By Bill Bittner, President, BWH Consulting
Several weeks ago, we asked whether consumers were ready for meat products coming from cloned animals. But what if there were no animals involved at all? Does that make the science more palatable?
Most people seem to have come to terms with bioengineered produce without much protest. For those who have strong concerns, organic produce offers a way to opt out. There is talk of cloned meat and experiments are beginning in that area. But now it seems there is a foreseeable future when meat could be efficiently produced without animals, and in sufficient quantities to make a real impact on the meat industry.
In the recent Economist Technology Quarterly, they discussed the development of "cultured meat." NOVA also did a discussion on their scienceNOW segment. Cultured meat promises to provide smells and tastes exactly like the real thing without needing to kill an animal to create it. It may even be healthier than the real thing, free of disease and developed in a sterile environment free of E. coli, salmonella, etc.
Discussion Questions: Do you think consumers are ready for "cultured meat"? What happens to the huge infrastructure built for raising and distributing livestock?
The Economist article quotes a member of PETA who says, "No one who considers what's in a meat hot dog could genuinely express any revulsion at eating a clean cloned meat product."
When asked the poll question, "Would you eat cultured meat?," 4000+ respondents on PBS' NOVA web site voted "no," but by a slim margin - 52 percent to 47 percent. (Granted, Nova draws a science-loving crowd.)
The whole idea seems so surreal to me at this point, I don't have a personal opinion. I know I don't shop the organic section to avoid bioengineered produce, so maybe with time I will be able to also accept meat from the Petri dish.