Would You Eat Artificial Meat? (And We’re Not Talking Tofu)
- Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:10pm by
Mike Opelka
- Print »
- Email »
Meat has been under attack for decades. Red meat has been blamed for a host of health problems from heart disease to obesity. Vegetarians see meat as the root of all evil. But it is not just red meat that’s apparently to blame. In 2006 Environmentalists at the United Nations tied the consumption of all meats to global warming:
The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock’s Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world’s 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.
That UN report fueled a push to demonize the consumption of all livestock and also inspired several groups to look for alternative sources of protein for human beings. This week we heard about two options: Artificial Meat and “Recycled” Meat. The concept for artificial meat is really just an extension of some of the science being used to grow tissue for medical applications, recycled meat is a wilder concept.
Let us first consider artificial meat. The Guardian UK reports:
According to the analysis by scientists from Oxford University and Amsterdam University, lab-grown tissue would reduce greenhouse gases by up to 96% in comparison to raising animals. The process would require between 7% and 45% less energy than the same volume of conventionally produced meat such as pork, beef, or lamb, and could be engineered to use only 1% of the land and 4% of the water associated with conventional meat.
PETA has also put a million dollars of their non-profit money where their mouth is:
Some promising steps have been made, but “in-vitro” meat is still years away from being available to the general public and, although some governments and the meat industry are looking at this process with great interest, we would like to see the process sped up. That’s why PETA is now stepping in, offering $1 million ($1 for every chicken killed each hour in the US) to the first scientist to produce and bring to market commercially-successful in-vitro meat.
And while scientists work on lab-grown meats, Yahoo News is reporting that Japanese scientists are claiming a major breakthrough in what can be called “recycled meat.” There is no simple way around this one, the recycled meat comes from human waste. Would you? Could you eat a burger made from a burger you (or someone else) has already eaten? (Video content alert: In this clip there is a flash frame of a street term commonly used to describe the source material of this ‘meat’ – it is not meant to offend.)
However, none of this may even be needed. A study from a German scientist has absolved the cows from the blame in the global warming controversy:
Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, carried out the study in Inner Mongolia in China. He found that grassland produced more nitrous oxide during the spring thaw when sheep or cattle have not been grazing. This is because the greenhouse gas, also known as laughing gas, is released by microbes in the soil. When the grass is long snow settles keeping the microbes warm and providing water, however when the grass is cut short by animals the ground freezes and the microbes die.
Dr Butterbach-Bahl said the study overturned assumptions about grazing goats and cattle.
“It’s been generally assumed that if you increase livestock numbers you get a rise in emissions of nitrous oxide. This is not the case,” he said.
If meat from live animals becomes something that governments are taxing into extinction, I will personally be rooting for the lab grown meat option to become the artificial meat of choice.
H/T Buzzfeed, Yahoo News
Popular Stories
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 594 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 390 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 378 Comments
Faith
Arab-Muslim Character to Join DC Comics‘ ’Green Lantern’ Series Read More- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 415 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 390 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 151 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know 100 Comments- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 303 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 420 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (127)
Browncoat359
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:37amSci-Fi comes to life. I can see this being useful in closed environment like a long journey spacecraft but that being said any notion of forcing people to start eating this crap,literally AND metaphorically,is a very bad idea. I’ll stick with my traditional sources for the meat I consume.
Report Post »last frontier
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:37amLet me get this straight to have recycled meat, somebody has to eat real meat FIRST, {Royal families Politicians and limousine liberals} then the people that get the recycled meat are further down the food chain. this will go right along with Obamas health care plan for the masses.
Report Post »OneofMany
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 2:49amExactly!!!! Limousine Liberals
Report Post »neverending
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:32amNo FLIPPIN way!
Report Post »blackdanger10
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:31amI thought we already had fake meat: SPAM.
Report Post »last frontier
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:28amOur politicians have been serving us up a CROCK OF RECYCLED MEAT FOR YEARS and I for one have had enough.
Report Post »Biff Marupis
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:26amMeat is murder……tasty tasty murder! :D
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:08amThen we’ll have two choices, this or that meat.
Report Post »IMAWAKENOW
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:03amBefore I start eating recycled meat, I would insist on seeing the libs eat a years worth. If I knew where to send it, I would start shipping a few steamers to them. Aren‘t these the same Jack A’s that complain about hormone enhanced meat and genetically altered grains? Time to remove about 90% of the safety regulations and let some natural selection thin the heard.
