The livestock lobby is waging war on ‘lab-grown meat’
Here is a statement by a widely read and quoted author that deserves a closer look:
“The livestock lobby is waging war on ‘lab-grown meat’. This is why we can’t let them win (The Guardian George Monbiot )
I’ve come to see new fermentation approaches as the most important environmental techs ever developed: the only means I can see of reversing the expansion of one of the two most destructive industries on Earth, livestock farming.”
These are strong statements, but?what a number of pundits throw out as ‘solutions’ doesn’t meet the most rudimentary test of common sense engineering. Let’s take a look:
?To calculate just the tonnage of meat from cattle and sheep only (highest environmental impact), we can use the estimated number of animals slaughtered in a year in the US and their average carcass weights (https://animalclock.org/ ):
?Data:
Average weight per cattle: 800 pounds (carcass weight) x 60% meat
Tons?of meat from?cattle = 14,465,600 tons x 60% = 8,679,360 tons
Average weight per sheep: 135 pounds (carcass weight) x 60% meat
Tons of meat from?sheep = 506,182 tons x 60% = 303,709 tons
?Total?tonnage of meat for consumption?from?cattle?and?sheep = 8,983,069 tons
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Now let’s calculate what it roughly takes to produce 100 tons of fermentation, asking the AI:
?
GPT
?Producing 100 tons of meat substitutes through fermentation requires a specific scale of industrial setup, which includes space for fermentation tanks and downstream processing. The exact size of the factory can vary depending on the technology used, but here's a general outline:
?Fermentation Facility Requirements
?Considerations
?These estimates provide a general idea, but the actual requirements can vary based on specific fermentation technology, the type of microorganism used, and the precise processes employed. Each setup might require customization to optimize production efficiency and quality.
?Summary:
While George Monbiot's enthusiasm for lab-grown and fermented meat as a way to counteract the environmental impact of livestock farming is understandable, it is crucial to approach such proposed solutions with a critical eye. Promoting these technologies as immediate answers may mislead the public and policymakers, diverting attention and resources from more feasible and impactful changes. Lab-grown meat, while promising, still faces significant technological, economic, and scalability hurdles. By presenting these futuristic solutions as silver bullets, we risk ignoring simpler, more immediate actions that can reduce our environmental footprint, such as shifting dietary patterns towards more plant-based foods and reducing overall meat consumption. Trusted journalists have a responsibility to ensure that the solutions they advocate are grounded in practical realities, as misleading the public can lead to misallocated investments and lost opportunities for real change. Practical steps like modifying our menus and recipes can have immediate and scalable impacts, aligning better with the urgency of addressing environmental challenges.
Seeker of better questions
2 个月Klaus, would you expect anything less?
Gardener, Vegan food producer & Entrepreneur.
2 个月I'm not sure what you are implying, you are comparing apples with oranges. You do not say how much resource it takes in land, energy, water etc for Animal meat compared to fermentation, to produce the same 'tonnage'(deaths).
??Christ Follower | Husband |?????? Dad | ??Agripreneur | ??Agvocate *"Different Is Better Than Better"*
2 个月I wonder how much waste and byproducts a lab will use to produce its "meat", or will that just go to the landfill? I also how much fertilizer it will produce for growing crops? Also wonder if a seat covering material for the auto industry will be a byproduct?
alternative games
2 个月Nicely imagined and communicated. ;))