As we always say here…you are entitled to your opinions but not your own facts.
As the world drifts closer to a totalitarian global state with CBDCs and control of the food supply next up in the crosshairs I would like to point out some interesting facts that highlight either the lack of problem solving skills of the self anointed ruling class or their duplicitous nature. You decide.
Lab meats are coming soon to a restaurant/grocery store near you. In this context I am going to allow the GHG emissions argument even though this topic is also EXTREMELY nuanced.
Currently, animal cell-based meat (ACBM) is only produced at a very small scale and at an economic loss, although a recent paper suggests that scaling up the process could release between four and 25 times more emissions than the global beef industry.
It’s the purification process that currently accounts for most of the emissions associated with ACBM production, the researchers say. In particular, the removal of endotoxins – which are released by bacteria in the environment – is absolutely essential for the creation of cultured meat, as even small amounts of these toxins in the growing medium can prevent cells from proliferating.
“Animal cell culture is traditionally done with growth medium components which have been refined to remove/reduce endotoxin,” write the study authors. “The use of these refinement methods contributes significantly to the economic and environmental costs associated with pharmaceutical products since they are both energy and resource intensive.”(1)
Assuming the continued use of highly refined growing media, the researchers estimate that each kilogram of ACBM produces 246 to 1,508 kilograms (542 to 3,325 pounds) of carbon dioxide emissions. Based on these figures, they calculate that the global warming potential of cultured meat is between four and 25 times greater than that of retail beef.
Its almost as if this is all virtue signal and no noise or positive impact on you or the planet!
Speaking of virtue signaling remember that recent estimates show even if all livestock were removed from US food system we would only reduce GHG emissions by a whopping 2.6%.(2) Even if that number was significant it does not take into account what replaces those vital nutrients, which is no east task considering the complexity of meat and the ability of animals to upcycle less nutrient dense or inedible products into bioavailable food for humans. Almost as if nature did this on purpose. Will this replacement food have an environmental impact and if so what will that be? Will it be as nutritious and complete as meat? Seems like short sighted thinking yet again on behalf of the public health warriors.
How about your health? The true answer is that nobody knows! With a high level of cell multiplication, some dysregulation is likely as happens in cancer cells. Likewise, the control of its nutritional composition is still unclear, especially for micronutrients and iron.(3)
Cells start to divide after they are cultured in an appropriate culture medium, which will provide nutrients, hormones and growth factors. The best medium is known to contain fetal bovine serum (FBS), a serum made from the blood of a dead calf. Well that rules these foods out for some people I would imagine. Why? Because fairy land, where animals never die doesn’t exist. In nature for something to live, something else has to die.
In fact in Australian croplands, conservative estimates suggest at least 100 mice are killed per hectare per year to grow grain. Approximately 2.6 million rats were physically collected and killed in Myanmar over a 3-month period to protect rice crops.(4) I could go on but I think you get the point.
Advocates of in vitro meat claim that it is safer than conventional meat, based on the fact that lab-grown meat is produced in an environment fully controlled by researchers or producers. This is an insane claim considering how long humans have been consuming animals and how these lab grown creations are the definition of the great unknown. Like I said opinions are fine.
No strategy has been developed to endow cultured meat with certain micronutrients specific to animal products (such as vitamin B12 and iron). Furthermore, the positive effect of any micronutrient can be enhanced if it is introduced in an appropriate matrix. The meat factor or food matrix as we have discussed.
I will close with this thought experiment. After 3 years of some of the most short sighted human thinking perhaps in history and a complete and total willingness to use the population as lab rats, do you really want to risk your health to these climate zealots who have proven unable to proceed with even the slightest bit of restraint or humility? The same people who are now considering blocking out the sun?(5) Do they seem like cautious and reasonable people to you?
There are serious ways to consider attacking all problems humans face…and you can judge the authenticity by which people approach a problem simply by their willingness or unwillingness to debate. Today we have a clear side of the political and social spectrum that simply throw tantrums when asked to present a logical case and entertain dissent. This is how you know you are dealing with unserious people.
References
1. https://www.iflscience.com/lab-grown-meat-up-to-25-times-worse-for-the-environment-than-beef-68859. Accessed July 8, 2023
2. White RR, Hall MB. Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017;114(48):E10301-E10308. doi:10.1073/pnas.1707322114
3. Chriki S, Hocquette JF. The Myth of Cultured Meat: A Review. Front Nutr. 2020;7:7. Published 2020 Feb 7. doi:10.3389/fnut.2020.00007
4. Hampton JO, Hyndman TH, Allen BL, Fischer B. Animal Harms and Food Production: Informing Ethical Choices. Animals (Basel). 2021;11(5):1225. Published 2021 Apr 23. doi:10.3390/ani11051225
5. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/01/white-house-cautiously-opens-door-to-study-blocking-suns-rays-to-slow-global-warming-ee-00104513. Accessed July 8, 2023
It’s like a perpetual clown show when it comes to public health authorities. They come up with more and more stupid ideas. I would never in a million years eat lab made meat 🤮 how is this even possible?
So...we're going to have "kill free" "meat" which requires us to kill calves? My head hurts...
I did a postdoc at an ag school and learned that culturing certain things and not others is actually really tough. If trained professionals struggle with all the incentives in the world, how are we going to expect these companies to keep the cultures clean when they're trying to minimize cost?