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Disappearing Meat

Writer's picture: Tabitha KhoTabitha Kho

Photo courtesy: Google



What we choose to eat, or not to eat, says a lot about us. In the words of New York Times reporter Somini Sengupta, it “tells the world who we are, what class and caste we belong to, what gods we believe in”.


In many cultures, meat consumption is of immense social importance, seen as a symbol of wealth and status. In East Asian culture, meat is a celebratory and festive food. In France, “meat used to be the prerogative of the nobility, then of the bourgeoisie”. Throughout history, our food has done more than tend to our biological needs: it has served as a marker of our identity and belonging.


But our centuries-long history of meat consumption might be under threat.


Since 1961, while the global population has doubled, meat production has quadrupled. As our appetite for meat has grown, agriculture and meat processing technologies have improved to meet it. By 2050, global meat consumption will increase by 76%, and with a population of almost 10 billion people at this time, we will run out of meat to feed ourselves.


With ethical, environmental, and social issues piling up, it's clear that our taste for flesh is unsustainable. We need to reduce our traditional meat intake by up to 90%, but how? Here’s a few options.


1. Your Meat in Petri Dishes

Why bother with feet, a beak, or wings on a chicken if all we need is the flesh? Lab grown meat, also known as cultivated or cellular meat, is a novel technology that eliminates the hassle of having an animal at all. This method grows animal tissue directly from stem cells, presenting an astounding solution which uses less land, less energy, and removes ethical problems.


However, the concept of meat grown in a lab is unappealing to many: “35% of meat-eaters and 55% of vegetarians are not interested in trying lab-grown meat”. Given the solution’s novelty, there are still concerns about its environmental, economic, and technical limitations.


2. Your Impossible Meats

You may have heard of the “Impossible Burger”, featuring Beyond Meat’s completely plant-based imitation beef. It “skips the animal and turns plant ingredients directly into meat,” containing all the normal proteins, nutrients, and characteristics of real meat.


Studies “show that plant-based meat production uses 72-99% less water and 47-99% less land”. But this is still not available in many businesses around the world and low-quality versions are often too far from the real thing, which could turn consumers away.


3. Your Unchanged Lifestyle

These innovative solutions might still sputter out and disappear. If we do nothing and keep eating meat, the rapidly growing population would increase demand far past supply. Topped by worsening environmental, ethical, and health effects, meat would become increasingly scarce. In 25 years, meat’s rarity might return our society to a time when meat is reserved for the most special occasions and the richest of people. As time goes on, we will ultimately have to give it up.


Your Choice

But… what if we reduced our meat consumption now? We might still have enough time. We can save 95,000 animals every minute with reduced meat consumption. We can lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce deforestation, and save water.


In the end, the choice is yours. But your choice now will impact the societal role that meat will take on forever.

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