The Magic of Meat... Literally
The Magic of Meat… Literally
New movements are happening in the meat industry, and some of the changes are being done to fight back against the expect climate change the some experts believe that the meat industry is causing. Some of these are lawsuits, some are reactionary protests, and one thing that is happening… is just plain weird!
For my next trick… I will make MEAT magically appear!
Good evening (or whatever time of day you happen to be reading this), and thanks for joining us today.
I think that most of us have been watching and paying attention to the events that have surrounded the meat industry lately. I mean, with the fact that many think that the industry is solely responsible for global climate change (we have written articles about the phenomena surrounding this topic).
You don’t have to go very far to see someone hating on meat – between the number of new hippie companies that are making vegan alternatives to meat, the number of lawsuits out there, and the risk of an excise tax being imposed on our meats (dig through our blog – we have detailed all of this stuff), it is impossible to avoid the meat controversy.
But, while all of that mess is something that I would honestly expect as businesses clash, as people choose to follow their believes (right or wrong), and some people that are just trying to be trendy… something I saw has grabbed my attention.
Its… downright odd…
It’s strange…
Its damn weird… and there is no easy way to avoid that fact
Modern Science Suggests Growing Meat
Yeah, I know… but yes, you did read that headline correctly. It’s a real thing.
Seriously… go look it up!
I have, in the past, grown potatoes, beans, corn, tomatoes, and some herbs. But growing meat…
Just a quick snapshot… basically what they do is they take the stem cells from a healthy animal, and they artificially feed and nourish it to force it to grow into something that is “approximate” to the taste and texture of natural meat.
That just kind of screams “unnatural” to me… and I know that I am not alone in this general assumption.
While I understand the idea of not wanting to have to slaughter a beautiful animal, and for that I can commend the study, the fact is that there is a lot that we are not aware of when it comes to this particular “crop”.
Think about Growth Hormone
Seriously, this was the first thing that I thought about. When I talk to anti-meat people that are against it for climate change, the first thing that they usually bring up is how unnatural processes go into pumping animals full of growth hormones.
Honestly, think that one through, everyone…
If the stem cells are not getting fed by food, if they cannot actively drink water, and they have no natural growth hormone, what do you think is going to happen in this case?
Yeah… artificial nutrition, artificial hormones, and forced hydration of tissue.
Overal, right away I think that this does not sound healthy, or tasty… it just sounds counterproductive. Overall, trying to get healthier in this way does not make sense.
What about Climate Change?
The biggest issue that we are seeing is that this is happening because people are worried about climate change.
Go and read the article that is linked above… what is interesting is that the modern tests are showing that it takes so much energy to artificially grow meat that more hazardous greenhouse gases are produced than when the animals or grown naturally.
To be fair, by naturally we are talking about pasture raised, naturally fed. We are not talking about the evils of the factory farm.
Proponents for preventing the advancement of climate change need to stop and consider this fact – if it takes 2 grams of energy to create 2 grams of meat (it doesn’t, I know – it is just an example), then if you now spend 3 grams of energy to create 2 grams of meat…
Do I really need to finish that thought?
Climate change is not going to be helped by chasing down something that might have been seen in a Star Wars movie… the classical “space much” food.
Land and Animal Safety
OK – I will say that, yes, land use will be decreased if we do this. This means more room for more people and more buildings
(Consequently, these buildings will produce more greenhouse effect than the cows would… but I won’t mention that).
However, think about soil quality, think about nutrients.
Animals that wander drop waste, and that waste helps fertilize the land. This fertilization helps create healthier crops that we all can enjoy.
I know a lot of people are immediately going to say something “but we would have more waste if we were more eating animals…”
For the short term, yes. But, think about humans.
Think about how we operate… once we get buildings up the cows will have no where to go. Their numbers will dwindle, and we will have less waste available.
OK – I think we are done espousing the values of manure (man, that was a weird turn, right?).
The other point that has to be considered is that when we do slaughter an animal, yes it can be heartbreaking. But in an ethical farm, it is quick, and often painless.
If we stop slaughtering animals, they are going to have to fight for food. They are going to have to revert to survival mode.
They are going to get sick, suffer, die of starvation, die of thirst… and go through the pain of old age while they cannot possibly understand what is happening to them.
That is not preventing cruelty – that is causing it.
Again, we are not talking about factory farms. Yes, we know they are terrible and do terrible things, and they should all be put out of business.
We are talking about small, ethical farms; the places that truly love and care for their animals.
The Long and Short
There really does not seem to be much to argue about – the fact is that it takes more energy to produce fake and unhealthy meat than it does to raise cattle naturally.
That being said, why would you want to have space-age mush meat when you can pop over to Wayside and get yourself a fantastic cut of dry aged beef?
Really, the argument for chemically raised fake meat does not hold water – let’s just enjoy our meat and love every second of it!