News: Huge Bounty on Science Fiction Meat

PETA has announced a one million dollar prize for the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.”

Even if someone is successful in developing the technology to cheaply grow muscle tissue cultures, the prospect of such products resembling natural meat products is slim. There is simply no viable way to reproduce the complex, mammalian physiology that results in the blend of tender meat and fat that comprises familiar meat products. Undoubtedly, companies marketing in vitro meat will be forced to turn to artificial flavorings, tenderizers, and other additives in order to even superficially imitate ordinary meat.

Given these predictable flaws, there is a serious question as to who the market for this product will be. The New York Times article linked to above notes that the prize caused a rift within PETA, many of whose members who remained opposed to the consumption of animal flesh on principle. I suspect that many vegetarians and vegans share this sentiment, and will continue to abstain from consuming meat regardless of the availability of in vitro products. The prize's spokeswoman, Ms. Newkirk, referred to in vitro meat as a "godsend", claiming that the product will decrease animal suffering. This position presupposes that there are a substantial number of consumers who are morally troubled by the consumption of natural meat, but who are only committed to action on their feelings insofar as a mediocre, superficial meat substitute is available. I would argue that most people who are significantly morally opposed to natural meat are already vegetarian. Furthermore, if a narrow subclass such as that Ms. Newkirk alludes to exists, it is already served by the availability of similarly mediocre, soy-based, imitation meats.

I think PETA's cause would be better served by promoting the dietary benefits and culinary enjoyability of vegetarianism than by a convoluted scheme to spur the development of high tech quasi-meats. Only time will tell whether anyone is tempted to make the research investment necessary to pursue the prize.