We’ve all heard about the horrors of the meat industry, and the kind of carbon footprint we’re leaving behind by indulging our carnivorous desires. For those of us not already on the green-eating wagon, you may have dabbled with the idea of going meatless once or twice but it just never felt right.
Let me turn your attention to Memphis Meats, a company based between San Francisco and Memphis, Tennessee that is looking at cutting out the middle man. Their concept is simple: don’t farm animals, farm meat.
GIF courtesy of giphy.com
I know. I know. What the actual f*ck.
Profanity aside, can you just imagine the possibilities? What if we had a way to get that taste and texture we love, minus the horrible stuff that happens to the environment, the health risks associated with meat contaminants (would you like a side of Campylobacter with your chicken? Didn’t think so), and basically all the yucky stuff you really don’t want lurking around in your food?
The team over at Impossible Foods has been working towards something similar with their meat and dairy substitutes, but their products are still completely plant-based. The team at Memphis Meats is looking to farm real meat cells and produce a safe, environmentally friendly meat product. All without actually killing a single animal.
There are tons of things to think about, of course… what will this mean for vegetarians and vegans who have chosen their culinary lifestyle as a way to stand up to the traditional meat industry? How is the public going to react to this, well, “test tube” meat? What is this going to do to the livestock industry?
Good thing we have Yik Yak to help us find out. It looks like St. Andrews is a bit of a mixed bag of emotions when it comes to the subject of lab meat.
We’ve got the enthusiastic:
Photo courtesy of Yik Yak
The adamant:
Photo courtesy of Yik Yak
The curious:
Photo courtesy of Yik Yak
… and the ones who just love pigs:
Photo courtesy of Yik Yak
Memphis Meats made their global debut on February 3 in San Francisco. I, for one, will be waiting with bated breath to see how this revolutionary product is received. While the team has declared that their first product line-up is set to feature hot dogs, sausages, burgers and meatballs, I as a humble student in Scotland would like to know one thing: Will there be haggis?