Legal Insurrection has long followed the war on cows and dairy products, which has targeted our bovine friends as major contributors to global warming thanks to the methane gas they generate.
However, a new study reveals that lab-grown meat, produced by cultivating animal cells, is up to 25 times worse for the climate than real beef.
The new research was led by scientists at the Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California, Davis.
Production of real meat has a huge carbon footprint because it requires water, feed and the clearing of trees to make way for cattle.Despite this, experts say the carbon footprint of lab-grown meat could be ‘orders of magnitude higher’ once the industry grows….Currently, animal cell-based meat products are being produced at a small scale and at an economic loss, however companies are intending to industrialize and scale-up production,’ the scientists say in their paper.’Results indicate that the environmental impact of near-term animal cell-based meat production is likely to be orders of magnitude higher than median beef production if a highly refined growth medium is utilised.’
There are many struggles associated with making lab-grown meat. To begin with, it is difficult to make the quantities needed for a mass market.
Cultivated meat is typically produced by placing certain poultry and livestock cells into stainless-steel tanks known as bioreactors, where they are fed nutrients and oxygen before being harvested and formed into meat products.According to former employees, Upside has struggled to produce large quantities of meat. They said the company often scrambled to make enough for lab analysis and tastings. Upside for years worked to grow whole cuts of meat, which proved difficult in its bioreactors. It battled contamination in its labs. Traces of rodent DNA once tainted a chicken cell line, according to former employees, and confirmed by company executives.Today, the company is growing its marquee filet not in large bioreactors at its pilot plant but in two-liter plastic bottles akin to those used to grow cells for decades by pharmaceutical companies.Hundreds of disposable bottles, often called “roller bottles,” are required to make a few filets.“Roller bottles aren’t scalable. Too small, too labor-intensive,” said David Humbird, an independent chemical engineer who wrote a report skeptical of the industry.
Bioreactors also require energy to operate. If the lab is in New York, California, or anywhere else embracing the green energy mania, energy availability could be a significant issue.
Here is an interesting video for anyone interested in the laboratory process.
Finally, certain countries are rushing to embrace this particular food option. Italy, for example, banned insect powder in the flour used for its traditional cuisine.
It doesn’t appear it wants lab-grown meatballs, either.
Lab-grown food is potentially dangerous for one’s health, Italy’s agriculture minister told Reuters, calling it “slush” that could never taste like natural meat or fish.In March, Italy’s right-wing government proposed a bill to ban the production and import of cultured food and feed, which are not yet available in the European Union.Singapore was the first country to approve lab-grown meat for retail sale in 2020, but progress in the field is being made also in the United States and Israel.”We reject the idea of standardising products … making them all the same in laboratories, erasing our culture tied to the land,” said Francesco Lollobrigida, a senior figure in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist Brothers of Italy party.
Happily, Italy is one of the countries on my vacation docket for next year. I plan to eat a lot of fresh and natural products…free of insects and laboratories.
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