Would You Eat Synthetic Beef?

[Muffins]

I say we skip the whole synthetic meat thing and go straight to soylent green. I hear it's actually quite tasty and great for the environment.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Coach

I'm on the side of lab-meat, but I think a big hinderance will be this. You won't be getting "cuts" like you did without the animal. Rib Eye, TBone, NY Strip, etc... are all based on and named for where they are found on the animal and the condition they are in due to the bone structure and fat content, which won't exist here.

That might be true, but I'm not sure they won't be able to create that same sort of fat content and texture. Like I say I'm a bit skeptical about this but I'm not one of the people working on it. For all I know they'll get it right and you will in fact be able to get a piece of "grown" meat that is practically indistinguishable from the NY strip or rib eye pulled out of a cow. Granted, probably without the bone.

It's likely it's basically all "roast" like lumps of meet that get sliced into steaks. But really, the consistency should be pretty much selectable and everything should be filet-style tender.

Even this would be a triumph, I think - if you still had to go to the real cow to get a tomahawk but you could eat as much cultured tenderloin as you want, that makes a huge difference in terms of how beef is produced at scale.

I mean, even just the hamburger does, but the further they can take it the better, is really what I'm saying. If it turns out you're right and they can't make the rib eye work, well, the fact that you can't reproduce 100% of what a cow offers doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot for 75%.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I mean, even just the hamburger does, but the further they can take it the better, is really what I'm saying. If it turns out you're right and they can't make the rib eye work, well, the fact that you can't reproduce 100% of what a cow offers doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot for 75%.

Totally agree. As noted, I'm all for it.

But it won't be very efficient for them to be making one "cut" at a time. It will have to be done, as you noted, as "giant vat meat" in order to make it profitable, which is of course the endgame with all human processes. Maybe they will be able to make large logs of certain "cuts" and slice them into multiple rib-eyes or what have you, I doubt it though.

But even if we can just replace all fast food burgers with lab-grown ground, it would be a triumph.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Coach

I'm on the side of lab-meat, but I think a big hinderance will be this. You won't be getting "cuts" like you did without the animal. Rib Eye, TBone, NY Strip, etc... are all based on and named for where they are found on the animal and the condition they are in due to the bone structure and fat content, which won't exist here.

It's likely it's basically all "roast" like lumps of meet that get sliced into steaks. But really, the consistency should be pretty much selectable and everything should be filet-style tender.

Except that's not the case:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...teak-usda-fda/

If the goal is to create the fat marbling and protein structure of a ribeye versus a striploin, filet, etc., there are ways of doing that synthetically. The naming convention would likely be maintained to make it easy to figure out what you're buying.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

Except that's not the case:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...teak-usda-fda/

If the goal is to create the fat marbling and protein structure of a ribeye versus a striploin, filet, etc., there are ways of doing that synthetically. The naming convention would likely be maintained to make it easy to figure out what you're buying.

Definitely an interesting read. I still have my reservations about whether or not that can be scaled so it can be mass-produced at a cost comparable (and eventually, lower) to that of the real thing. But I'm all for it if it can be done.

Science is f***ing crazy.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Bill Gates is welcome to switch his family over to synthetic beef. Something tells me he just means this for us plebes though.

This is it in a nutshell isn't' it? The world elites that have single carbon footprints of a millions of poor people will sit in their mansions dining on the best beef money can buy while us peasants sit with our families eating our synthetic meat. I just can't get behind any of these people because they obtained their wealth at a cost to the planet and they have the gall to try and convince the masses to pay for it. The worst part is that they will likely do just that.

Originally Posted by Muffins

I say we skip the whole synthetic meat thing and go straight to soylent green. I hear it's actually quite tasty and great for the environment.

Ha ha I'm actually disappointed it took 4 pages to get a soylent green reference.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

That might be true, but I'm not sure they won't be able to create that same sort of fat content and texture. Like I say I'm a bit skeptical about this but I'm not one of the people working on it. For all I know they'll get it right and you will in fact be able to get a piece of "grown" meat that is practically indistinguishable from the NY strip or rib eye pulled out of a cow. Granted, probably without the bone.

In theory reproducibility is a potential advantage here as well. If a lab can produce a perfect rib-eye once, it can produce a perfect rib-eye every time, with no variability from one to the next, with identical genetics and input. Personally I'd love having the certainty that the cut I get is going to be identical each time.

