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submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by noktastrigo@lemmy.cafe to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

The main reasons I've seen from vegans for not eating meat seem to be all about the morality of eating a sentient animal, the practices of the modern meat industry, and the environmental impact of it. And don't have anything to do with the taste of meat.

Since lab-grown meat doesn't cause animal suffering, and assuming mass production is environmentally friendly, would you consider going back to eating meat if it were the lab-grown kind?

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[-] wowleak@sh.itjust.works 119 points 5 months ago

I would not mind eating lab grown and I think it is great if people would eat that instead but ive been vegan for so long that i have no interest in meat. I hardly eat mock meats, its only in social situations to not stand out to much.

[-] Nemo@midwest.social 44 points 5 months ago

Seconded. When I was vegan I'd already been vegetarian for years. Meat, including fake meat, held no appeal.

[-] Sasha 7 points 5 months ago

Fake meat has more of an appeal to me than lab grown meat, or it used to. It was kinda interesting when they were unique flavours marketed as alternatives rather than accurate immitations.

Honestly the food science is one of my favourite things about being vegan, I can cook way more interesting meals than I could as a carnist because I'd just use meat as the main flavour which works but it's kinda lazy. Let me make something with a little miso and shitake broth and you'll be in love

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[-] frickineh@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago

Same. I stopped eating meat in the mid 90s, was pescatarian until 2019, and have been vegan since. I don't miss meat at all. I'll eat an impossible or a beyond burger occasionally because it's sometimes my only option, but I could just as easily skip them.

I wouldn't judge anyone else for eating lab meat, though. I don't have any moral issue with it, it just isn't something I'm personally interested in.

[-] Steve@startrek.website 8 points 5 months ago

Meat is delicious, you should try it if theres no reason not to

[-] Makhno@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago

I eat meat, but I've gone months at a time on a vegetarian diet, and the smell of cooking meat could be nauseating at times. I don't think as many people would eat meat if it wasn't so ingrained in our society

[-] Teppichbrand@feddit.de 9 points 5 months ago
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[-] TipRing@lemmy.world 42 points 5 months ago

I don't have any ethical issues with it, I just don't find meat appetizing anymore. I'm all for having the option for people who want it though.

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[-] nbailey@lemmy.ca 41 points 5 months ago

If it’s cheap, sure.

[-] Sasha 33 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It's a lot of effort to solve an issue that's already solved by being vegan so eh, I'm pretty indifferent to it at least at face value. If it can compete with a vegan diet in terms of climate and ecosystem impact then I'll support it but I've no interest in it personally. I don't really have any justification for not being interested, I'm just not.

I'd be much more interested in seeing artificial cheese made from proteins created by yeast or bacteria tbh.

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Growing plants outdoors takes a lot of water, and growing them indoors takes a lot of energy for the lighting.

Since lab grown meat won't need all that light, energy costs might be lower, but maybe the energy to keep the growth happening at the right temperature will be quite high. You could offset some of that though with where its grown. Ultimately if we can do it close to room temperature that would be ideal, but I have no idea what the requirements are.

Overall though it might be exceptionally environmentally and climate friendly in it's own rights, not just compared to raising the animals to kill them.

[-] sm1dger@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

The energy for lab grown meat has to come from somewhere - thermodynamics is always king. You can provide it via sugars/carbohydrates which the cells can motabolise, but you've got to put energy into making the sugar/carbs which is easiest by just growing some sugarcane/potatoes/etc. There's more steps for meat vs plant and it's very unlikely you can make 100 calories of lab meat with lower total system energy input than 100 calories of plant matter. (N.B., I'm a chemist, not a astronomical biologist, so if an expert refutes me and my assumptions, Place more trust in them)

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[-] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 32 points 5 months ago

No, I dont like the taste or texture

[-] shutz@lemmy.ca 14 points 5 months ago

So, you've already tasted lab-grown meat?

