Thinking Citizen Blog — Is There Real Meat that Vegetarians Can Eat? Yes (Apparently)
Thinking Citizen Blog — Wednesday is Climate Change, the Environment, and Sustainability Day
Today’s Topic: Is there real meat that vegetarians can eat? Yes (apparently)
Are you a vegetarian because of your opposition to cruelty to animals? What if those chicken nuggets did not come from a bird who was harmed but from cell cultures from a live bird that were “steeped in nutrient solution and grown in a bioreactor in a Singapore manufacturing facility”? Would you give the stuff a try? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
SINGAPORE IS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO GIVE REGULATORY APPROVAL
1. Since regulatory approval in December, Just Eats Inc., a San Francisco-based food tech” company has been selling the stuff at a social club in Singapore. Supply is still limited. About 200 people have tried it so far. Including the vegetarian author of the article below.
2. The stuff is called “cultured meat” or “cultivated meat.”
3. Eater beware! The author liked the stuff but found out later that it was made with bovine serum extracted from butchered cattle. Oops. He will not have more until they replace the bovine serum with a non-animal-slaughter based alternative which the company plans to do. And other companies already do.
NB: Photo is of Josh Tetrick, co-founder of Just Eats Inc.
ANTICIPATE A RASH OF IPOs of REAL MEAT NO-KILL COMPANIES
1. “At least a dozen other companies are developing cultured meat, with offerings ranging from Wagyu beef to salmon and kangaroo.”
2. “Some have received investments from major meat-supply companies like Tyson Foods and Cargill.”
3. “Companies behind the research say that cultivated meat has many advantages, not least that it can be grown indoors using limited space and in Eat Just’s case, without antibiotics.”
NB: Photo is of Josh Balk, co-founder, Just Easts Inc.
PETER SINGER. THE ANIMAL RIGHTS PHILOSOPHER. GIVES THE NOD
1. “I’m excited by it because I think it offers the possibility of dramatically reducing the suffering of tens of billions of animals every year. I hope that people will eat it.” (Peter Singer)
2. Singer, a professor at Princeton, is the author of the Bible of animal rights vegetarians — “Animal Liberation” (1975) in which he argued that the line between humans and animals is purely arbitrary. He popularized the term “speciesism” (meaning the privileging of humans over other animals). He champions the idea of the equality of all sentient beings.
3. “Not all animal advocates share his enthusiasm. Some worry that cultured meat will end up reinforcing the idea that humans need and deserve meat.”
NB: “When the nuggets were served — some on a Chinese-style bao, others on an American-style waffle — eating them felt natural. I devoured the entire portion, each bit a little revelation. I wasn’t the only vegetarian who enjoyed it. About a week after my meal, Maryanna Abdo, a 40 year old Singapore-based managing director of a social impact advisory firm, tried the chicken after 13 years of being a vegetarian…. “They’re pretty damn good” she said ….” (See first link for more testimonials.)
FINAL WORD
Has anybody tried the stuff? Would you if given the chance?
FOOTNOTE
Last photo is of Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton and author of “Animal Liberation” (1975)
Real Meat That Vegetarians Can Eat
Click here for the last three years of posts arranged by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to climate change or the environment. Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to climate change that the rest of us may have missed. Your favorite chart or table perhaps…
This is your chance to make some one’s day. Or to cement in your own mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
