Meat eating ethics in the presence of Cultured Meat

Author: Analgesic.Spectre

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#1
Analgesic.Spectre
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Cultured meat is essentially meat grown in vitro, as opposed to being collected from carcasses. Clearly, this has the advantage of avoiding the slaughtering of animals, which is arguably an ethical concern.

Until recently (2017), this version of meat has always been too expensive, being well over $300,000 just three and a half years ago (albeit, that seemed to include the cost of setting-up the lab).

However, due to developing technology, the meat was able to be produced for approximately $11.

Whilst this is still 9-10 times more expensive than slaughtered meat, this inspires an interesting question: at what price would you be willing to switch to Cultured Meat, if at all?
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Smithereens
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When I cook mince with low grade beef I'll often simmer it to draw out the fat. I don't have to do this with higher grades, so if they can offer low fat meats I'd be willing to pay up to about $4-5/kg more over the normal ones I buy. It would be healthier in addition to saving me time in cooking it.
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@Analgesic.Spectre
it would depend on taste, nutritional evidence and any other details that will help me make the most informed decision I can.  Without that knowledge I can't answer how much extra I would pay.  But if we made some assumptions as the taste and nutrition is very similar, I'd pay a couple of bucks extra per pound.  Because I think my wife might eat it, as she only eats chicken and sea food.  Istr they were trying to develop a vegetable burger that tasted like meat by hitting the certain taste receptors, much like the artificial or alternative sweeteners (which I don't like).
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Polytheist-Witch
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We are working on getting out of town to raise our own meat. We recently started keeping chickens and the first one we butchered we noticed a huge difference. I don't have an issue with killing for meat but inhumane treatment. Local farmers would be my choice over in-vitro meat. 
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@Polytheist-Witch
agreed, and good for you, I'm envious
Imagine if you will no need for chickens because of the process, wouldn't chickens eventually cease to exist?  There is a need for them and a purpose w/o that other than in books there would be no need for them, it's not like are wild animals.
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@TheDredPriateRoberts
agreed, and good for you, I'm enviousImagine if you will no need for chickens because of the process, wouldn't chickens eventually cease to exist?  There is a need for them and a purpose w/o that other than in books there would be no need for them, it's not like are wild animals.

What about eggs?
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@Polytheist-Witch
there's already egg substitutes, they can probably do the same thing with those that they can with tissue, someday, in a Star Trek kind of future.  i'm just saying many of the food animals only exist because of humans who want to eat them, if that no longer exists those animals will probably not exist any longer..  Not a judgement thing, just the possibility, probability I see.
but to your point, while I think this technology is interesting etc, I'd prefer more attention to promoting good animal welfare, local farmers and the best ethical standards that we can implement.
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@TheDredPriateRoberts
there's already egg substitutes, they can probably do the same thing with those that they can with tissue, someday, in a Star Trek kind of future.  i'm just saying many of the food animals only exist because of humans who want to eat them, if that no longer exists those animals will probably not exist any longer..  Not a judgement thing, just the possibility, probability I see.but to your point, while I think this technology is interesting etc, I'd prefer more attention to promoting good animal welfare, local farmers and the best ethical standards that we can implement.

I have some issues with genetically modified food and subbing soy for everything animal based. There are already unethical companies operating in the food industry that are not meat related. I also feel, not science to it, that there is a reason that there are now sensitivities to gluten and dairy, especially in those with autism. And Red dye 40 drives some kids crazy. We sometimes don't think about what we ingest just assuming it's ok but I think nature or natural is always better.
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@Polytheist-Witch
I have some issues with genetically modified food and subbing soy for everything animal based. There are already unethical companies operating in the food industry that are not meat related. I also feel, not science to it, that there is a reason that there are now sensitivities to gluten and dairy, especially in those with autism. And Red dye 40 drives some kids crazy. We sometimes don't think about what we ingest just assuming it's ok but I think nature or natural is always better. 
you are spot on about that.  So now the new thing is giving babies peanut butter early on so they don't develop an allergy to it.  Not sure if you ever watched the soybean documentary about monsanto, think it was on prime, don't remember the name, sorry, but it was informative and crazy imo.  We are so ill informed when it comes to food.  They talk about a disease that will end humanity, if it does it was man made.
there's a reason why farm steads and "prep" have become popular, if my circumstances would allow for it, I'd do it too.
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@TheDredPriateRoberts
you are spot on about that.  So now the new thing is giving babies peanut butter early on so they don't develop an allergy to it.  Not sure if you ever watched the soybean documentary about monsanto, think it was on prime, don't remember the name, sorry, but it was informative and crazy imo.  We are so ill informed when it comes to food.  They talk about a disease that will end humanity, if it does it was man made.there's a reason why farm steads and "prep" have become popular, if my circumstances would allow for it, I'd do it too.

