The end of the cow

[packman]

No, not the rump or tail - but cloned meat . Article says the price of producing a kilo (2.5 pounds) of "artificial" meat has dropped from $10,000 to $80 and is still going down in price as the process is refined.

"From a small piece of muscle you can produce 10,000 kilos of meat"

Mixed feelings on this. Can see the positive side in that cattle raising is really ineffective, wasteful and somewhat cruel. However, the idea of meat grown in a lab is somewhat unsettling. Quick, someone post a picture of Dr. Frankenstein screaming, "It's Alive!!!".


http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4205857.htm

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Please don't udder those words again.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

4. I agree. The steaks are too high.

[pinboy3niner]

5. He'll loin

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Already milking this thread, eh?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

8. Yeah. You got a beef with that?

[pinboy3niner]

11. Keep it civil or you'll get a hide

[Aerows]

66. You know you are going to get

creamed in this thread, right? Hope you have thick skin!

[pinboy3niner]

103. I'm rested and ready, hoping not to get tanned

[Aerows]

104. Or beaten

Black-n-Bleu

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1157&pid=51596

[pinboy3niner]

105. What a cowincidence

I'm grilling top sirloin tonight. Happy trails and bleus skies!

[Aerows]

106. What a rare ooocasion

Hope yours turns out as good as mine did. I mostly like mine with the breath knocked out of it

[LiberalEsto]

12. Don't have a cow, man

Keep mooving, nothing to see here

[treestar]

30. Don't go off in a hoof

[pinboy3niner]

33. No need to be jerky about it

[TheCowsCameHome]

47. Nah, probably a Jersey tough guy sounding off.

[pinboy3niner]

48. The 'Barn to Lose' tattoo is a dead giveaway

[TheCowsCameHome]

50. Yep, that and the shoulder holstein.

[pinboy3niner]

51. Heavy cowliber, no doubt

[TheCowsCameHome]

52. A Whopper, for sure.

[pinboy3niner]

54. Preferred for flanking mooneuvers

[TheCowsCameHome]

57. It won't help much when he's in the pen

[TheCowsCameHome]

72. Of course getting shanked is alway a possibility.....

[pinboy3niner]

73. Sadly, that's what can happen when you're pasture prime

[TheCowsCameHome]

74. He'll be ready to meat his maker, when the time comes.

[pinboy3niner]

75. First he has to get through St. Peter's grilling

[TheCowsCameHome]

91. If he chooses a short loin, the weight won't be too bad.

[pinboy3niner]

107. He cud easily get stalled

[TheCowsCameHome]

108. Nah, beef tips pretty well, he'll get right in.

[pinboy3niner]

109. Cow-tipping isn't allowed in heaven, silly

[TheCowsCameHome]

110. I stand corrected, not for the past ure or so.

[pinboy3niner]

111. Yeah, it's now either a haynous sin or a gravyous one

[TheCowsCameHome]

112. It is serious, I veal the same way.

[pinboy3niner]

113. As the Bible says: To err is human; to forgive, bovine

[TheCowsCameHome]

114. Zzzzz. Biblical quotes make my eyes graze over. Sorry.

[pinboy3niner]

115. "The best quote from the Bible!" -- Rachel Meadow

[TheCowsCameHome]

116. Whoa! She is out standing in her field.

[pinboy3niner]

118. I see by her outfit that she is a cowgirl...

'The Streets of Laredo' at 2:10...

[TheCowsCameHome]

120. She was hoping she wouldn't be spotted.

[pinboy3niner]

121. She tried to stay mo-bile at first...

...but then she cleared it right up with that new MRSA cow med.

[TheCowsCameHome]

125. Breeders Digest proclaimed it a boon to farmers.

[pinboy3niner]

127. God knows the farmers already have their hands full dealing with tournedos

[TheCowsCameHome]

130. Dairy farmers always find a whey to get the job done.

[pinboy3niner]

132. At bottom they always have that dairy air about them

[thucythucy]

133. You folks are all so cudd-ly

[pinboy3niner]

135. Nice to know I don't have to feel like the Lone Ranger

[TheCowsCameHome]

134. That flies in the face of everything I was taught.

[pinboy3niner]

136. Can I get a ha-rump? ...

[TheCowsCameHome]

137. Sure, butt being Bossie won't do any good.

[pinboy3niner]

138. What this thread needs is more cowmedy...

I have a haunch we can do it!

