Today at your local food markets it is likely that you have one of two options if you are craving meat - get the real thing or get a vegan facade of meat. If you go for the real McCoy you typically have additional options, like choosing between meat that was not produced using hormones or other unnatural enhancers versus meat that did use such things.
A third option is on its way.
I've been keeping an eye over the past few years over cultured meats. Its fascinating, really. When I was first introduced to the idea I wasn't sure what to think myself; I mean, meat grown in a lab? However, I'm definitely warming up to the idea.
The basic idea is that you extract a certain number of cells from a live animal (using the needle might be a little painful, but not nearly as painful as death as you might imagine). Those cells are then taken to a laboratory where they are fed the nutrients required to divide and grow. Then, at some point, you prepare and eat the meat.
Many of these cultured meat companies are also looking at using this process for creating leather.
As someone who is looking to the stars, just waiting for the breakthrough that will enable us to travel beyond our own solar system (here's looking at you, David Pares) I have come to the realization that it would be difficult to maintain livestock on a space craft. In addition, while I wouldn't stop enjoying meat it would be nice if we could have our cake and eat it too, not having to kill an animal for it.
I myself have come also to accept that it isn't unnatural; the meat isn't synthetic nor is it a facade like the veggie burger. Its the real deal, produced from cells that were taken from a live animal but simply grown outside the animal from which they were taken.
The cost to produce just one burger a few years ago was well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recently, a researcher in the Netherlands I believe said they've brought the cost of that same burger down to $10.
That's a huge change for just 3 to 4 years.
I was skeptical a few years ago when I heard we might see cultured meat in our (the United States) supermarkets within 10 years; now it looks like its almost a certainty.
I'm not a biologist, so I can't speak to the many environmental benefits claimed by these researchers and companies, but it sounds logical and reasonable that it takes far less resources as well as a much lower environmental impact to grow these things in a lab rather than out on the pasture.
So what do you think? Would you eat cultured meat? What assurances would you need to have from the producers?
Links:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat
Memphis Meats: http://www.memphismeats.com/
New Harvest: http://www.new-harvest.org/
$325,000 to $12: https://www.fastcoexist.com/3044572/the-325000-lab-grown-hamburger-now-costs-less-than-12