Fear Factor

Would you eat shmeat a.k.a. test tube flesh? I am finding the whole PETA endorsed quest for a viable, affordable alternative to meat, which actually is meat, pretty bazaar to say the least. The further I read up on all of it the more confused I get and the more I want to know: will people really eat this shizz? As a vegetarian I will never be faced with the question myself but I am interested in the controversy -as far as I can tell its one of those things for the new-age-rich-hippie that shops at Whole Foods and feels guilty when they aren’t green enough, vegetarian enough, or liberal enough. But maybe not, I mean if people have to eat meat, then this should be the meat they eat, right??? The pros and cons are enough to make your head spin. The new meat is referred to as shmeat because harvested cells from an animal are grown on a nutrient soaked spongy sheet (meat+sheet=shmeat). Apparently large quantities can be grown at a time and could be in a grocery store near you soon.

The pros: Shmeat could help to solve the protein demands for our ever growing world population, animal cruelty would all but go away, environmental impacts of factory farming would disappear, it could be healthier – shmeat engineers could add omega 3’s take away fat etc., its not any less natural then some of the foods we eat regularly like cheese or bread which all require processing natural ingredients in order to be created

The cons: ick factor X 100, safety is questionable -we really can’t yet say what messing with nature like this could do (not that we don’t already do this where meat is concerned , I mean we feed cows hormones), people would be even further removed from the food they eat (think Styrofoam and plastic wrappers plus test tubes), it my not really be humane- scientists still have not found a way to complete shmeat without calf fetuses up in the mix, it will need additives to taste good, it could pass through the FDA without public input

Whatcha think???