[TheCowsCameHome]

139. Yeah, it's bin kind of corny.

[pinboy3niner]

142. And hard to stomachs

[TheCowsCameHome]

144. Stalling around like this upsets most of them.

[pinboy3niner]

145. Mad cows will get upset over anything! That's why they're called mad cows. Duh!

[pinboy3niner]

146. At least, that's what I herd

[TheCowsCameHome]

147. I'm pretty tense - a slow drive in herford would be so relaxing 'bout now...

[TheCowsCameHome]

148. Actually, I think I'll just make a few pies and hit the hay instead.

[pinboy3niner]

149. Don't get TOO relaxed. We saw what happened with the chickens...

[TheCowsCameHome]

150. Oh, my Heavhens! How awfowl!

Let's don't go there..........

[pinboy3niner]

151. No need to go off half-cocked...

...or to engage in a cheep attempt to extend the the thread by introducing a chicken pun theme. What a poultry excuse!

[pinboy3niner]

154. Nevertheless, I intend to keep abreast of this

[Hekate]

96. They're all making hash of this topic, but PETA should find it mooving

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. Uh-oh. Someone's in a bad moo-d this morning.

[pinboy3niner]

14. No bull

[Aerows]

67. Well don't hoof it

now that it got interesting

[pinboy3niner]

124. It's time for all good men and women to stay and come to the aid of their cowntry

[TheCowsCameHome]

20. Try switching to de-calf. I herd it's great for your nerves.

[pinboy3niner]

25. What brand?

[TheCowsCameHome]

43. Hmmm. Nothing rings a bell at the moment.

[pinboy3niner]

45. Take your time and ruminant on it a little longer

[TheCowsCameHome]

46. Thanks, I just don't want to make a misteak.

[pinboy3niner]

61. I know you wouldn't steer me wrong

[Aerows]

68. It's always butter when it comes from a friend

Otherwise, it just sounds cheesy.

[TheCowsCameHome]

71. You curd be right.

[Aerows]

77. I might be whey-zy

You knew that was coming, right?

[TheCowsCameHome]

70. No way. Chuck Full o' Nuts was always a fave.

[pinboy3niner]

140. My favorite brand is Chateau

But I'm willing to try an alternative to my Chateau briand.

[DirkGently]

21. Hate to horn in, but the science still sounds calf-assed.

Still, it cud be bovine intervention steering us from our udderly e-veal taste for meat.

[pinboy3niner]

22. "Pucky, pucky, pucky."

[haikugal]

32. How many here know who this is....

He ran a great campaigne!

[hifiguy]

53. I loved the Smothers Brothers show

and even remember Pat Paulsen's Half A Comedy Hour.

[KittyWampus]

65. yes, it brings back memories

[Fred Sanders]

2. The Filet-o-Fish is made in a lab, has to be.

[LiberalEsto]

3. It's more unsettling for some people to think of slaughterhouses

and the fear and pain experienced by those poor animals.

[vt_native]

7. That's why I went vegetarian

I couldn't ignore the profound animal cruelty inherent in meat production any longer.

[LiberalEsto]

10. I did too.

If everyone could actually see what goes on with animal slaughter, I am certain that many, many more people would be vegetarians.

[RebelOne]

78. Dltto. Me too. n/t

[Warpy]

9. Right, I'd rather have cloned meat

and turn grazing lands back into what they were supposed to be, grasslands populated by bison.

Until it becomes widely available, I'll eat 100% grass fed beef the once a year I do eat it.

I just hope they do the same for fish and fowl.

[MADem]

27. If they are going to clone meat, they'd better clone the GOOD stuff!

If it tasted the same, I'd eat it.

[pinboy3niner]

34. Thankyou for charring

You have a rare talent for using this medium well.

[MADem]

35. In this medium rare opportunities arise for so doing!!

[Paper Roses]

39. Well done sir! n/t

[MADem]

40. Hee hee...! nt

[Aerows]

64. I'd be rounding up the options

to get cloned rare fauxlet mignon and pseudo-loin if it tasted the same!

