Finding the Truth about Plant- and Lab-Based Meat

Here’s my friend, the suspicious dog, one more time.  Like him, I feel that I’m being lied to frequently, e.g., when I come across articles like this one, focused on discrediting lab-based meat.

Let’s look at this rationally.  The meat industry is valued at roughly  $1 trillion annually, and, along with dairy, represents 14.5% of CO2 emissions.  I.e., it’s big, and it’s bad, and that’s even if you’re indifferent to the slaughter of about 39 million cows and calves annually, or just over 74 per minute.

The article alleges that all the attention placed on plant- and lab-based meat is acting as a distraction to reforms in the existing meat industry:

Called the “The Farm System Reform Act” the proposed law would, among other things, crack down on the monopolistic practices of meatpackers and place a moratorium on large factory farms. As Sen. Booker describes the vision:

“We must immediately begin to transition to a more sustainable and humane system. An important first step is ending our reliance on huge factory farms and investing in a system that focuses on resilient and regenerative production.”

The bill has a broad base of support including farmers and ranchers’ groups. Suspiciously missing are some of the leading vegan organizations that are cheerleading biotech meat solutions instead.

Anyone would admit that morphing the industry into something that is more planet-friendly and less cruel is a good thing.

Obviously, vegan groups advocate that we stop killing cows altogether.  Does that come as a surprise?  Does it sound somehow subversive or greedy?

A rational and fair approach is to pursue both these advancements independently and aggressively.