The number of people on our planet is constantly increasing. More people
means more food required to feed us all. The problem is the Earth is not
expanding. In this article I will present the
newest alternative to traditional farming and the reason why people were
searching for it.
Meat has been a part of our culture.
Unfortunately now it is mass production. Small farms have
been replaced with huge “factories” that have nothing to do with healthy food
or ethical treatment. Intensive animal farming is keeping livestock at high stocking densities (as shown
in the photo) and the reason for it is just money.
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Its purpose is to produce the highest output at the lowest cost, which
means receiving as much meat as possible while at the same time decreasing costs
to the minimum by e.g. decreasing the space required to keep animals. This method of farming together with
increasing number of people creates issues that have to be resolved as quickly as possible.
One of the biggest problems is its impact on the
environment. Such a number of animals kept in
one place produce unbelievable amount of manure. In 2012 in the USA alone factory-farmed
animals produced 369 million tons of it. To compare,
it is 13 times more than all of their citizens combined. You could feel the
Dallas Cowboys stadium 133 times. This amount highly exceeds soil’s ability to
incorporate it, so instead of fertilizing crops it contaminates
air and
water.
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| http://dallascowboys.io-media.com/web/index.html |
What is more, due to being kept in such high density, farmers add
antibiotics to animals’ food whenever it is possible. This will eventually lead
to creation of super bacteria resistant to all antibiotics. And this vision is closer than we think.
Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year (that’s 8 times
human population). Due to such high
impact on the environment humans started searching for new ways of producing
meat. And recently scientists have come up with an idea of lab grown meat. I encourage you to watch 3-minutes about it.
- Do you think lab-grown meat is a good alternative to traditional farming?
- Can you think of any hazard it may cause?
- Lab grown meat prices have dropped 30,000 times in less than four years. If this trend continues do you think it will gain popularity all around the world or people will rather stay with traditional farming?
Websites:
- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-drug-resistant-bacteria-travel-from-the-farm-to-your-table/
- http://www.carlagoldenwellness.com/2015/06/09/johns-hopkins-on-health-environmental-implications-of-animal-consumption/
- http://factoryfarmmap.org/problems/#manure
- http://www.animalequality.net/food
- http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/02/lab-grown-meat-prices-have-dropped.html
Comments
I don't want my food to grow in a lab - this is beautiful in food that you can tell the difference, for example you know when a starwberry is "chemical" and when it had grown in the sun.
Although people are freaks and they love everything what is new and different. So I think it may become more and more popular in the future.
On the other hand I'm sure that now or later someone will prove that it's very bad for our health and may cause a cancer or some other diseases and it won't be so popular finally.
I hope people won't lose their minds and will continue traditional farming.
Use of antibiotics in the US
https://learn.uvm.edu/foodsystemsblog/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Antibiotic-use-238x300.jpg
Antibiotics resistance spread:
http://sc.cnbcfm.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/files/2014/01/16/Antibiotic%20resistance_0.png
http://www.antybiotyki.edu.pl/jpg/Infografika4.png
And antibiotics resistance spread prevention.
https://www.google.pl/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antybiotyki.edu.pl%2Fjpg%2FInfografika2.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antybiotyki.edu.pl%2Ftydzien.php&docid=Q5XV3RFhp-IhyM&tbnid=tSnyKj5cpYnd1M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwipp6na9KnUAhVqMJoKHSLaBtYQMwhQKCAwIA..i&w=1700&h=2200&client=firefox-b-ab&bih=611&biw=1280&q=antybiotyki%20w%20hodowli%20zwierz%C4%85t&ved=0ahUKEwipp6na9KnUAhVqMJoKHSLaBtYQMwhQKCAwIA&iact=mrc&uact=8
Many of my friends have the same point of view as you do. But this will not be the next chemical "invention". This is the same meat people are buying at the butchers. But with no antibiotics, hormones, steroids (and bunch of other things meat producers or farmers give to animals). Or at least this is the plan. The result of course may be completely different, but I hope they won't be.
And if we continue traditional farming (I think we will) I hope farmers will try to look beyond the money and see that they are destroying our planet with factory farming.
In my opinion this invention is perfect for people who would like to give up on meat but can't actually imagine the life without it or those who haven't been even thinking about it. People could contribute to decreasing human's negative impact on the environment without changing the eating habits!
