i got the link to this article from a friend by email, and i believe she's a vegetarian. she just said it was wierd.

most of the people i've told about this are pretty grossed out. so even if we did manage to legalize and produce artificial organs from stem cells... i wonder if people (some people at least) would have the same cringing reaction to the idea of a test-tube heart, liver, etc.

i think the grossest part was how they said they could grow real muscle tissue, just stuff that'd be suitable for ground meat dishes...

was anyone a fan of Ren & Stimpy? remember the episode with Kowalski?

Ren: "What would you like to drink, Kowalski?"
Kowalski: "MEEEAT!!!"

hey hey, don't get all serious on me now.

okay, you're right of course. but personally, i doubt animal meat will ever be cheaper than non-animal sources of protein. beyond legumes, there are certain strains of bacteria culture that are high in protein and can be dried and worked into flour with relative ease. anything's possible, but it just seems very unlikely to me that a protein grown in a tightly controlled lab setting could end up being cheaper than good old fashioned soy (let alone meat grown from whole animals, the old fashioned way).

Yes, I agree with you that legumes are probably going to be cheaper. All primary productivity is going to be bigger than some cows chewing on it and getting their meat and probably lab grown meat (at least for now).

But it needs a concerted effort of the developed countries to help people. There are heaps of food stored in huge silos to artificially keep the prices high, instead of giving it to those who need it. Now, I don't pretend to understand all the economics behind it but I don't think people would lose jobs if the prices fell to the point that poor people can buy food..

Anyway, let's not overthink this. Back to fun mode! (But keep it in the back of your mind.)

think they can make perogies?

Dontcha mean 'dehydronated food stuff in the form of a pill'? I recall watching the Jetsons as a kid and getting very excited over that!

Personally, I don't think I'd have a problem eating artificially grown meat. It'd be nicer if they could make a nice low fat ribeye that's cheaper than regular beef.

The thought kinda reminds me of when my unit was deployed to southern Italy and the food we took for granted was scarce. The Italian Air Force served us a pasta and meat sauce that had ground snails (that they collected from the side of the road in the morning) instead of beef. Everyone was OK with it when we didn't know what it was. Many people stopped eating it when they told us what it was. About half of us figured that it made no difference and kept eating.

Maybe it might work if they came up with a cute name for the grown meat?

tofu!

To confess, I haven't really tried Quorn, but the only reason I didn't is the high nucleic acid content which can lead to gout, which admittedly they reduced dramatically in recent years. I might give it a second chance next time I see it the supermarket.

And Star Trek meat must be grades superior than real life food, right?

I might not be the first to eat this stuff, out of concern for potential health risks. But its stuff that I would be fine with eating at some point. With the mad cow and bird flue, it might be a good ideal to have something synthetic available.

Plus I heard that the world has enough cows that the collective methane produced creates a significant problem for climate change. I'm not sure about the exact details, or even if its true.

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Anyhow, any one up for beaker burgers and test tube hotdogs?