STUDY: Will Our Culture Embrace Cultured Meat?
The study notes that media will play a crucial role in how clean meat is perceived by the public. So far, coverage of it in the U.S. and E.U. has been relatively neutral or positive.
PRINA EARTH: ‘Cultured’ or ‘clean’ meat is identical at the cellular level to conventional meat and is made from animal cells without needing to raise and slaughter animals. It is a concept that is becoming more tangible, with consumers expected to be able to buy the product within a few years. It has the potential to hugely reduce our GHG emissions land use and water use and reduce the suffering of millions of non-human animals if it replaces current meat production methods. The question of whether consumers will try this new product has been written about before, but this study delves more into how established institutions and cultures in our society will react.
The authors note from the outset that the media is going to play a crucial role in how clean meat is perceived by the public. So far, coverage of it in the U.S. and E.U. has been relatively neutral or positive, likely due to the fact it has been coming from pro-clean meat advocates such as the researchers themselves… However, there is opposition to cultured meat. Those against cultured meat are likely to use arguments highlighting the “unnaturalness” of the technology, underpinned by the idea that food should be natural, something that is deeply conditioned into most of society. Within animal advocacy groups, clean meat can also be controversial, because it is seen to potentially undermine the process of genuine social change…
The authors describe how over half of the world’s population is religious, making religious people an important group to consider. Their study looked at each of the major religions in turn. 23 Jews, 193 Muslims, 730 Hindus and 139 buddhists were asked which cultured meat products they would be willing to eat. Their responses indicate that most religious consumers would be open to eating cultured meat… In terms of regulation, there are still major uncertainties that haven’t been addressed. One key question around the regulation of cultured meat is if it will be considered ‘meat’. In both the E.U. and U.S., the current definitions of meat make it seem as though cultured meat would be excluded…
Cultured meat will create new jobs, but require a very different skill set when compared to current workers in meat production. Furthermore, there is potential for farmers to switch to producing crops for human consumption or biofuels — this could be a focus point for animal advocates to help farmers have a smoother transition. The possibility that a few companies with large amounts of money would control the production of cultured meat is a big concern. SOURCE…
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