[-] ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee 46 points 5 months ago

Given that the point of lab grown meat is to stand in for butchered meat, I think it’s fair to assume they’ll target the same taste/texture. Honestly, what’s even the point of the discussion without that premise baked in?

[-] Towerofpain11@lemmy.world 29 points 5 months ago

I think they mean they don't like the taste/texture of meat already so why would they go over to lab grown.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 9 points 5 months ago

Where are you getting lab grown meats?

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[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 28 points 5 months ago

My ethics and my mouth think it's a great idea.

But I feel like my intestines would complain a LOT.

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[-] TheRealCharlesEames@lemm.ee 25 points 5 months ago
[-] BlueMagma@sh.itjust.works 25 points 5 months ago

It would depend how this lab grown meat affects the environment or who produces it, how, what price it is.... I'm not opposed to it, just need to see the details.

[-] Kacarott@feddit.de 24 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I've been vegetarian my whole life and vegan for ~4 years or so, and I would definitely eat lab grown meat (assuming the conditions you stated).

I almost certainly wouldn't eat it often but there is sooo many cultural dishes I haven't ever tried due to them containing meat, which I would love to try sometime.

Admittedly I expect that most things I would not end up liking, but the ability to try would be really nice.

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[-] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 22 points 5 months ago

Vegetarian here. It's not something I'd personally buy or use in meals, as I don't really have the desire to eat meat. That said, if it happened to be in a dish I really want to try at a restaurant, sure I'd eat it.

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[-] lennybird@lemmy.world 22 points 5 months ago

Vegetarian not vegan, but I wouldn't really have an issue if ethical. Nutrition is another matter to consider.

[-] seaQueue@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

+1, I was fully veg for about 15y until I started having dreams about turkey sandwiches. I'm weekday veg now and only eat meat/eggs/etc that isn't sourced from factory farming. Shit's expensive and if lab grown meat has the same nutritional profile without the animal suffering I'd happily switch.

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[-] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 21 points 5 months ago

I don't eat meat because it causes suffering in another. Plants have no concept of pain without a brain, nervous system or even nerve endings. So to me, the question becomes if the lab grown meat was ever attached to a brain that could feel suffering.

Now as far i understand it, lab grown meat isn't nessecarily grown in isolation from a cow. But in a solution primarily compromised of blood extracted from living cows. That's without question better than killing a creature, buuuuuuut we all know that when profits are involved the health of a animal is not prioritized.

So it really depends, while I don't miss meat, once lab grown becomes widely available I'll make my choice depending on the exact process of how it reached the grocery store.

[-] Bananable@feddit.nl 16 points 5 months ago

No, I think it's a good idea but I'm fine with plant based alts. I think it's a lot better than having to kill animals for food but still seems like a lot of extr steps when you can just eat plants and stuff mad from plants without requiring a biological reactor, and lab. I would also assume that the process requires at least some more energy or resorces than regular food processing methods. So it wouldn't win any points on that front. I was raised vegan for context, so I've never actually tasted real meat and don't see any reason to try it now, lab grown or not.

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[-] Wahots@pawb.social 16 points 5 months ago

I'd definitely eat it, especially over ecosystem-destroying meats and dirty meats. Especially if they can work on the price. I'd like to see more farmlands and public lands reforested and taken back to nature.

[-] Deadful@lemmy.world 15 points 5 months ago

I would eat it, but I would do so on rare occasions in the same way I might have a drink with friends once a month. I became vegetarian for health reasons in addition to the reasons listed by OP and I have grown to really enjoy meat-free eating, so I don't really miss it but would view it as a treat best enjoyed sparingly.

[-] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 14 points 5 months ago

I grew up vegetarian and I'm used to regarding body parts as belonging to a living thing and to be used in service of it, not as food.

If others cannot stop eating meat from animals then I would find it less morally wrong to eat lab-grown. Still disgusting though. And unlikely to be very resource efficient. Or safe. That's my two pennies!

