As a semi-vegan who consumes dairy & egg products, are the recent scientific breakthroughs in creating lab-grown meats a boon to both the ecosystem & animal rights activists?

My husband says that it OK to consume lab-grown meat because it no
longer impacts the environment in an adverse manner.

To date, I am only aware of lab-grown chicken breasts but rumor has it that lab-grown beef is also on the horizon.

This is a terrific development because soy-based burgers (i.e. Boca Burgers) are actually more unhealthy than real beef.

In addition to being antibiotic-free, growth hormone-free, and safe from zoonotic diseases, lab-grown meat has immense health benefits. Scientists have also suggested the possibility of altering the nutritional contents of cultured meat according to the necessary requirements as well.

The FDA has declared that lab-grown meat is safe to consume which means no longer having to rely on tofu (or rice & beans) to replicate meat protein for countless vegetarians who decry & have based their vegetarianism on the inhumane treatment of animals.

This is amazing and incredible.

Using stem cells to recreate beef & poultry products will gradually eliminate the need for vast grazing lands, feed costs, related H20 requirements, & meat processing expenditures. This in itself is an eco-friendly development.

It will also allow countless vegans to consume meat again by eliminating the guilt-ridden angst that many of them adhere to regarding the inhumane treatment of animals.

The key will be reducing laboratory production costs to the absolute minimum while ensuring safe and healthy meat products.

This is turn will reduce the price of meat and make it an affordable protein source for all socio-economic income levels.

Organic natural beef/chicken will eventually become an anachronism and then only the die-hard vegans will cling to their rigid dietary dogmas...for whatever it's worth.

I really love this. I hope to read more about this. This is very helpful thanks.

Lab-grown meat looks to be the another answer towards balancing our nation's ecology concerns but it will put a lot of ranchers out of business if conventional meat products are eventually banned by the USDA. This measure would also eliminate the natural and organic designations which often add to the price of meat.

When it comes to replacing natural/wild seafood, the mass production of lab-grown fish meat will reduce overfishing (at least on the part of the United States) & ideally cut the price of costly imported and domestic items like sushi ingredients, salmon, lobster, and abalone.

It is a win-win scenario and all it takes are a few stem cells + the technology.

Lab-grown meat will also enhance the dietary needs and preferences of those embarked on interstellar travel.

Imagine an onboard food technologist creating steaks, lobster, and just about any meat product desired by the crew.

Meanwhile back on Earth, lab-created beef products could also be designed with reductions in cholesterol and other heart-clogging byproducts reaffirming the old beef industry adage that "Beef is what America Eats for Dinner."

The fledgling lab-grown beef industry is the Tesla and Apple of the future. Saavy investors take heed as I imagine even some hardcore vegans will invest in this novel concept.

@JohnCharles, What do you love? What do you want to read more about? What was helpful? thanks.

Curious...will they also be able to replicate bones in these lab-grown meats?

Hamburgers and tenderloin cuts aside, I cannot picture dining on a rack of lamb or prime rib roast without any bones intact.

Organic-labeled produce is overpriced hyperbole...just another way to charge more for basic fruits and vegetables.

Until organic produce is priced the same as regular produce, only the wealthy can afford to buy it on a regular basis.

And from a practical standpoint, it is not cost-effective for commercial growers to go all-organic.

We get our produce at the Food Bank and it is sufficient for most of our dining necessities.

@Mike Tomkins...I was pondering the same thing. Will lab-grown chicken wings have bones or will they be more like chicken nuggets?

If they do not have actual wing bones, to label them as actual chicken wings would be false advertising.

In addition, you cannot have chicken wing 'drumettes' without a bone.

Laboratory produced spare ribs would also come into question as ribs without any bones would be more akin to the MacRib sandwich which is a piece of pork indented with fake bone markings.

It is refreshing to learn that these advances in food technology will allow for the production of healthy meat products without adversely impacting the environment.

Following our marriage, my husband advocated that we adhere to a strict vegetarian diet but every now and then, I would stop off at In & Out Burger prior to arriving home for dinner with no remorse.