[Kali]

101. um

turn grazing lands back into what they were supposed to be, grasslands populated by bison.

in most cases that is exactly the same thing - there is very little physiological difference between a bison and a cow and they can both be managed (or mismanaged) in the same ways.

[hlthe2b]

15. Indeed...

[pinboy3niner]

152. I remember the terrible smell from the slaughterhouse in Chicago

As a kid, visiting my grandparents in Mayor Daley's neighborhood was a treat--except for that.

[packman]

16. Thought someone would have posted this by now

Seems like it's almost mandatory when talking about cows:

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. The seems more appropriate

[pinboy3niner]

28. Some are REALLY ready for the revolution

[hunter]

17. I think I'll wait for the GMO spaghetti *and* meatball trees.

[yuiyoshida]

18. ...Cowabunga!!!!!!

[pinboy3niner]

41. Gives a whole new meaning to 'surf & turf' :) nt

[krispos42]

19. I figured this would happen a few years ago

There will be a handful of really tasty cows out there have have their DNA completely sequenced and form the basis for mass cloning. Not just mass cloning, but selective mass cloning... of the popular cuts of meat.

They won't mass-clone the whole animal, but the parts we consume. Basically, rows of petri dishes growing steaks, chops, roasts, etc. Some sort of nutrient fluid would be used to grow the meat, and probably use electrical stimulus to exercise the muscle cells into delicious, delicious shape.

The fluid could be created from landscaping or agricultural waste, or whatever. That part will probably be the grossest part.


The carbon footprint should be drastically reduced. And when you went to the store to buy some ribeye, you would be able to pick the name of the cow of a particular breed you wanted. So if you liked ribeyes from "Amy the cow", you'd always be able to buy cloned meat from Amy for your entire life as Amy's DNA is copied a million times a day to make cuts of meat.

Same for other animals, although with the importance that many cultures place on beef and the high carbon footprint of cows, I think cattle will be first.

[Historic NY]

23. Might come in handy on as long mission to Mars.....

imagine "home grown veal" in your veal scallopini.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. Mmmm

Can't wait. No more gristle, no more rubbery veins, just pure, tender muscle tissue, sans animal.

[FLPanhandle]

29. If it's as good as a real ribeye steak, then I would eat it over a regular one.

Lots of land would be freed up, hopefully for nature restoration and not golf courses.

[Orrex]

31. Bull.

[hifiguy]

55. You got a beef with this?

[Aerows]

76. Not a lean enough argument

for my taste.

[Orrex]

79. Well done.

[Aerows]

81. Rather rare, isn't it? n/t

[Orrex]

84. Actually, I didn't think that you had a steak in this discussion at all.

[Aerows]

85. The gristle I possess

cannot be measured but by bone and blood.

[Orrex]

93. That's the most offal comment I've read all day.

[Aerows]

94. Liver with it. n/t

[Orrex]

98. Of all the unmitigated gall...

[pinboy3niner]

119. Hay, don't knock unmitigated gall...

It's the new old cure for MRSA!

[pinboy3niner]

86. Nice shot, but you only grazed her

[Orrex]

92. Not my fault. she mooved at the last second.

[Aerows]

95. You must be kidney me :) n/t

[Hekate]

99. Not me. The cows won't be mad!

[HereSince1628]

36. Give a man a lb of flesh and you feed him, give him tissue culture

and you can make him a drone working in a factory until he drops

[cherokeeprogressive]

37. All for it. Maybe they can fashion bones from recycled plastic and...

Grow me some perfect Dinosaur Bones AKA beef back ribs. Not those sissy little baby back ribs, or beef short ribs, but good FOOT-LONG beef ribs.

Firin' up the smoker in anticipation.

[S_B_Jackson]

38. Yippee! Can slig be far behind?

[madinmaryland]

42. IT'S PEOPLE!!!

[AngryAmish]

44. I am waiting for the lab grown human flesh

People are tasty!

[hifiguy]

56. And you know this how?

[pinboy3niner]

58. You didn't notice the fava beans and chianti on his breath?

[AngryAmish]

59. from the family photo album

[hifiguy]

60. Interesting family.

Picnics must be fun.

