 2012 may extensively benefit animals, people and our environment. For people who lack the restraint to stop eating meat – despite irrefutable evidence of mass-produced animal products are very unhealthy, in vitro grown meat is a viable option with advantageous effects.
For starters, millions-upon-millions of animals would be spared from pain and suffering. Over 39 billion chickens, pigs, cows, and numerous other animals are slaughtered for their meat each year in the USA alone. The eradication of battery farms and abattoirs would mean an end to painful practices like branding, castration and de-beaking used in the industry today. Cows would no longer be dismembered, while they're still conscious and chickens won’t be blistered alive in de-feathering tanks.
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As a result of producing in vitro meats, we will have an environmentally friendly planet and it could possibly end the global food crisis. Greenhouse gasses, like CO2 and methane, would be considerably less and animal waste won’t contaminate our waterways. It might eventually become feasible to cultivate millions of kilograms of protein from a single cell. This would be a monumental advancement for modern-day animal agriculture methods.
With our current meat cultivation practices, it takes up to 7 kilograms of grain to produce just 0.5 kilograms of meat. An astounding 800 million tons of grain will be used to feed animals this year alone, while only 100 million tons will be used to produce bio-fuels. Approximately 1.2 billion people could be fed with the soya beans and grain that is being used to feed the USA’s cattle alone. In the future, we won’t need to produce so many cattle, thus reducing how much grain they get given (Since they don’t exist!); grain which could feed starving people.
Also, humans will be much healthier. Not only because in-vitro meat contains no antibiotics or salmonella, but also because there will be no use for pollution- emitting animal factories. A recent study on farm pollution warned of catastrophic cases of pollution, sickness, and death that occur in areas where animal farming operations are concentrated. This will no longer be a problem.
Once in-vitro meats are commercially viable, our oil problems will also be considerably reduced. More than 1/3 of all the fossil fuels produced in the USA are used to raise livestock. Also, every single stage of meat production requires a lot of energy; and therefore extensive costs Lab-grown meat will have a major ethical, ecological and economical impact. Even though large quantities of in-vitro meat might not be viable for a few years, tasty meat-substitutes and other vegetarian alternatives can already be found in shops today, meaning there is no reason not to start making the world better today.
Muun
About the Author:
Muun-unit is a hippie, eco-warrior, and nature-loving kind of guy - who enjoys travelling the world and cooking gourmet dishes. He is passionate about everything “green” or eco-friendly, and believes that everyone should do their part in conserving our beautiful environment. Muun-unit wrote this article for an environmentally friendly Canned Food Company.
Muun-unit is a hippie, eco-warrior, and nature-loving kind of guy - who enjoys travelling the world and cooking gourmet dishes. He is passionate about everything “green” or eco-friendly, and believes that everyone should do their part in conserving our beautiful environment. Muun-unit wrote this article for an environmentally friendly Canned Food Company.
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