Would you eat lab grown meat?

[Trappi$t]

By definition and in evolutionary terms, anyone who doesn't kill their own meat is woefully beta. Grabbing a plastic packaged steak from a supermarket that another man has slaughtered for you? just lol, all the skinny jeans wearing must be affecting testosterone levels.

Its remarkably encouraging to see how many are up for lab grown meat, whether we like it or not, it is for certain the future, by choice or by force. Personally I only eat one type of meat, and that is Scottish, Grass fed, Aberdeen Angus. Nothing else will do. Fortunately I put the animal into a Vietnamese choke hold, minimising the animals suffering, and maintaining my alpha credentials over the weaklings who still eat their meat from packages in a supermarket.

 

[Amp34]

Depends on how it scales and the overall results of it. Is it going to be implicitly safer? What resources is it going to require and what byproducts is it going to produce (i.e. I wouldn't be surprised if they use some particularly nasty chemicals in the process somewhere that would require disposal). Not that mass producing meat now doesn't produce toxic byproducts.

If it can significantly reduce the requirement for industrial animal rearing then I'm all for it, but I would probably still eat real meat from other sources - hunted/people I know. Eating meat and a quick death is natural, spending your entire life cooped up in a barn, transported tens of miles to an abattoir then watching/hearing your "peers" being slaughtered in front of you is not.*

*This is one of the reasons I don't get my pants in a twist about Halal, it's such a minor part of the overall suffering system that at best it's "virtue signalling" and/or misguided and at worst just blatant islamaphobia.

Demand falling, either they go out of business or raise prices as unless they're some weird local only business they have to sell to someone (Supermarkets) who only care about volume. The near infinite scalability of lab grown meat is by definition a volume product, once all the issues are resolved.

There will still be a market until such a time, but it'll domino out all the small players well before parity, regardless.

/muh opinion.

A lot of "farm shops" sell meat from producers that don't sell to to supermarkets. Supermarkets provide an artificially low price for meat, by and large because they force farmers to sell at such a low price. That in turn means those farmers that sell to supermarkets have to find some way of "mass producing" meat, usually at the detriment of animal welfare. Yes meat prices as a whole would increase, but a shop sourcing meant from a farmer rearing a couple of hundred hens and 50 pigs now is probably not going to have to increase their prices.

 

[moon man]

I tried going Vegetarian. Lasted about a year, went pale, lost hair and dropped 4 stone.

The biggest issue is that I don't like vegetables much. Spag sauce, pasta and cheese only gets you so far.

Lab meat could be a healthy alternative. That or it will be hella carcinogenic.

yep im veggie and dont like veg ,its quite tough but hallumi burgers and quorn currys done right can be awesone ,would struggle to be vegan though but may happen ,at the moment nothing has to die to go on my plate and thats fine

 

[iamtheoneneo]

Quorn makes being veggie pretty easy tbh. That and a lot of the Swedish plant pased proteins that are now seeing their way into supermarkets, choice has gone up ten fold over the last few years for sure.
I guess the Vegan buzz actually had a benefit for veggies too.

 

[RoboCod]

Quorn makes being veggie pretty easy tbh. That and a lot of the Swedish plant pased proteins that are now seeing their way into supermarkets, choice has gone up ten fold over the last few years for sure.
I guess the Vegan buzz actually had a benefit for veggies too.

Whilst a lot of the quorn products are good, they can't replicate that rare steak effect though. It would be nice if lab meat could.

 

[dowie]

Rather than being processed I guess people would be concerned about it being synthetic/man-made and not 'natural'.

Yup, we've already had one in the thread along those lines. I suspect there will be a bit of that and the foodie types who claim they can still tell the difference long after it is virtually identical.

A lot of "farm shops" sell meat from producers that don't sell to to supermarkets. Supermarkets provide an artificially low price for meat, by and large because they force farmers to sell at such a low price. That in turn means those farmers that sell to supermarkets have to find some way of "mass producing" meat, usually at the detriment of animal welfare. Yes meat prices as a whole would increase, but a shop sourcing meant from a farmer rearing a couple of hundred hens and 50 pigs now is probably not going to have to increase their prices.