"What does everybody want??"

"BRAAAAAAAINSSSS!!"

[AngryAmish]

69. No way. At picnics we have fried chicken?

Captain Spaulding Tasty Fried Chicken:

[NuclearDem]

49. If the worst objection you have to it is "it's not natural"

then you shouldn't have a problem.

[Aerows]

63. Can't speak for packman

but I have no objections up to and including "it's not natural". If it tastes like, cooks like, and has the textures and mouth feel of a rare filet mignon?

Sign me the hell up!

And do something about the Alaskan King Crab Legs. Make a big ol' batch of those for me to test, too. And raw oysters.

Oh hell, I'll try them all!

[Aerows]

62. Hello steaks

Do it for leg of lamb, too.

Even better, create Alaskan King Crab leg meat by the ton, and I will be in heaven on Earth.

Signed,

Unrepentant Seafood and red meat lover.

[arcane1]

80. These comments are killing me!!

[Pooka Fey]

82. Who here believes that the 1%ers are going to eat cloned meat? NOBODY

The almost complete abandonment of questions of economic justice by the Left is truly astonishing to me.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

83. Economic justice?

Is cloned tissue supposed to be bad? Heck, I'd pay a premium for it. As I said above, no gristle, no connective tissue, no blood vessels. No worries about it eating pesticide on forage or drinking fracking fluids in the water table. Plus, of course, the ecological benefits from raising far fewer cattle - lots less methane, no antibiotic feed, no soil erosion all spring immediately to mind, and I'm sure there are plenty of other benefits. Where's the justice in continuing to murder other animals for food when you no longer have to to get meat?

[Pooka Fey]

87. Feed animals like cows are slaughtered, not "murdered". "Best practices" for that slaughter improves

the taste of the meat.

Nevertheless, I recognize the ideological basis for your choice of terminology - as all use of language supports a political ideology. I am an unapologetic carnivore, and foodie, and you sound like someone who does not eat meat by following arguments for vegetarianism.

I support the right of farmers and ranchers to make an honest living raising food. I support the right of everyone to have access to healthy food. I'll wait for the culinary professionals to determine whether or not cloned meat deserves a place on the table in fine restaurants. The health consequences of eating cloned meat will take up to 20-50 years to be determined, so I plan to let others volunteer to be the guinea pigs for this science experiment.

You don't wish to discuss how this cloned meat is being developed to feed the proletariat, nor how this will affect small farmers and ranchers ability to earn a decent living. I do.

I wish you "bon appetit" on your cloned meat.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

88. I still eat meat. But I'd be very happy to quit having other animals die for that

less than ethical choice on my part. And guess who raises most of the vegetables I eat? Farmers. I do garden myself, but don't raise nearly enough to feed myself year round. And I think it would be far healthier for most Americans to eat less meat than they do currently.

How will this affect small farmers? It will incentivize them to grow more vegetables, and raise fewer cattle.

[Pooka Fey]

89. Humanely raised, humainly slaughtered, raised by small independant ranchers and farmers

I refuse the framing that tells me that as a human, I am unethical if I eat meat. It is no more unethical for me to eat meat than it is for a wolf or a lion - we are carnivores.

I think your argument about ranchers switching to raising vegetable is a bit over-simplified and you haven't discussed that cloned meat is being developed to feed minimum wage earners - and whether or not that is acceptable since the 1% have no intention of raising salaries so that everyone has access to good quality food.

Cheers

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

90. We're not carnivores. We're omnivores.

Check out your teeth in a mirror some time. You've got more teeth adapted to eating veggies than you do teeth adapted to eating meat. Your teeth are a lot closer to those of a horse than those of a shark or lion or wolf.

[Hekate]

97. This thread needs more cowbell. How will we get cowbell without cows?

[pinboy3niner]

122. Oh, don't be so Bossie!

Or Elsie, and that's not a threat, it's a premise!!

[Avalux]

100. Don't eat it then; real or fake.

Isn't it fascinating how we think we need to eat the flesh of animals? We don't; but we do crave it and want it.

