In 2013, something very interesting happened; Mark Post, a researcher from the Netherlands, assembled the first fully lab-grown burger form 20 000 strips of muscle tissue. Sadly, buying this burger would cost around the same as buying a new Ferrari.
Luckily, in only 2 years, the price has dropped from 325 000$ to only about 11$ for a lab-grown burger. Although that might seem like a huge drop, the burger is not commercially viable and we would have to wait at least another 20 years before tasting it. And, according to those who tried it, the labs still have a long way to go before creating something tasteful.
All of this to get to our main point: population is increasing, but the amount of land we have to raise animals and feed the population is staying the same. If we don't start expanding the land by creating farm buildings and building upwards, we are going to run into a problem: How do you feed a rapidly growing population with the same resources?
This is why this new technology is so interesting; the price dropped considerably. Today, it is much simpler, more economical, less destructive for the environment and morally good to recreate muscle tissues in the lab. If this process becomes simpler and simpler (as I'm sure it will), creating food for everyone will be a piece of cake.
So, is it happening? Well, not quite. The meat growing is not as efficient as it could be and there is a need for a new way to grow the cells that does not involve fetal calf blood. But innovations and new ways of doing things will solve these problems in due time. The price will also fall below the 65 to 70$ per kg of meat produced that Mark Post and his team of scientists have set.
From my point of view, the biggest problem with this new diet is this: how will they convince people to buy meat that has been produced in a lab? Of course, as it gets tastier and tastier, we won't have any way of telling it apart from the real thing, And because it is such an efficient way of producing meat, it might put conventional animal farms out of business. Also, this new meat may attract more people than the original kind as it seems vegetarians and vegans will want to eat this.
I found some interesting discussions on Reddit which I have posted in the reference links that talk about the reasons a vegetarian or a vegan would eat this new kind of meat. I think the main reasons people choose those diets is because of health, environmental, financial and moral issues. We talked about the greatly reduced environmental effects, the cost that is getting lower and lower (lab grown meat might even become cheaper than normal meat) and the fact that the animals are not harmed or killed in any way. This takes care of everything except the health issues. For that, it is worth mentioning that because the meat is grown in the lab, the nutriments, microbes and vitamins it contains are very well controlled and inspected.
For all these reasons, I don't see why this new kind of meat would not be accepted by the vegan and vegetarian community, as well as by the other types of diets out there. Who knows, it might even replace normal meat someday. Lab-grow meat is therefore an important part of the future of our diets and, along with building-integrated agriculture, might solve the big food problem of tomorrow.
For a bit more drops of future, visit:
- http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/the-main-obstacle-for-lab-grown-meat-could-soon-disappear
- http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1jrupo/vegans_of_reddit_would_meat_grown_in_a_lab_change/
- http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/i5i8d/vegansvegatarians_would_you_eat_lab_grown_meat/
- http://www.fastcoexist.com/3044572/the-325000-lab-grown-hamburger-now-costs-less-than-12
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