Shmeat... and agreement for vegitarians and non...?

Question

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were dicussing the idea of Shmeat... basically a "meat" that is grow from tissue cultures of different animals. PETA (scary) says it's a way to increase animal rights... scientists say it tastes just like the real thing. I myself am not going to switch from my yummy home grown or mega farm grown meat. What's your opinion.... there are more factors to think about as well... what about all the fuel that will need to be used to run the shmeat factories... blah blah blah I just want your basic opinion on this whole freaky idea.

Answer 1

I'm a small farmer, on a permaculture farm.  We raise meat goats as our main product.

We raise most of our own meat animals, because the "mega farm grown meat" is not actually healthy for you either (steroid, hormones, antibiotics, un-natural feeds intot the livestock, ect).

The idea that "meat" grown in a lab is going to be healthy for a person is completely laughable.  There are so many trace minerals and vitamins that the animals absorb ONLY by feeding in natural ways (like grazing).  

Every time humans try to improve upon nature they usually fail in completely spectacular and catastrophic ways.  PETA is an organization that is founded on a good idea..."be kind to animals," but like most such organizations has gone so far from the mark it's not even funny.

PETA is also doing their dardest to take away the rights of everyday citizens....and they are doing quiet a good job at it too.

Also calling it "Shmeat" is yet another failure on their part.  The "sh" just begs to have and "it" added after it!

I'd also like to know just how much they believe it's going to cost to grow "Shmeat?"  In Washington state, where there is a lot of fodder, and short winters, I can raise a meat goat to butcher size for about $.50 cents a pound if it's born so that it needs hay over the winter.  If the goat is born in early spring, the cost is virtually nothing, as the kid will grow entirely on it's mothers milk and pasture....the only imput from me are some salt blocks, and electricity to run the pump to fill the stock water tanks.  (Goats kid twice a year, hence the difference in the cost of raising the kid)

So "Shmeat" better cost LESS than $.50 cents a pound, and contain more vitamins, iron, protien and trace minerals that the meat from my goats.  Of course it must also taste better, and have fats that are actually good for you, just as the meat from my goats does.

Otherwise "Shmeat" sould be left to the sci-fi writters about people traveling through space, with no room for livestock on their ships.

Anyone want to take any bets as to just how long it will be before PETA has public schools being required to push "Shmeat" on the nations children?

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 2

i heard the story too...on NPR. Sounds gross. nothing like free-range chicken or beef. I also like fields instead of factories. One thing I do hate is PETA.....it's members do the same things we do: use shampoo and take drugs for diseases, yet none of these things would be possible without bacteria and animals, such as mice and chimps.

Answer 3

I'm veggie, and I don't think I could bring myself to eat it.  Though even if I were a meat eater, I don't think I'd want to eat it either.

Answer 4

Sounds like an abomination.

If I decide to eat meat, I will raise my own, go hunting for wild game, go fishing, or gather fresh roadkill.

Answer 5

You have to keep in mind your health, the environment, and consideration and kindness to the animals we share the planet with. Meat is neither good for you nor essential. The environment suffers the factory farming of meat with plants based foods being produced at a 7 to 1 ratio over meat without the detrimental effects of their production. Also, we need to consider that the horrible abuse of our animals in the name of the almighty dollar will sure to incur the wrath of the Almighty for those who believe, and at a minimum it is a poor showing of human sense, sensitivity, and compassion. Some people have not earned the right to use the phrase "dumb animals".  As for shmeat, it is for schmoes who can't get past their self destructive behavior. Food doesn't come from a lab and all that comes to mind is the movie "Soylent Green". That is a vision of a wonderful existence. Meat raised with consideration to animals and kept to a proper minimum in the body and in the environment is in keeping with nature and the way life was intended. It alleviates all the ills that have been brought on us by over-indulgence and ignorance.

Answer 6

Peta claims GMO crops are not proven to be acceptable and safe even though we have been using them for years with no bad effects. Now we are supposed to eat this Sh..meat with no worries? Keeping the GMO rice called Golden Rice from the market PETA is responsible for hundreds of thousand poor African and Asian children and old peoples blindness and death. But that's because they are people. I'm glad for PETA they can eat all of this meat that they want. Suppose that this Shmeat went over, what are supposed to do with the millions of head of livestock, keep them as pets? These are not all of my thoughts on PETA but Answers rules of conduct prevent me from saying everything.