Why Cultured Meat? [Infographic]

Shirisha Suryaji Desai

I love meat! And I know a lot of you do too! Having meat on our plates is a rewarding meal after a long stressful day; we would not want to pause and think about the long production process that the meat went through to get here on our plates. I bought it from the supermarket, cooked the way I like it, and ate it; why do I have to worry about anything else? My vegan and vegetarian friends playfully argue with me that eating meat is cruel to animals, harmful to the environment. And I usually just ignore them because of my love for meat.

Well, it turns out my friends made a valid argument. Meat production involves raising cattle, slaughtering them, and processing them using various industrial processes. This long process is deleterious in many ways. The extent of negative impact of livestock farming and meat production on the environment is alarming. The need to feed everyone demands raising and killing large number of livestock which is adversely affecting the biodiversity. The amount of pollution caused, and the quantity of water used for meat production are insurmountable. This can be cataclysmic to the planet, ultimately effecting our lives.

Every time you buy meat or eat street food meat, you often question the quality of meat in the back of your mind. Meat contamination and unsanitary meat production can not only cause food-borne illnesses, but livestock farming is primarily responsible for emergence of pandemics and epidemics. Being in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the urgency of this issue is evident now more than ever.

So, do we have to give up on our favorite burgers and meatloaves? Thankfully, our astute scientists can save us from this dilemma. Cell-cultured meat can be produced by avoiding all these harmful livestock farming and meat production processes. Above all, it does not require killing animals! You might ask — What? that is impossible, is this some sci-fi stuff?

Though cell cultured meat has been mentioned in science fiction; today, it is very real! Safe and sustainable meat can be produced from harmlessly taking cells from livestock. Think of how plants are grown by sowing the seed obtained from plant parts. A Bit like that, a few cells from the animal can be used to grow more cells which forms meat muscle and these muscles can be shaped and layered into cell- cultured meat burgers, nuggets, sausages and more! And yes, it is not just a concept, scientists have produced lab-grown chicken, bacon, steak and more. While you might not see them in the supermarket aisles or on restaurant menus yet, scientists and industrialists promise it is coming very soon. And when the time comes, it depends on us to make that choice that can save our planet! I certainly will choose cultured meat as my food preference and if my friends ask, ‘WHY CULTURED MEAT?’ — I can finally make a very strong argument. After all, we can eat essentially the same meat but without harming animals or the planet!