Petri Dish Meat to Put an End to Factory Farming

Factory farming, according to Farm Sanctuary.com, is “an attitude that regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit. In animal agriculture, this attitude has led to institutionalized animal cruelty, massive environmental destruction and resource depletion, and animal and human health risks.” That statement made me wonder about organic meat– are the animals treated as horribly? According to GoVeg.com, they are. PETA also states that these animals are not necessarily treated better as the regulations regarding labels on meats are not as strict as they could be; free-range meat simply means that animals had access to outdoor areas, but does not detail how long they were allowed to stay outside or what exactly their living conditions should be.

All this reading had me thinking about another article I had recently read, which detailed an experiment that took place in the Netherlands by Dutch scientists. According to an article in The Star, a Canadian newspaper’s Web site, these scientist grew “pork” in a petri dish. They took the “myoblasts,” which is muscles from living pigs, and placed them in a nutrient-rich serum to produce a “scallop” like substance that can technically be eaten. It contains what meat contains, according to the article, however no one knows for sure what it exactly tastes like. It is clear and stringy, the article states and no one, although they could, has eaten the result.

I think this will eventually work, or something along similar lines. I’ve eaten soy chicken before, and happen to think it’s really good. Could I give up all meats forever? I don’t know, but hopefully someday there will be more humane techniques, and even more options in Vegetarian foods so that people who are unsure, like I am, will be more willing to take the leap.

Do you have thoughts? Is this a possibility? Is there a way to make the process easier? Comment below.

Photo: Think Geek