I hope it won't end up as you said - just another more modified type of food.
And about antibiotics animals are taking - I probably wasn't precise - http://polki.pl/magazyn/wywiad,antybiotyki-w-miesie-wywiad-z-lekarzem-weterynarii,10421911,artykul.html
This is an interview with a vet, who describes how it looks and what are regulations in Poland and UE.
And about cruelty - I know that ot exists and I'm absolutely against bullying animals, so I support among other Viva!, who follow such situations and are taking some action to stop it and prevent in the future. But I believe that eating meat isn't wrong and animals can be killed "humanely" (I know how it sounds) - fast, with no additional pain etc.
I want to recall a situation from few months ago:
http://www.tvp.info/26683975/podwawelska-na-antybiotyku-produkty-morlin-i-krakusa-sa-wycofywane-z-dyskontow
It happened in Poland. So if there is permitted "dose" of antibiotics people can eat with meat it means they ARE eating them.
And about cruelty - I agree we should minimize animals' suffering in the process of meat production. Unfortunately they are treated as products, not living organisms...
You wouldn't have to feel guilty about a living animal being grown and slaughtered for human consumption.
Imagine if instead of factory-farms producing massive quantities of beef from cows you could have beef from happy cows on good farms or alternatively get your factory-grade beef from a clean, cruelty-free lab.
Sure, it sounds odd, so do most new ideas or technologies, but just because something seems culturally out of place doesn't mean it should be neglected. In fact, in this case, I think the idea should be actuated and embraced.
I think it is a great alternative to traditional farming (or more "meat factories"). No animal has to suffer, it saves space, resources -> the TREMENDOUS impact on enviroment caused by meat factories is so huge that I think and hope lab grown meat can be the answer to enviromental-abuse issues. Lately I've become more aware of the processes going on in food industry (and thanks for that) and it terrifies me. In my opinion most people are not aware enough of where does the food they consume really come from, how it got produced and if we start answering these questions the truth will hurt, scare and disgust.
The only issue I can think of is about genetic variety of such meat and how it can affect humans. One cell feeding entire global population sounds great in a marketing sense but more research has to be done.
I truly hope it will gain popularity, imo it has to. The benefits are very appealing. Turning all people into vegans is impossible and the rate at which the actual transition is going on is too slow compared to the speed of population growth. Eventually we will run out of space or out of resources to sustain meat factories trying to feed everyone. Not to mention the damage and suffering already done and constantly occuring.
Another aspect I can think of, given humans won't give up on meat ever, is using lab grown meat in space travel. Imagine, small facility to grow vegtables and meat using few resources can give us much more sustainability and solves quite a few issues in that matter. But that's too far in the future for now ;)
I think lab-grown meat is a good alternative to traditional farming, which is more like "producing meat" now. In my opinion if we need to kill an animal to gain its meat, we need to do it in an ethic way, and now this is almost impossible (unfortunately). If we decide to prefer 'lab-made' meat, it needs to be sterile and safe, without bacteria and so on. This is main threat I think. In some regions traditional farming will be more popular even if price of lab-grown meat will drop a lot, but it's possible that majority of people will choose this new method of "production".
1. Potentially cheaper to produce than regular meat
2. Requires less food input (instead of growing a whole animal with bones and brains, you only need enough calories and nutrients to grow the muscle)
3. Requires less real estate
4. Requires less water
5. Produces less waste
6. Cleaner (a lab can be kept sterile, a farm cannot)
7. More ethical in terms of animal welfare
8. Healthier
9. Prevents climate change/global warming
We can't be sure how exactly this is produced and if this impact on our health in the future. The other aspect is taste. Even now there is huge difference in meat bought in big market and the other one bought in small butcher or in the countryside.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/02/lab-grown-meat-prices-have-dropped.html
I believe they won't release meat with no taste of meat, because it will not be competitive. Bacause when people have a choice of meat with taste of meat and meat with no taste of meat the choice is obvious. I would actually not worry about the taste. I would be rather concerned about animal cruelty and environment.
Nowadays, in view of health matters I would buy a good quality meat from butcher, there is few good places in Warsaw where you can find perfect beef.
In the future, I think I could consider buying a "lab meat".
As for the lab made meat - it could be a viable alternative, but I'm sure people would need to know it was well researched and that it's a safe option.