Nah I think that is missing the point, plenty of farms will simply not be needed if lab grown meat works and largely replaces most meat consumption. Farming for meat would become rather specialist and farmers would likely have only a small market, high end restaurants, foodie types in that situation. See how much people can charge when things are rare, like Kobe beef for example - you could easily see prices for "real" meat get ramped up significantly.

 

[Amp34]

Nah I think that is missing the point, plenty of farms will simply not be needed if lab grown meat works and largely replaces most meat consumption. Farming for meat would become rather specialist and farmers would likely have only a small market, high end restaurants, foodie types in that situation. See how much people can charge when things are rare, like Kobe beef for example - you could easily see prices for "real" meat get ramped up significantly.

That’s what I just said. It’s not missing the point at all. The large industrial farms would surely disappear, but they aren’t the ones supplying the “farm shops” in the first place. A true farm shop will usually be supplied by a small farm that usually only supplies the sort of place you’ve just listed already. Their costs aren’t going to increase, so why should the cost of the meat they supply?

Although I agree, they may decide to increase meat prices due to demand, but then if that happened supply would probably increase too as more farmers would be enticed into the industry. Farm shops already supply a specialist product don’t forget. A lot of the time it’s rare breeds and breeds that aren’t cut out for mass production due to size/care/space requirements.

 

[dowie]

That’s what I just said. It’s not missing the point at all. The large industrial farms would surely disappear, but they aren’t the ones supplying the “farm shops” in the first place. A true farm shop will usually be supplied by a small farm that usually only supplies the sort of place you’ve just listed already. Their costs aren’t going to increase, so why should the cost of the meat they supply?

Although I agree, they may decide to increase meat prices due to demand, but then if that happened supply would probably increase too as more farmers would be enticed into the industry. Farm shops already supply a specialist product don’t forget. A lot of the time it’s rare breeds and breeds that aren’t cut out for mass production due to size/care/space requirements.

Well it was sent what you just said, you’re asking why the cost of the meat they supply will increase, well if it becomes much rarer then it is likely going to just be a premium product for high end restaraunts, foodies etc... as for their costs, those could easily increase from equipment to suppliers of feed etc.. as farming becomes a more niche business. Those that aren’t already producing specialist products will probably switch too.

 

[Amp34]

Well it was sent what you just said, you’re asking why the cost of the meat they supply will increase, well if it becomes much rarer then it is likely going to just be a premium product for high end restaraunts, foodies etc... as for their costs, those could easily increase from equipment to suppliers of feed etc.. as farming becomes a more niche business. Those that aren’t already producing specialist products will probably switch too.

So your argument is that because cheap “real” meat won’t be available everywhere then more people will be forced to buy from the specialist farmers?

If that is the case then it blows the entire point out the water, because that means there’s a much larger demand for meat, which in itself would create a more buoyant system than just the current specialist farm shop system itself. That’s especially true if your last sentence becomes a reality. There’ll be more competition in the specialist meat market than now. Competition usually drives down cost, not increases them.

Farming is not going to become a more niche business. Livestock farming sure, but things like wheat aren't going to change much and most small farms/smallholdings don’t have much in the way of specialist equipment to begin with.

Sure, as already mentioned, you wouldn’t be able to get the supermarket special meat prices any more, but the cost of meat from the “farm” shops (which was the discussion) would be unlikely to increase much at alll.

 

[dowie]

Sure, as already mentioned, you wouldn’t be able to get the supermarket special meat prices any more, but the cost of meat from the “farm” shops (which was the discussion) would be unlikely to increase much at alll.

Of course it would, if it becomes rarer and only a specialist product available in high end restaraunts it could easily become more expensive. See Kobe steaks etc...

Say regulat meat can already be mass produced in the lab, you can’t compete there, no one is going to farm generic chickens to be sold for fried chicken restaurants etc...

 

[Amp34]

Of course it would, if it becomes rarer and only a specialist product available in high end restaraunts it could easily become more expensive. See Kobe steaks etc...

Like rare breed sausages and meats? The sort of thing currently available in... i don't know, farm shops...?

