Philosophical Vegan Forum

I'm curious if vegan's would have a issue with lab grown meats.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk ... eal-thing/

It appears that eventually this will become commercially viable. Personally on the subject I recognize that there is no good argument for eating meat like I do. It is inefficient for land use raising cattle. The animals typically get huge doses of antibiotics which we then eat. And of course the ethics of treating animals in such ways. I do eat less meat and if it was gradually phase out I have no issues with that. Although on that thought what would happen to the animals if no one ate them? Would the cow go back to the wild? Could it even survive at this point? Off subject.

So lab grown meat would the vegans eat it? If you would not could you elaborate why? I can't see any issues with it.

Hi John, it's good that you're eating less meat, I hope you continue working on reducing. As you said, it's very important for the environment (and not just land use, but global warming as well -- cow farts and burps, which are methane and more potent than CO2 [read about it if you haven't heard that]), and animal suffering, and health (meat increasing the risk of heart disease and several kinds of cancer -- going vegan isn't foolproof, just like not smoking, but it reduces your risk quite a bit).

About the antibiotics, I think you misunderstand the risk there. The issue is not that we eat them and they're bad for us, but that overuse of antibiotics for livestock etc. produces antibiotic resistant bacteria, which makes antibiotics useless in the future. We're talking about millions of human lives here a year. As antibiotics become resistant, the state of medicine is pulled back into the pre-penicillin era. I encourage you to do some research on antibiotic resistant pathogens. It's scary stuff. Antibiotics are a moral issue, not so much a personal health issue.

Anyway, about the topic: Yes, lab grown meat is fine. Morally fine (as long as it's not grown on fetal bovine serum, which defeats the purpose as it is now, but on another plant based nutrient solution), and it's also better for the environment than whole animal meat (much more efficient, and doesn't produce greenhouse gases).
However, lab grown meat will probably not be healthy. Kind of like vegan doughnuts. Not everything that's morally acceptable is a good idea to eat.
So, since I like to eat healthy, I probably wouldn't eat it. But I'd encourage others to eat it.

About cows (for example):
Farmers breed them to meet demand by artificial insemination. When there's less demand for meat, there's less demand for adult cows, and less demand for calves, so the farmers stop breeding them. Although dairy demand needs to drop too, or they'd still be bred for dairy (have you tried almond milk?).
I'm pretty sure the farmers aren't inseminating the cows for fun. So, if they can't sell the calves, they just don't do it, and the population of cows will disappear, except the few kept on wildlife reserves, sanctuaries, family pets, etc.

I agree with brimstoneSalad, Lab grown meat is better than animal flesh. Its better for the environment (uses less water, methane, etc), and it doesn't require the torture and murder of an innocent animal, but it is still meat and contains cholesterol which is unhealthy. So as a vegan I would recommend it to other people since it would end factory farming, animal abuse and slaughter but as a vegan I wouldn't eat it myself because it is still unhealthy and that would defeat the purpose of a vegan diet.

Also on the thought about what would happen if everyone stopped eating meat what would happen to the cows? Well, in reality it would be a gradual decline in meat eating like it is right now, not all at once so the farmers wouldn't need to breed as much cows (supply and demand), but hypothetically if everyone gave up meat at the same time worldwide that would cause a problem with overpopulation of animals but it would also solve many other greater problems. I suppose the solution would be to create conservations, animal sanctuaries, whatever you want to call it, and let the cows live their natural lifespan of about 20 years and not breed them continuously for meat. otherwise we'd have the same problem we have with dogs and cats right now.