The Meat Industry
Bianca Pasello
Meats are consumed regularly by the majority of the worlds population, but the vast environmental consequences of meat consumption often go unrecognized. Not only are animals mistreated at times, but raising them and manufacturing their meat causes resource consumption. We also need to spend extra money on maintaining the animals at optimal conditions so that higher quality meats are achieved. Because of all these reasons, Joseph Poore, from the University of Oxford, claims that a “vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.”
Meats are consumed regularly by the majority of the worlds population, but the vast environmental consequences of meat consumption often go unrecognized. Not only are animals mistreated at times, but raising them and manufacturing their meat causes resource consumption. We also need to spend extra money on maintaining the animals at optimal conditions so that higher quality meats are achieved. Because of all these reasons, Joseph Poore, from the University of Oxford, claims that a “vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.”
It is obvious, though, that his suggestion is not a completely realistic solution, but what if there was a way around all these issues? Thanks to modern technology, there is a way! Scientists have been able to successfully creat lab grown meat. They extract a few cells of a cows muscle tissue and are able to grow them to a larger size on a petri dish until it is a large enough piece to be cooked. At first, many may feel disgusted by this idea, but it has a great number of advantages. There are personal health benefits that can be achieved. These lab made meats do not come from a live animal, so they will be absent of any diseases such as E. Coli, no antibiotics or growth hormones would be used in the process of creating them, and they are technically inline with vegan diet requirements so they can provide vegans with a sufficient source of protein.
This may seem like a far fetched idea that needs more time to develope, but these lab grown meats are already available! A company named Memphis Meats is already promoting and selling this product. While it is still a bit pricy, as the product grows in popularity, and can be mass produced, the prices will lower substantially. According to those who have already tried the meat, it is nearly equivalent to the real thing, it’s just a little dry, but adjustments are being made to make the two indistinguishable. This solution has the potential to greatly reduce humanities ecological footprint. Is it possible that enough people will accept this new form of meat to make a difference? Would vegans/vegetarians be comfortable consuming this product even though no animals are harmed or killed in the process? How could this product be made more realistic and affordable?
www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth.
The book Unnaturally Delicious
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