Mansanto is a criminal enterprise as far as I am concerned.  I know my son's diet can completely effect how he functions being autistic. He can't do Red Dye or dairy. He doesn't seem to have the gluten issue. He has major skin sensitivity too. So we make most of our skin products like lotion, soaps and after shave. 
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@Polytheist-Witch
Mansanto is a criminal enterprise as far as I am concerned.  I know my son's diet can completely effect how he functions being autistic. He can't do Red Dye or dairy. He doesn't seem to have the gluten issue. He has major skin sensitivity too. So we make most of our skin products like lotion, soaps and after shave. 

from what I know, I agree with you.  it's scary how many are so unaware.
Making your own stuff is awesome very admirable, I'm a bit envious :)
This is one of the reasons I'm mostly anti-government, people who try to be self sufficient and independent are blocked needlessly by government.  There's some places it's illegal to collect rain water as an example.  And for no logical reason, hemp is illegal and has been for a long time, though there's no good science as to why.
With that said I think I've changed my mind about this growing meat thing, as I believe it will be almost 100% government controlled and manipulated.  There will little or no way to make a good informed decision about if it's good for you or not, what it might contained and potential unintended consequences.
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#12
Analgesic.Spectre
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@Smithereens
When I cook mince with low grade beef I'll often simmer it to draw out the fat. I don't have to do this with higher grades, so if they can offer low fat meats I'd be willing to pay up to about $4-5/kg more over the normal ones I buy. It would be healthier in addition to saving me time in cooking it.
Beef fat is high in calories (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/beef#section3), contains a large percentage of monosaturated fat (which is healthy for your heart), and reduces heart-disease risk (https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19536669/fatty-foods-with-health-benefits/). 

Given that money is of importance to you (seeing that you're mentioning it in your comment, you're 20 and still at university), why would you waste these healthy fats, and then pay more money on other things to receive the calories and heart-healthy fats?

Once again, know-it-all, you've written a profoundly stupid comment.



#13
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@Analgesic.Spectre
I can tell you don't cook your own meals. A kilo of low grade beef mince has far more fats and oils than you can metabolise in a day without building adipose tissue. I get all the fat I require from vegetables and fish (which I eat a lot of for cultural reasons). When I simmer a single meals worth I can fill half a cup with just fat. Just because it's monousaturated doesn't mean I can just drink it and call such a massive consumption "healthy." You're being ridiculous and ignorant as usual lol. 

Know your portions, learn to cook.  
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@Smithereens
Just because it's monousaturated doesn't mean I can just drink it
Of course not! You use it as a base to make gravy then drink it.

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@drafterman
If I roast I'll collect drippings yeah. I don't reincorporate the fats back into mince however, and I'm not sure how you would at any rate. Mince goes with spaghetti and tomato paste, idk about gravy. You're making me hungry lol
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#16
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@Smithereens
I can tell you don't cook your own meals.
More credence to the tag of 'know-it-all'.

A kilo of low grade beef mince has far more fats and oils than you can metabolise in a day without building adipose tissue.
Why on Earth are you attempting to eat an entire kilogram of mince at once? Did you know that you can actually cut meat before you cook it? You later prod me by suggesting I have no conception of portion size -- highly comedic.

I get all the fat I require from vegetables and fish (which I eat a lot of for cultural reasons).
Are know-it-all-ism and brain-dead proportion sizes cultural, too?

Please excuse my cultural inexperience. I didn't realise that the mentally retarded idea of destroying the fat in meat, and then buying more food to get nearly identical fat, was cultural.

When I simmer a single meals worth I can fill half a cup with just fat. Just because it's monousaturated doesn't mean I can just drink it and call such a massive consumption "healthy."
Did you ever consider leaving the fat in the meat and not cooking as much? I suppose you must have, given your know-it-all status.

Know your portions, learn to cook.  
This is a comma spliced sentence, but since you're a know-it-all, I suppose you're intentionally making grammatical mistakes. 

Anyway, I don't want to interrupt the hours of cooking you have to do, given that you like to cook and partially destroy kilograms of meat at once.

Off to your cooking duties, know-it-all.
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@Analgesic.Spectre
If I cut all meat from my diet, save for the fish I'll have more than enough fat in my intake. As I mentioned, I only remove fat from low grade beef as the fat to meat ratio is not acceptable for my diet. I don't expect you to understand seeing as the concept of nutrition is foreign to you so I'll just leave you with the tips:
  • Unless you don't eat your vegetables like a toddler, you don't actually need any fat from meat at all.
  • Eat meat sparingly
  • If you're cooking a meat heavy meal, consider removing the fat if applicable to your cooking method
  • You don't need to remove fat from high grade meats
Follow these tips and one day you won't be so obese my child.