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PETA Launches Contest to Create Lab-Grown Meat
by
findingDulcinea Staff
PETA has offered $1 million to the first person who can create chicken meat from animal stem cells, and have it ready to sell by 2012.
30-Second Summary
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) believes its in vitro meat solution could spare animals from being killed to satisfy “America’s meat addiction.”
The organization reports that more than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs and cows are slaughtered in the United States annually.
In vitro meat could be created using animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce, PETA said. Tissue would be created, but without a central nervous system it would be without consciousness and unable to feel pain.
The idea may disturb some people, but scientists have studied in vitro meat before.
Slate Magazine says it is “no freakier or more far-fetched than what you’ve been hearing from politicians about stem cells and what they can do for people.”
Anyone accepting PETA’s challenge must produce test tube "chicken" that could be sold in U.S. supermarkets by 2012. The meat must also taste like real chicken and be fairly competitive in price.
Whether their challenge will be met is another matter. This project would take years of testing and research, and require lengthy approvals before the meat could be fed to the public.
Making the chicken cheap could be another obstacle because in vitro meat technology is new and expensive. Producing a 250 gram piece of beef would currently cost $1 million.
If successful, in vitro meat could do more than just save animals. U.S. News & World Report writes, “With a global food crisis brewing, the topic has perhaps never been more timely.”
The organization reports that more than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs and cows are slaughtered in the United States annually.
In vitro meat could be created using animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce, PETA said. Tissue would be created, but without a central nervous system it would be without consciousness and unable to feel pain.
The idea may disturb some people, but scientists have studied in vitro meat before.
Slate Magazine says it is “no freakier or more far-fetched than what you’ve been hearing from politicians about stem cells and what they can do for people.”
Anyone accepting PETA’s challenge must produce test tube "chicken" that could be sold in U.S. supermarkets by 2012. The meat must also taste like real chicken and be fairly competitive in price.
Whether their challenge will be met is another matter. This project would take years of testing and research, and require lengthy approvals before the meat could be fed to the public.
Making the chicken cheap could be another obstacle because in vitro meat technology is new and expensive. Producing a 250 gram piece of beef would currently cost $1 million.
If successful, in vitro meat could do more than just save animals. U.S. News & World Report writes, “With a global food crisis brewing, the topic has perhaps never been more timely.”
Headline Links: Making meat from stem cells
Anyone accepting PETA’s challenge must produce enough test tube chicken to sell in 10 U.S. states by mid-2012. The meat must be indistinguishable from real chicken in taste, and comparable in price. PETA claims humans don’t need to eat meat, but because some people “refuse to kick their meat addictions,” the organization “is willing to help them gain access to flesh that doesn’t cause suffering and death.”
Source: Toronto Star
PETA has also noted that the production of in vitro meat would help the environment by lessening the resources needed to care for animals.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Scientists around the world are pursuing the idea of in vitro proteins. In June 2007, the In Vitro Meat Consortium was created to create an “international alliance of environmentally concerned scientists” that want to produce in vitro meat at large-scale levels.
Source: The In Vitro Meat Consortium
Background: Exploring the idea of lab-grown meat
Scientists started working with in vitro proteins about 10 years ago, originally developing the idea as a means to make food for astronauts on long space missions. The first edible muscle protein was created from a goldfish in 2000. Researchers then realized the meat could potentially feed larger groups of people.
Source: Time
Reactions: Divisions among PETA members
PETA operates on the principle that animals should not be used for food, clothing, entertainment or experimentation.
Source: PETA
The lab-grown meat competition will cause an irreparable rift between some PETA members says PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk. “In any social cause community, there are people who strive for purity,” Newkirk explained. “We will have members leave us over this.”
Source: Slate Magazine
Related Topic: Lab-grown meat a solution to the food crisis?
Riots in Egypt, Haiti, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ethiopia over rising food costs have become threats to each country’s political stability. World Bank head Robert Zoellick has called for international aid to rein in food prices.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: Dietary preferences, PETA
FindingDulcinea has a Web Guide to Veganism, with online resources that explain how to become a vegan, information about the vegan diet, and tips for buying vegan food and products.
Source: findingDulcinea
To learn about vegetarianism, how to be a vegetarian, vegetarian health and more, read the findingDulcinea Vegetarianism Web Guide.
Source: findingDulcinea
FindingDulcinea also provides a Web guide to socially responsible food, which recommends where to go for information on buying and growing organic food.
Source: findingDulcinea
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