[activeStick]

This is something that has a chance of taking off in the west where food culture isn't important and isn't part of their identity but I don't see it popular in our lifetime in other places where food is a much bigger part of people's lives. For example, I just can't see people in Italy or China being big fans of processed meats where food and eating are such huge parts of their cultures.

[CaptainYooh]

I believe that Canadians should lead the rest of the world by example and test all synthetic foods on themselves. Those who refuse, should be publicly shamed on CBC. I mean, what else are we good for, right?

[nik-]

Call me old fashioned but I can't even enjoy a meal unless something died.

[CaptainCrunch]

Spoiler!

As soon as they slap the label synthetic on it, publish a couple of articles on benefits real and imagined, put some wall street marketing firm on it, it'll be double the price of regular meat. T


hen a protest group will form decrying the exploitation of protein molecules because they have rights too. They'll start burning down factories and stealing vials and releasing them to the wild.



There will be a new group called the Synthoidgansatarians that will lecture you every time you meet for a meal or have them over for dinner, about how the whole world should go synth, until you imagine them with a side of mashed potatoes.
Meanwhile Pamela Anderson will form PETSM, the People for the Ethical treatment of synthetic protein, because even though its a synthetic substance, its based on meat and meat is murder man.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Sign me up, I look forward to this becoming the norm.

[calf]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

. It's just that the biological process that grows those cells when you have a calf that ultimately gets bigger by eating grass and becomes a cow is happening without any sentient creature involved.

Yeah, this sounds like a good thing.

[CliffFletcher]

Double-post

[CliffFletcher]

Given the unrelenting increase in global demand for beef and other meat, the price is going nowhere but up. People who say they’ll never touch the synthetic stuff might be singing a different tune when a natural steak costs $50 at Safeway and a synthetic one costs $25. I expect my grandkids will marvel when my kids tell them regular middle-class people used to eat natural beef as a staple food.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Given the unrelenting growth in global demand for beef and other meat, the price is going nowhere but up. People who say they’ll never eat the synthetic stuff will be singing a different tune when a natural steak costs $50 at Safeway and a synthetic one costs $25. When it comes to fast food burgers and other processed food the choice will be even easier.

Maybe. But it is also possible that people will simply not eat it out of fear or simply eat a lot less meat. I do enjoy a good steak as much as the other guy, but we certainly eat a LOT less beef nowadays, because a) it is expensive, b) it is a very heavy meal and c) there is plenty of other natural protein sources. My response could be different in case of severe food shortage/hunger or if synthetic beef is the only protein source available out there, but how likely is that scenario to even worry about now?

[troutman]

Soylent Beef is people!

[photon]

I'm also on the pro vat-meat train. Not sure about synthetic beef, but I'm not against it in principle. If it has the necessary taste and texture and cost and nutrients then great.

Heck even if it's made of ground up bugs or something that's fine as long as I don't know it's made of ground up bugs.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Given the unrelenting increase in global demand for beef and other meat, the price is going nowhere but up. People who say they’ll never touch the synthetic stuff might be singing a different tune when a natural steak costs $50 at Safeway and a synthetic one costs $25. I expect my grandkids will marvel when my kids tell them regular middle-class people used to eat natural beef as a staple food.

I think that the opposite will happen, and synthetic beef or chicken will be really expensive because it will be marketed that way.



Nobody does things like this for the good of mankind, its going to be a rush to the goldmine of synthetic meats and how much of a premium can we charge for the label.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Coach

Totally agree. As noted, I'm all for it.

But it won't be very efficient for them to be making one "cut" at a time. It will have to be done, as you noted, as "giant vat meat" in order to make it profitable, which is of course the endgame with all human processes. Maybe they will be able to make large logs of certain "cuts" and slice them into multiple rib-eyes or what have you, I doubt it though.

But even if we can just replace all fast food burgers with lab-grown ground, it would be a triumph.

I’m not sure replacing all ground beef works. Cows are a very low waste product. Only 60% ends up as meat. So it will be interesting what kind of market distortions get created when you cut into ground beef demand. In theory the price of ground beef will drop below the price of lab meat and the cost of all the other parts of the cow rise to offset until the demand drops for the more premium cow parts due to price.

So in order for the lab meets to really cut into the beef market they likely need to be producing premium cuts