Say regulat meat can already be mass produced in the lab, you can’t compete there, no one is going to farm generic chickens to be sold for fried chicken restaurants etc...

Well yes, that's what I've said - twice now. But the farms that farm chickens for KFC aren't the same farms that provide food to most farm shops (I've also already said basically this twice now too)...

You seem to be ignoring everything actually being said, unless you are assuming all "farm" shops sell the same stuff, from the same sources, supermarkets get their meat from?

 

[dowie]

Like rare breed sausages and meats? The sort of thing currently available in... i don't know, farm shops...?

Ok tell me where I can get Kobe beef at cheap prices?

You seem to be ignoring everything actually being said, unless you are assuming all "farm" shops sell the same stuff, from the same sources, supermarkets get their meat from?

No I just don’t agree with you.

 

[Amp34]

Ok tell me where I can get Kobe beef at cheap prices?

?

Why do I need to do that. I'm suggesting it probably wouldn't increase in price if artificial meat became commercial. Just as the "speciality" meats from farms probably wouldn't increase either.

No I just don’t agree with you.

Or perhaps, considering the first paragraph of your quote, you're completely misunderstanding the debate. It's not a discussion on "cheap", but a discussion about whether speciality meat and meat from small farm and smallholdings will increase in price. This bit:

but a shop sourcing meat from a farmer rearing a couple of hundred hens and 50 pigs now is probably not going to have to increase their prices.

The cost of production is is not likely to increase in price, but you're right, there may be a chance that producers increase their prices due to the lack of cheaper meat - but my argument to that is that it will draw in more farmers rearing that sort of quality and quality, helping reduce the price.

People largely buy from farm shops because they feel it's better quality, or it's different from the meat available at a supermarket. Is artificial meat going to persuade these people, already paying a premium, not to buy it any more? I'd argue largely not.

 

[dowie]

Why do I need to do that. I'm suggesting it probably wouldn't increase in price if artificial meat became commercial. Just as the "speciality" meats from farms probably wouldn't increase either.

you seem to think that meat can be cheap simply because people can just run a fair and breed it while ignoring the demand etc..

Or perhaps, considering the first paragraph of your quote, you're completely misunderstanding the debate. It's not a discussion on "cheap", but a discussion about whether speciality meat and meat from small farm and smallholdings will increase in price. This bit:

perhaps you're misunderstanding

The cost of production is is not likely to increase in price, but you're right, there may be a chance that producers increase their prices due to the lack of cheaper meat - but my argument to that is that it will draw in more farmers rearing that sort of quality and quality, helping reduce the price.

People largely buy from farm shops because they feel it's better quality, or it's different from the meat available at a supermarket. Is artificial meat going to persuade these people, already paying a premium, not to buy it any more? I'd argue largely not.

The cost of production could quite easily increase as lots of farms go out of business and it becomes a speciality area however regardless of that just the fact it could become a specialist rare area is sufficient here.

I think this is going around in circles now and it doesn't look like we'll agree so we'll probably have too just agree to disagree.

 

[Amp34]

I think this is going around in circles now and it doesn't look like we'll agree so we'll probably have too just agree to disagree.

Agreed, you're quite obviously either completely missing the point, or being intentionally obtuse so it's pointless continuing.

The only person talking about meat being cheap, for example, is you.

 

[dowie]

Agreed, you're quite obviously either completely missing the point, or being intentionally obtuse so it's pointless continuing.

The only person talking about meat being cheap, for example, is you.

Well I could say the same thing about you tbh... like I've pointed out we don't agree. Just saying someone doesn't understand your point because they don't agree with it is a bit cheap and rather blinkered.

 

[J.T]

Yes I would eat it... if it was cheaper than real meat.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Absolutely. Its just a bunch of cells at the end of the day.

 

[something daft already!!]

I hear they are now breeding spherical cows. They are basically giant balls of meat. Im not sure i would enjoy that very much.

 

[subbytna]

Not a chance. They have tried to grow lab grown meat on a rats back (an ear if I recall correctly) this eat then started to spout teeth and other body parts. Totally genetic garbage