this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2023
64 points (98.5% liked)

News

1751 readers
1 users here now

Breaking news and current events worldwide.

founded 2 years ago
 

Chicken grown from animal cells, not from slaughtered birds, can now be sold in the U.S. The Agriculture Department issued approvals Wednesday to California firms Upside Foods and Good Meat to sell the products, known as “lab-grown” or “cultivated” meat. The meat is grown in steel tanks, using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells. The goal is to eliminate harm to animals and drastically reduce the environmental impacts of raising them. The meat will initially be sold only at upscale restaurants.

top 13 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm a vegetarian. Largely for animal cruelty reasons. But increasingly, and perhaps predominately, now, for ecological ones. I don't know how I feel about cultured meat. I've sat in a quiet room for the express purpose of thinking about this issue and I still don't know what I think. As a lifelong holder of very strong opinions, that's strange for me. Part of me thinks I should be asking vegetarians about this. But part of me thinks I should be asking people at large. Does anyone have a considered opinion about this?

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If this reduces animal cruelty and the amount of resources used by the food industry, it's a net win, no?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the Mrs. and I are vegans and we wouldn't hesitate to try this out. At the current upscale price point it would not be a staple of our diet, though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I could see more of a chance to reach the average consumer, once these alternatives get cheaper. Just shifting the dietary Overton window could be huge.

I don't see anybody going vegan because of this, but it might help convince some people that you don't need meat in every meal of the day.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I'm not vegetarian, but I have often considered the environmental impact of beef vs chicken, and therefore choose to eat chicken instead of beef as often as possible. Following that logic, I fully support this, and hope it becomes the norm.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Only at upscale restaurants? Interesting.

[–] lp0101 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Makes sense, it must be significantly more expensive than regular meat right now, and definitely a novelty

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yep, one of the standard business strategies for introducing a new product. Begin in a low-volume and high-price market and hype up the product as much as possible, giving it an appearance of exclusivity and high class. Once you've got some of your demand established, you can start scaling up production and introduce your mid-range and lower-cost mass-produced product. Just look at the how Tesla started releasing cars to see the same tactics in action.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks to you and the others for explaining! This makes sense. Hope it becomes more common soon!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

In the short term and because it's expensive for now.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I assume that just means that it is very, very expensive.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago
load more comments
view more: next ›