[-] Befernafardofo@feddit.it 14 points 5 months ago

If it's not wasteful/polluting to produce it, I don't see why not

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[-] ResoluteCatnap@lemmy.ml 13 points 5 months ago

Extracting the stem cells may or may not cause harm to animals. If it is extracted from a live animal then it would cause harm and stress to an animal.

The medium used for growing may not be vegan (like FSB which is extracted from an animals death). But reportedly companies are moving to cheaper, plant-based, mediums.

Even if the process caused no harm or stress to animals, I'm not sure i would eat lab grown meat. I've already completely replaced meat in my cooking, and learned how to make much more nutrious meals. Adding meat back in would be regressive. Not to mention i feel like lab grown meat in particular will have been made possible through animal suffering research. While I'm glad it will have potential to be a net positive in the long run, i personally don't feel the desire to support lab grown meat

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[-] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 12 points 5 months ago

Not vegan but I'd wager most wouldn't, not even because of the ethics stuff everyone memes about

Breaking down meats takes an energy investment that breaking plants down doesn't. So people who are used to a low meat or meatless diet aren't recommended to go full steam on some carnitas first time they feel like getting back on the red and pink stuff.

Literally it causes heavy fatigue and tiredness untill they re-adjust to the energy investment, and if you're already feeling fine just not eating meat then what exactly would be the point of putting yourself through that?

And I'm saying this as a total beef and pork addict, my dad's pescatarian so I got to learn about sudden diet shift health effects from his doctor when he first went for the fishes.

[-] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 5 months ago

I would not trust anyone who tells me it's lab grown. I've had so many restaurants and people lie to me that someone ws vegan, out of malice and out of incompetence, that I just would not believe that a burger was "lab grown" instead of made with cheap meat leftovers.

If somehow I I could assure that it was made without animals being hurt, maybe. Meat is unhealthy so I would still mostly avoid it.

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[-] d416@lemmy.world 11 points 5 months ago

10-year vegan here , 20-year veg. My answer is no no no.

Other than the taste and what it represents, there is far better food to eat which is grown outside than animal flesh.. grown inside a lab no less.

[-] TheFriar@lemm.ee 9 points 5 months ago

I’m all for people being vegan and vegetarian. I just wanted to follow up on this with a question: what about genetically engineered fruit/veg? Or greenhouses? Really, what’s the difference between a lab and a greenhouse when it comes to making food? I just don’t see the lab thing making any sense. We eat a ton of stuff grown in what is essentially food labs. Kitchens are food labs, especially the bigger ones. Don’t eat the lab grown meat, all fine with me. I just think the distinction is strange.

[-] dev_null@lemmy.ml 8 points 5 months ago

Not that it matters, but obviously if this ever becomes commercialised and actually available, it will no longer be grown in a lab, as labs are equipped for research, not mass production of products.

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[-] Gamers_Mate@fedia.io 10 points 5 months ago

It is a great alternative though I personally would not eat lab-grown due to the taste/texture even with plant based alternatives I find it being to close to animal meat as a turn off.

[-] Omniforous@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 months ago

I would not east lab grown meat. At this point meat grosses me out, and vegan protein is already very tasty.

I think lab grown meat mostly appeals to meat eaters who recognise that eating meat is wrong but don't have the discipline to go vegetarian/vegan.

[-] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

I don't think so, it doesn't sound very appealing. I'm very used to going without meat, and tofu satisfies me quite well, or seitan. Being vegan to me is getting away from the idea that you need a lump of something fleshy on your plate to be satisfied.

[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 8 points 5 months ago

Fwiw my wife had a long period of being vegetarian primarily because she doesn't like the taste of beef. So that reasoning does occur as well. She's not vegetarian any more but mostly keeps to chicken due to the taste

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[-] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 7 points 5 months ago

Nah, the stuff I am cooking without meat tastes better anyways.

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this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2024
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