Eating a faux beef steak

[packman]

?quality=85&w=1600


The bottom line of an article (sited below) about the production, then the eating of an artificial grown steak


My thin-cut steak, brushed with butter and seasoned simply with salt and pepper, hits the hot grill of Aleph’s demonstration kitchen with an audible hiss. The scent of seared meat wafts towards me as the in-house chef flips a credit-card sized portion onto my plate. The steak is disappointingly slim—I’ll have to come back another time for the thicker, 3D-printed version—but it is as tender and juicy as the interior of a filet mignon. As I cut into it, the meat tears into strands more characteristic of a brisket, but with none of the dryness. I take a bite. The flavor is pure meat—a caramelized crust giving way to a savory richness. The square shape and thin cut betray my steak’s bioreactor origins, but eyes closed, I wouldn’t know the difference. With my last bite, I realize Toubia was wrong. It doesn’t taste like the future. It tastes like steak. Without the guilt.


https://time.com/6231339/lab-grown-steak-aleph-farms-taste/?utm_source=reddit.com

[NickB79]

1. I seriously doubt it will ever be scalable

It's been years since I've been in a biochemistry lab, but I still try to keep up with the latest advancements. This article really drives home the issue of how unfeasible it would be to operate enough bioreactors to produce a fraction our meat supply.

https://thecounter.org/lab-grown-cultivated-meat-cost-at-scale/

[milestogo]

2. Remember what they said about computers.

[BComplex]

4. And solar panels. And electric cars. And storage batteries. And satellites.

I say this is worth a try.

[Red Mountain]

16. Paging Elon Musk.......

He's done all of those things.

Clearly the only one qualified.

[NickB79]

17. Bioreactors are growing living organisms inside them

The risk of contamination is already extremely high in a chip facility without any self-replicating bacteria or viruses to worry about. And humans aren't each purchasing pounds of computer chips each week to consume.

Again, the scale isn't even comparable here. We're talking BILLIONS of pounds of living product each year.

[Happy Hoosier]

3. I don't feel guilt when I eat a steak, but...

If they can really nail the texture and flavor, I’d consider buying and using it if the cost is reasonable.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Maybe future generations will think eating animals is barbaric?

They will understand why we had to eat living creatures, but it will gross them out?

[Sky Jewels]

7. Every single day I thank my lucky stars I live in a time when I don't HAVE to eat meat.

I get it, for most of human history you ate what you could forage or grow or kill, whatever was in season. But I am so happy I've got an unimaginable bounty of vegetables and nuts and seeds and grains and fruits, etc. available to me year round, all conveniently displayed in one place. And I never, ever have to eat grubs.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Yes. People had to eat what was available to them in order to survive.

Thank God we have many more choices.

[NickB79]

18. I feel it will go the opposite way

Future generations will be confused that there were people that turned up their noses at valuable calories, as they struggle to feed themselves and their families in a climate-change-ravaged world where anything edible is eaten, few questions asked. Meat will be rarely eaten, not because of moral qualms, but simply because it takes too many resources to raise it.

[Irish_Dem]

19. In both our scenarios, meat is no longer eaten.

But yes climate change will probably dictate the diets of future generations.
How they will view their ancestors' diets will be shaped by the new reality, yes.

[NickB79]

20. No, meat would be eaten every chance you get

It's just the chances will be much lower than today.

And there's always insect protein, of course.

[Irish_Dem]

21. Yes but in your picture of the future, the chances will be much lower.

Meat is very expensive to raise.
And many edible species will go extinct.

Some crops may no longer exist as well.

[Red Mountain]

6. This is the ultimate in processed foods

Nothing like relying even more heavily on the corporations to feed the masses.

[Mysterian]

8. Yeah, because all the beef comes from small family farms

LOL

[Red Mountain]

13. Mine does

but I have a relationship with the farmer.

Generally, as I've watched food fads come and go.....the one thing that seems to be an underlying constant for good health is eating less processed industrial food.

Get as close to the source as your situation allows.

I'd include beef in that.

[Sympthsical]

9. Those creative writing classes are finally paying off

I don't know why. I laughed through the whole article.

[MineralMan]

11. Yeah, it was way, way overstated.

"I ate a faux beef steak. It was grown in a lab. It weighed two ounces. It tasted like a beef steak. End of review."

[lame54]

12. The problem is the pricing...

Fake meat cost more than the real thing

[Red Mountain]

14. I guess you could say the inspection system is working.....

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-11-21/beyond-meat-plants-dirty-conditions-revealed

No need to post meat processing plant horror stories. There are far more.

[iemanja]

15. Gross

I don't eat meat. Why would I want something that looks and tastes like meat?