So we justify this craving by categorizing animals; some are pets and we don't eat them, and we're not cruel to them. But then there are others who are bred and slaughtered on a massive scale for the sole purpose of satisfying human taste buds. How can we do that?

I guess cloned meat will save a lot of animals, but it's also really strange.

[Kali]

102. we sure live in interesting times

that this could be a possible dietary choice.

gives me the willies, personally, but I don't have a problem with other people buying and eating it if that is what they want to do.

[Lancero]

117. Now this is interesting...

Considering how harmful raising cattle is for the environment - According to the UN, they are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases and a major cause of deforestation - I think it's nice that we are looking into alternatives.

Though it sets up a rather interesting potential conflict - Can this food be considered natural or organic? And, what about those with vegan or vegetarian diets? They are both based on a desire to live a lifestyle that doesn't harm animals, and direct cloning of meat doesn't actually harm them. All that cloning would require is a small peice of meat, which can easily be obtained without having to kill the animal.

Exception for dietary vegans ofc, this advancement isn't going to be of much benefit to them, but the bulk of vegans are comprised of those with moral, political, or environmental concerns. Cloned meat resolves most of the moral issues - Those who disagree with animals being killed for human benefit - and directly addresses environmental concerns - Switching over to cloned meat would lead to a reduction of cattle herds over time, and the reduction of cattle herds and their impact would be even quicker should this group come out in support of cloned meats.

Political is up in the air, though it's heavily influenced by moral or environmental groups.

[Hekate]

123. "Natural or organic?" Somehow I don't think so, but I'd like to know about Kosher!

That would make for some convoluted rabbinical debates, I think.

Impact on the environment is an interesting question. For sure we could use relief from the waste that cattle produce. It would be great to think of the cattle and pork populations falling to new lows, something manageable to the air and water surrounding their pens.

I know -- it's really unnatural. But then, so is a lot of our food.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

128. Grass fed or grain fed?

nt

[Lancero]

155. I suppose natural would depend on how stringent a definition you use.

By the most restrictive definitions, a lot of food that is considered 'natural' isn't. Anything that is the result of directed and focused crossbreeding wouldn't be because it didn't occur naturally, it was directly influenced by human hands.

The article focuses on cattle, though you are right that it could apply to quite a few foodstock.

Though it does bring another question - What happens to the animals after we no longer require them? Their populations have grown so large because we encourage their growth and protect them from their natural predators, but what will happen to the species when we no longer have a need to grow or protect their populations? Especially the species that were selectively bred with traits beneficial for production but would actually harm them in the wild?

Natures course would be for these species to die out, to go extinct, but I'd figure that quite a few people would disagree with this outcome.

[Hekate]

156. IF vat-bred meat becomes affordable, there will be a considerable length of time for people...

...to get used to the idea, during which the population of food-animals can be consumed while ranchers breed fewer of them. I can see a considerable amount of resistance coming from ranchers, though.

Food animals will never become extinct, though. We've coexisted with them for tens of thousands of years, and some people will always want to eat the real deal and will be willing to pay a premium for the pleasure.

[Lancero]

157. Food species as a whole wouldn't become extinct, though some breeds will.

[Hekate]

158. Probably nowhere near extinct, just drastically fewer in number. nt

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

126. So, everything will be filet mignon? LOL

I mean...why go through all that trouble just to replicate the whole cow?

[pinboy3niner]

129. Not much ground to stand on there

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

159. LOL

This thread has been hilarious.

[Sunlei]

131. excellent replacement for all the cheap beef meals, cheap ground beef 'chubs' & pink slime.

probably start to use the slaughterhouse scrap meat for pet food again.

A lot less contamination recalls and sickness from meat grown in a lab. Unless the tech sneezes in the dish and we grow human 'meat' as lab accident

Maybe? the spent dairy cows that traditionally suffer an end of life to become Americas cheapest ground beef...could be humanely euthanized when their decade + of milking/calving is over.

[jonno99]

141. Interesting. So "food replicators" - ala Star Trek - could

actually one day be a reality (for meat at least).

In my best Jean-Luc Picard voice:

"Computer! A New York strip, medium well!"

[pinboy3niner]

143. I'm sorry, Dave...

[pinboy3niner]

153. .