Report Post »heyjim55
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:00amUnder Cas Sunstien’s policies artificial meat may need a attorney to defend it.
Report Post »Uncle Sammy
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:58pmPersonally, I’d rather eat the PETA people… maybe with some warm Pita bread and some Fava Beans…
Report Post »christianUSA
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:58pmWhat the article is saying that extreme wacko environmentalist and don’t eat animals groups again using faulty junk science not fully investigated by skeptics. God of the Bible requires eating of lamb it called Passover.
Report Post »Fight for America
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:57pmsoylent green
Report Post »thomas242007
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:53pmI guess that new term eat **** has a whole new meaning
Report Post »24conservative
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:42pmOMG… 1m 34 seconds… the fridge that contains the artificial meat is labeled “sh*t burger”, I KID YOU NOT…
Report Post »miles from nowhere
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:37pmIt is a big NO!
Report Post »Country
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:35pmA turd burger? You are screwing with us right? It should go will with recycled toilet water.
Report Post »IMAWAKENOW
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:14amCome to think of it, every drop of water on the planet gets recycled. Pee today, spring water tomorrow;
Report Post »Tek
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:35pmI think I’ll stick to Soylent Green…
Report Post »frustratedwithgovt
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:32pmRemember the story a few weeks back on killing camels in Australia for carbon credits? Things that make you go hmmm…… I hope to GOD, yeah I said GOD, we wake up and fight back.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:32pmI agree with Booger71. Soylent Green. OMGosh, just leave our food supply alone.
Report Post »geonj
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:31pmscrew all the voodoo science. nuke the UN and hang those peta members by their genitalia
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:39pmworks for me……LOL
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:59pmI‘m not sure it’s voodoo science, you sound like an uneducated bumpkin saying that… The science is real, the chance of me eating crap burgers is not happening…
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 11:53amCESIUM ahhhhhhhh lighten up
Report Post »JMartin76
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:25pmSounds yummy!
Report Post »Man is so vain…
“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” 1Corinthians 1:20
the hawk
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:19pmNo, nada , aint doing it!
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:59pmRecycled meat , really ??????
Report Post »That‘s what we’re gonna call sh*t now ?
chickenfried
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:17pmI thought this was about Chicken McNuggets…
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:16pmI will not eat anything that does not have a face!
Report Post »GadsdenPatriot
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:21pmWhat if the head is chopped off?
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:33pmpotatoes don’t have faces, well some have eyes.
Report Post »Zorro6821
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 7:43amI have news for you, We are already eating Sh**t everyday.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:16pmI will put it this way – I love real meat, not fake junk.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:20pmSoylent Green
Report Post »GadsdenPatriot
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:21pmNO, NO, and NO! I love meat and meat loves me.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:23pmWhat are they going to do, kill all the animals we don’t eat??? I had rather keep the animals in check by cooking them on my grill everyday, YUMMMMM BIG OL”BEEF STEAKs, BBQ CHICKEN AND PORK RIBS, Good RED MEAT down the hatch…MMMMM
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:23pmWe already have artificial meat , its called ‘seitan’.
Report Post »Anyone can make it at home
sooner12
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:25pmI hate the UN.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:31pmI don’t know… Maybe humans in their infinite wisdom should do away with eating the meat that nature provides us on a permanent and renewable basis by engineering new organisms that grow bigger faster and in harsher conditions than any food source we currently have.
That sounds like the start to a very bad 1950′s B movie horror flick. Dumb idea. Did you know that there are currently more white-tail deer in the US that get hit by cars every year than the total population of deer in the US at the turn of the 20th century? I say we get to hunting.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:34pm@ Booger, way worse than soylent green. At least it actually had real meat in it.
Report Post »GadsdenPatriot
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 11:45pmWe should wage war with the UN and rid the globe of this giant global union once and for all.
Report Post »IMAWAKENOW
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:07amIf it gets that bad and it is a turd burger or soylent green………. I’m still thinking.
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:12amI gave up all vices long ago and I’m glad that I did. However, if they try to classify red meat as a no-no I will take to eating politicians. If that doesn’t work I will then start eating vegetarians, as long as they don’t taste like tree-bark and stink-weed. What a dumb report!
http://www.AMillionGoWest.com – Help us get 1 million signatures on a petition that asks Allen West to run for President in 2012.
Report Post »CultureWarriors
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 12:56am@booger71 : Soylent Green is PEOPLE! LOL
Report Post »Therightsofbilly
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 1:19amWhen they outlaw meat, only outlaws will have meat.
