Clean Meat

Posted June 18, 2018

I've only come across this term recently, thanks to this "StarTalk" podcast episode, Paul Shapiro's new book Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, and Dr. Liz Specht with The Good Food Institute.

Before that, I had only heard of vat-grown or laboratory-grown meat. Shudder.

Just the sound of that made me want to never, ever want to know more about it.

Luckily I use my commute these days to consume several very informative, thought-provoking, and entertaining podcasts and despite whatever preconceptions I may have, there are a few that I will, without fail, give the benefit of the doubt to and listen to with an open mind. These are "How to Live an Amazing Life," "Freakonomics," and "StarTalk."

Clean meat, or whatever you want to call it, is basically taking actual cells from an animal, replicating them in a cultivator, and allowing them to multiply and grow into the same tissue (muscle, meat) that they would have been had they been growing inside an animal's body.

So, with an open mind yet preparing to cringe, I listened and I've definitely changed my mind. I implore you to, as well. Here's why:

Scientifically speaking, the replicated cells, whether occurring naturally or in a controlled environment are the same.
While being the identical with their naturally grown counterparts, they don't have the biological baggage that naturally grown tissue has to deal with, most notably pathogens and whatever the animals were given to grow (such as antibiotics due to diseases, living in filth).
Animal tissue grown on the animal requires a ton of resources to produce and maintain tissues that aren't going to be (or aren't wanted) the final product. We want steak, but that steak requires the animal to grow all the parts of their body and organs whether we eat those parts or not.
The implications for space exploration and colonization are vast. Every pound counts when launching things into space. Maintaining and breeding animals takes up valuable space, resources, and time.
Harsh environments and underdeveloped countries with hungry people would benefit from being able to produce highly nutritious meats without the normal resources and environment required.

Eventually the specifically desired combinations of tissues (just the right amount of fat, fiber texture, etc.) will be manageable and you could then have the "perfect" steak every time.

I am not suggesting this should be a complete replacement for all animal-derived foods. It's far from commercially viable and has plenty of work left to do before I get to the point where I'll throw an engineered steak on the grill. Even when it does become more readily available, it will probably go towards areas and peoples that are unable to produce the non-engineered version easily. Plants are great but meat is always going to be a better source of protein and energy.

Someday, though, I'm sure I'll be able to get that perfect steak. Every time.