A Compassionate World

Scientists at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands are working on the production of  in-vitro meat as a potential substitute for the meat currently sold in our supermarkets.

Global meat consumption is set to double by the year 2050, driven by economic growth in areas such as Brazil, Russia, India and China. We’re running out of land with serious implications for the continued and increasing growth of grain and soya for animal consumption; not to mention the animal welfare and environmental issues, such as pollution, that arise from this increased demand, particularly when factory farming is employed .

Over consumption of meat has a number of adverse effects on human health including increased risk of heart disease and cancer.  There’s an increasing market for meat substitutes which have the taste and texture of meat, without the health and environmental issues.

In-vitro meat is an animal flesh product that has never been part of a living animal. Cells are taken from a live animal and grown into muscle tissue in a laboratory. These cells are what are referred to as ‘satellite cells’; they form stem cells which are programmed to produce muscle. Given the right conditions they continue to grow into muscle outside of the body. In-vitro meat should not be confused with imitation meat, which is a vegetarian food product made from vegetable protein.

(more…)

What if we could replace all the mince meat that we eat in dishes like hamburgers, sausages, cottage pie, meatloaf, lasagne and spaghetti bolognese with a virtually identical product; meat without killing animals?

Is this too good to be true? I don’t think so. Within the next decade, we could well see this happen.

This is because meat cultured in cell culture (in vitro) could become economically viable, certainly within most of our lifetimes. It will replace the meat eaten presently as ground or mince meat, which is said to account for at least one-half of all meat consumed. This will mean, in turn, a significant reduction in the number of animals killed for food and may well hasten our goal of ending factory farming by 2050.

This is why at our recent Board meeting, the directors unanimously agreed to a new policy. They agreed that the “development of cultured meat offers an innovative solution to meeting growing global demand for meat in a way that avoids the serious animal welfare problems associated with intensive livestock farming.” Compassion is therefore supporting this emerging technology as part of a package of solutions to providing a humane and sustainable food system for the future.

Compassion believes cultured meat has the potential to start a brand-new relationship between us and how our food is produced. Cultured meat has the potential to be healthier, safer, less polluting and more humane than conventional meat. Fat content can be more easily controlled. The incidence of food borne disease can be significantly reduced. Inedible animal structures (bones, respiratory system, digestive system, skin and the nervous system) need not be grown. As a result, the production of cultured meat is likely to be more efficient than conventional meat in its use of energy, land and water as well as producing less waste.

Furthermore, as the technology develops and economies of scale work in its favour, more complex pieces of meat (e.g. chicken leg, lamb cutlet) will be produced as cultured meat. This will profoundly impact – and drastically lower – the projected number of food animals reared worldwide.

I believe in the not too distant future many of us who eat meat will choose cultured meat for everyday meals. We will also choose for special occasions particular cuts of meat from animals raised using higher welfare methods, such as free range, and humanely killed in slaughterhouses with CCTV and other monitoring systems to protect animal welfare.

This ideal for a more humane world was also the vision of our founders, Peter and Anna Roberts. They established Direct Foods in 1969. As an organisation, our relationship with cultured meat, albeit in a different form as textured soya protein, originates with Peter and Anna, who were dairy farmers shocked at the direction agriculture was taking. Direct Foods’ mission was to provide plant-based, meat-like alternatives. This included Sosmix, Burgamix and Protoveg.

From working closely with Peter for so many years I learned the importance of campaigning as pragmatic idealists. Progress is made in steps – small and large – along the way. I believe if he were with us today he would also be championing cultured meat as an innovative solution that could transform our food and farming system for the better and for all.