would you eat meat grown in a vat? how about the vegetarians here? it seems to me, that with modern science's ability to culture cells and even tissues..that it is only a matter of time before we do away with the uneccessary parts of the cow. meat grown in a vat could be bathed in nutrients, shocked to excercise it, and would not come with the possibility of having picked up some weird brain perforating disease. cows grown in vats dont even have brains. "no cows were harmed in the making of this steak!". no massive fields of methane producing, arable land using, smelly herds. and why stop at cows? turducken steaks. turkey legs for everyone at thanksgiving and no bones to get in the way. hummingbird chops. mercury free salmon. etc..etc..
amanda [email] said at 2:51 PM 04-01-2004: If it tasted like meat and had the textural and nutritional quality of actual meat, I'd definitely be up for some vat meat.
Mane said at 4:00 PM 04-01-2004: I'm not sure - I like to know my food had a personality and used to roam free. I do not like eating battery farmed chicken for example, or especially mechanically recovered meat (if you know how they make it, you understand - if you do not know NEVER find out...) It would require more information to make a firm decision either way. incedentally, what would happen to real cows? there would be no reason to farm them any more - would they be endangered species you could only see at the zoo?
Mane said at 4:20 PM 04-01-2004: that's wierd, I see nothing offensive about it either morally or ethically. As your 'now cows were harmed' tagline indicates no animals would indeed be harmed - except all the ones living out there waiting to be burgers who would now be out of jobs. In Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy they bred an animal that wanted to be eaten, this is better as it has no feelings either way - I say do it, if it is cheap enough and marketed properly it is bound to be a hit - Vatmeat, the ethically sound meat. Try our new VatBacon (suitable for vegetarians?)
anotherben.. said at 4:28 PM 04-01-2004: that has been my experience of late. not only do they get offended.. they act as if i am suggesting some horribly cruel treatment of cute puppies.
Mane said at 4:49 PM 04-01-2004: Is there any justification or reasoning for this? Did you suggest VatMeat Puppy steak? even that is neither cruel nor inhumane but people are quite attached to puppies. I'd understand if people thought it unatural - it is! but so are most things in life if you analyse them enough - it is just that you are used to your house, your car, modern medicine, etc. all are 'unnatural' I'm getting to like this idea more and more...
brandon [email] said at 5:11 PM 04-01-2004: You know though, that every once in a while, some wrong sequence of genes is going to fire off, quality control will fail, and some yokel will make a big deal out of getting something in his vienna vatMeat sausage that vaguely resembled an ear or pig genitals or something.
But, cows can still be kept useful. They can be draped wit sheets of a nano-tubule matrix impregnated vatmeat cells. The sheets will be designed to meld with the cows dermis and allow for an exchange of nutrients between the cow's body and the the growing vatMeat.
The free-range vatMeat can be shorn from the cows every so often and sold at a premium.
Mane said at 7:38 PM 04-01-2004: Spam is EVIL. seriously, they distil evil until it goes a bit meaty then can it in jelly. VatMeat is a safe, healthy, benevolent product that is delicious AND nutricious.
rick [email] said at 10:31 AM 04-02-2004: You could eat puppy steak right now; go to the Library Of Congress and check out "Unmentionable Cuisine." Then find a puppy.
anotherben.. said at 9:42 AM 04-02-2004: there would be no need for preservatives. you will love the VatMeat(TM). it is not like this meat is going to out walking about in its own filth. it will come in handy, easily packaged shapes..no need for messy butchering operations. you will love the VatMeat(TM). VatMeat(TM) will be a clean, healthy, humane and tasty alternative to the traditional means of harvesting muscle tissue for consumption. you will love the VatMeat(TM). you will love the VatMeat(TM). VatMeat(TM) is love.
Baby Duck said at 12:41 PM 04-02-2004: I think this will be very possible in our lifetime, but will it be cost effective? Can it be made cheap enough to sell to the masses?
One could have complete control of VatMeat's environment -- physically filtering out all protein denaturing components, thus eliminating the need for preservatives -- but can it get to market that way? Will the distribution containers/vehicles/etc also be equipped with the denature filters?
Can I put a home-station vat plugged into my garage? Hi-tech briefcases sent via personal courier could then deliver the VatMeat to my door?
rick [email] said at 10:39 AM 04-02-2004: The main non-cruelty problems with meat are that:
1) a lot of times it is fattening ( pork, beef, et ceterra)
2) the protein is not as good as whole eggs, cow milk, whey or whey isolates
3) hormones are given to meat sources which may be problematic in human bodies
4) antibiotics are given to meat sources and will still be present when one eats the meat thus taking in needless antibiotics to say nothing of the fact that the habit also gives rise to drug-resistant microbiota
5) a lot of meat has been raised on farms that have pesticides present in the ground which may still be present in the meat when one eats it
6) a lot of meat is not cleanly packaged and stored and oftentimes the storing process can rob the meat of its nutrional value.
#2 cannot be helped. #1 can be helped a bit and the rest of the problems can be helped a lot by eating organic meat. So if one comes up with a "vat meat" that address all these problems then one may be on to something.
art said at 11:04 AM 04-02-2004: Actually, I think you should call it NuMeat™.
You could even offer different unique shapes to grow the NuMeat™ in, sort of like jell-o molds. There could be lamb shapes, brain shapes, baby calf shapes, bacon shapes. Or custom-made shapes for kids, like ones of their favorite pets - dog, cat, goldfish - whatever.
You could even offer shapes resembling a lost loved one:
[Thanksgiving Scene]
Billy: Gee mom, I wish Grandpa was here for dinner
Mom: He is, Billy - we're have a NuMeat™ Grandpa for dinner!
Billy: Great! I'll take a leg!
Darryl X. said at 12:55 PM 04-02-2004: Fuck animals. I'll eat any animal. If things got really bad, I'd kill and eat my fucking NEIGHBORS. PETA can blow me. Sanctimonious homos.
Woody said at 5:44 PM 04-02-2004: I think "If things got really bad, I'd kill and eat my fucking NEIGHBORS." should be taken out of context and put in the quotes db.
katie said at 4:58 AM 04-04-2004: actually, "PETA can blow me ... sanctimonious homos" has a better ring to it. the only problem is that killoggs would get way too many hits as a result.
thomas said at 4:27 PM 04-02-2004: After not eating meat for a while it takes on a truly unappetizing smell of blood. (Think bloody nose, not rare steak.)
neilbert said at 4:30 AM 04-04-2004: They would never be able to grow "vat meat" and have it have the same texture and taste of regular meat. Real meat has fat in it, which also imparts flavor and texture to the meat. The best meat in the world is of the Wagyu Japanese cows. The meat is marbellized totally with fat, perfectly, which makes it the best tasting meat period (it sells for $175 a steak in some fancier restaurants). You can order it at: http://yama-beef.com/cgi-bin/beef/history?676XwXJH;;13 Meat, it's what's for dinner. The preceeding was paid for by the meat council of america.
Mane said at 7:43 PM 04-05-2004: No they would never be able to grow VatMeat because it is trademarked and they would get their asses sued. the Wagyu are genetically disposed to store their fat like that - with VatMeat you can choose how much fat your meat is grown with - and how it is stored on the meat! VatMeat is real meat - it therefore has the same texture as those disease-ridden hoof-raised meats, but the flavour is better due to the increased quality control. Nobody checks inside a cow while it grows, but VatMeat is always carefully monitored to ensure you get your perfect meat the way you like it. And it is totally humane.