Report Post »Dr Common Sense
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 1:25amAttention anyone who has Netflix. There was a show several years ago called “Better Off Ted” on ABC. It was cancelled after 2 seasons which is a shame because it was a funny and original show. Anywho, checkout the episode titled “Heroes” (season 1, episode 2). In it, a corporation is trying to create meatless beef…sound familiar? Do a search for it and I’m sure you can find it on YouTube as well. And as far as recycled meat goes, it already has a name…SPAM. Ha Ha, just kidding, it‘s my wife’s meatloaf.
Report Post »USAMEDIC3008
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 1:30amGod forgive them, for they know not what they eat
Report Post »Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 3:28amNO NO NO on the fake whatever-they-want-to-call-it.
PETA has the stupidest people (or are they fake whatever-you-want-to-call-it)
Greenhouse gases – 18% from cows, 50% from politicians, 30% from idiots like PETA and 2% for the rest of the world. Therefore, it only stands to reason that it would be better to get rid of politicians and the PETA idiots and the rest of the world will become a Utopia of sorts.
PETA = People Eating The Animals
Be kind to animals
Please don’t eat them
At least until you kill them
(a bumper sticker I saw on the car of one of those enviromentalist wacko’s, naturally the last line is mine)
Report Post »chazman
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 5:54amMeat! It‘s what’s for dinner!
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 6:04am.
Report Post »Would You Eat Artificial Meat? Only if your talking Breast Implants……………
avenger
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 6:12amthe next step is soylent green at age 55…..
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 6:39amI won’t eat tofu or artificial meat. I kill my meat and it looks pretty real to me.
Report Post »tobywil2
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 8:47amThe basic premise, that “green house gas” causes climate change is both false and the basis of the worst scam ever perpetuated by a government to justify the attack on individual liberty! If the initiatives to limit “green house gases” are successful, the question won’t be will you eat fake meat. The question will be do you have anything to eat? http://commonsense21c.com/
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 9:09amWow, the greenies and veggies will stop at nothing. I want my real beef, por,, chicken, fish, lamb, well you get the idea, I want REAL MEAT.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 9:47amHe77 NO !
Report Post »click_name_4_impeachment
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 10:24amIsn’t there a saying “The fools of the world will end up eating their own S#it”, or something like that???
Report Post »drphil69
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 11:14amIn order to stop global warming, I request that all believers in it kill themselves and their dependents.
Problem solved.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 11:42amI‘d rather eat the artificial meat on display in Sears’ BBQ department – the injection-molded plastic ones.
What really gets my goat (pun intended) is that OUR TAX DOLLARS are paying for this crap!!
This would be near the TOP of my list for cutting spending – are you listening, socialist democrat people? Are you listening RINOs??
What the ??
Report Post »altops
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 11:54am…is people…
Report Post »Dale
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 2:20pmDr Common Sense
Report Post »Attention anyone who has Netflix. There was a show several years ago called “Better Off Ted” on ABC. It was cancelled after 2 seasons which is a shame because it was a funny and original show. Anywho, checkout the episode titled “Heroes” (season 1, episode 2). In it, a corporation is trying to create meatless beef…sound familiar? Do a search for it and I’m sure you can find it on YouTube as well. And as far as recycled meat goes, it already has a name…SPAM. Ha Ha, just kidding, it‘s my wife’s meatloaf.
———————-
I thought you were pretty smart until I read your last sentence. You should find it on Hulu.
V-MAN MACE
Posted on June 22, 2011 at 4:52pmSoylent Green? No. This is Dookie Brown (with red food coloring added). I’d willingly eat human flesh before I willingly eat human excrement. (I’d starve before either)
This is sick folks. But this is what these globalist elite trash think of us.
They already feed us spoiled meat with CO2 added to make it look fresher. They already do all kinds of things to it to “kill the bacteria” and crap like that (a way for them to feed us spoiled meat).
Report Post »Dr Common Sense
Posted on June 24, 2011 at 1:38am@Dale “I thought you were pretty smart until I read your last sentence. You should find it on Hulu.”
A bad joke do not mean I ain’t not smart, it just bad joke. As far as Hulu goes, I never really got into it so I didn’t know. I’m a Netflix guy. But I was just letting everyone know because it was the first thing that came to mind after reading this. I still have yet to watch Soylent Green. Also for any gamers out there, this article is also reminiscent of the original Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (PC & PS1).
Report Post »War In! (Peace Out! is so overused)