Thoughts from the Dirty City

First there was in vitro babies, next on the list, in vitro chicken nuggets. No, really. I’m not kidding. Scientist have spent years working on a viable meat substitute that is in fact meat. Last month in Norway in international symposium met to discuss the issue. With the world facing a food shortage crisis the new science of “growing” meat in a lab instead of the farm seems to be the solution of choice.

The ecological effects of farming for meat are well known. Not to mention the countless ways the end product can end up containing any number of diseases. Meat grown in a lab would eliminate all of the nasty side effects of farming for meat, as well as producing a safer product for human consumption. They are even talking about ways to eliminate certain types of harm full fatty tissue and incorporate other more beneficial fats like Omega 3.

I read a brief article about this in The New York Times a few weeks ago but didn’t think much of it. It just sounds to futuristic, and way to far removed from what people are currently eating. It just didn’t seem possible. No way do people want to eat something that was concocted in a test tube as compared to the steak they are accustomed to eating. I just don’t see the american public accepting this. The product grown in the lab would not produce meat like we are accustomed to. It would need to be highly processed and in the end would generally resemble ground beef and chicken nuggets.

A recent follow up article has convinced me that this may not be as far in the future as I had thought. PETA, of all organizations, has responded to the situation with a little contest. They are putting $1 million dollars up for grabs to the first company/person that can “come up with a viable quantity of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012″.

That is only four years! It doesn’t seem like a lot of money if you consider everything, but the attention it is grabbing is what the organization is after. The real goal of the competition is to spark interest in others investing in the technology. In reality, the company that can engineer a way to produce such a product would be in a position to sell it to the highest bidder. (Can anyone say McDonald’s?)

The announcement has caused quite a scandal in the halls of PETA. Considering the majority of members consider the consumption of any flesh, regardless of where or how it is grown to be against the organization’s core set of values. The founder of PETA has responded saying “we don’t mind taking uncomfortable positions if it means that fewer animals suffer.” According to her, in vitro meat is a godsend.

Personally, it just reassures me that my decision to stop eating meat was the right one. No matter how good the cheeseburgers smell.