We are going to see a massive change in meat eating due to cultured (ie artifically grown) meat becoming a reality. Since we have now produced a meat that can be used in suasages and burgers it is just a matter of time before it predominates.
it will go in these stages
1) Artificial meat is released onto the market but is high priced and is eaten by middle class people who want to get rid of animal cruelty but can;t give up meat. "Traditionalists' will make a huge fuss , call it 'frankenfoods' and refuse to eat it. Some absurd places might actually ban it out of some conservative religious sentiment.
2) Whilst artificial meat improves to be able to produce steaks etc the cheaper end actually becomes cheaper than meat for use in burgers and sausages. The burger/Sausage industry uses it as standard. Only the usual conservative balk at this. the number people who use killed meat falls as fake meat prices fall. essentially people will take a more ethical option once it doesn't affect their palates or their wallet.
3) Production gets to a point where steak like products are available and are derived from many different species. At this point factory farming will become ethically unacceptable and only the most humane animal farming methods will be acceptable and the price will start to steadily increase for natural meat. It will become more and more rare for younger people to eat real meat and those who do will be frowned on and subject to ostracisation. Objecting to cultured meat will become rarer with only ultra conservative ,some religious groups and significant portions of the elderly eating meat refusing to eat it.
4) The penultimate stage is where most people refuse to eat natural meat because the cultured alternative is cheaper and better for you. Killing for food will become morally unacceptable and will go down the same route as foie gras and it will be supplied only by very specialist shops which will have endless protests outside (like the tiny number of shops in the UK that sell fur)
5) the final stage in countries like the EU is where the entire meat industry is banned.
How close or far away these steps are is difficult to predict but I think we are at least 100 years away from stage 5 stage 1 is probably 10 years away
it will go in these stages
1) Artificial meat is released onto the market but is high priced and is eaten by middle class people who want to get rid of animal cruelty but can;t give up meat. "Traditionalists' will make a huge fuss , call it 'frankenfoods' and refuse to eat it. Some absurd places might actually ban it out of some conservative religious sentiment.
2) Whilst artificial meat improves to be able to produce steaks etc the cheaper end actually becomes cheaper than meat for use in burgers and sausages. The burger/Sausage industry uses it as standard. Only the usual conservative balk at this. the number people who use killed meat falls as fake meat prices fall. essentially people will take a more ethical option once it doesn't affect their palates or their wallet.
3) Production gets to a point where steak like products are available and are derived from many different species. At this point factory farming will become ethically unacceptable and only the most humane animal farming methods will be acceptable and the price will start to steadily increase for natural meat. It will become more and more rare for younger people to eat real meat and those who do will be frowned on and subject to ostracisation. Objecting to cultured meat will become rarer with only ultra conservative ,some religious groups and significant portions of the elderly eating meat refusing to eat it.
4) The penultimate stage is where most people refuse to eat natural meat because the cultured alternative is cheaper and better for you. Killing for food will become morally unacceptable and will go down the same route as foie gras and it will be supplied only by very specialist shops which will have endless protests outside (like the tiny number of shops in the UK that sell fur)
5) the final stage in countries like the EU is where the entire meat industry is banned.
How close or far away these steps are is difficult to predict but I think we are at least 100 years away from stage 5 stage 1 is probably 10 years away