Lab-grown meat will finally free reluctant vegetarians (such as myself) by offering healthy meat products and alternatives.

No more tofu for me.

Smithsonian Magazine reported studies by Finnish food scientists who are designing a bio-replicator to produce fruits.

To date, they have only succeeded in recreating berries (sort of) using natural fruit cells to initiate the process.

The result is a crystalline substance that contains all of the natural ingredients found in the berries they were attempting duplicate.

Laboratory created meats and produce will be good for the environment but bad for the many farmers who will eventually go out of business once the process is perfected and accelerated to meet the needs of domestic and global consumers.

Future generations may never know what real food is (or was).

"...many farmers who will eventually go out of business once the process is perfected and accelerated to meet the needs of domestic and global consumers."

^ And the same will probably apply to meat-packers & the butcher trade.

The FDA will need to further investigate the by-products that will emanate from laboratory-crafted meats. Will they be eco-friendly and bio-degradable?

Lastly...when lab-created meats become a mainstream offering, I imagine there will still be some cattlemen & chicken ranchers promoting their products as boutique/organic while charging more for the privilege on dining on these limited offerings.

Eliminating most of the farms, orchards, ranches, and grazing land in America will provide additional acreage to accommodate future housing for our newly arrived (and aspiring) immigrants from abroad.

Laboratory-designed meat products are no different than creating cultured pearls or cubic zirconium diamonds.

Very few people can actually tell the difference and in a best case scenario, the escalating prices for conventional meat products will decline making lab-grown an affordable and readily available source of protein for all consumers.

Having worked in stem cell research, it is amazing what these 'builder' cells are capable of replicating.

"If we are serious about fighting obesity in this country, we must designate more money to vegetables and fruits in the Farm Bill."

It is one thing to designate the dollars and another to get Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Salt, sugar, and fat are key ingredients of the typical American diet and though unhealthy in excess, most Americans will opt for obesity rather than succumbing to tiresome and contrived semi-exotic menu items/recipes overdubbed with ethnically-themed herbs and spices (i.e. East Indian, Caribbean, Asian, African, Arabic/Middle Eastern cuisine and trendy contrivances called 'fusion').

Given the choice, a traditional American diet of steaks, hot dogs, chicken, pizza, ice dream, Oreos, and fast food burgers will always supercede foods from other cultures outside of the United States.

Perhaps the key to better health is creating healthier meat products with no growth hormones or antibiotics and reduced fat.

This can now be done in a lab and so over time, environmental concerns over land usage and irrigation will become yesterday's news.

Even if more SNAP dollars are allocated towards the environmentally-friendly production of organic fruits and vegetables, it doesn't mean that more consumers are going to opt for them.

Since much of our everyday produce now comes from Mexico, is the USDA also going to enforce these proposed guidelines on Mexican farmers and ranchers? Fat chance.

Lastly, as a fan of Hawaiian-style Kalua Pig and Spanish-inspired barbacoa, I cannot even imagine pulling a glob of laboratory-created pigmeat from a pit without the bones, snout, and appendages intact.

It wouldn't be the same and besides, how does one stuff an apple into the mouth of a pig if there isn't one to begin with?

The crinkly pork skin and excess fat below its surface would also be non-existent.

Real food for real people involves traditional animal husbandry and agricultural practices.

The problem is that we now have too many people living in the United States and so streamlined and oftentimes unhealthy production processes are warranted.

We did not have these pressing ecological problems in the 1960s when the population was only 250M people as there was less demand for gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and living space.

In some countries (e.g. India & China) the population is in the BILLIONS...that's way too many people adversely impacting their local ecologies and food supplies.

On the other hand, it is not our problem unless these adverse impacts directly affect the well-being of American citizens.

SNAP recipients should also be encouraged to purchase healthier foods whether it involves organic or conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.

SNAP restrictions on junk food (pastries and snack foods) should also be initiated but a mandate such as this is bound to be met with some resistance among recipients.

As for 3rd world countries experiencing overpopulation and potential starvation, government mandated birth control laws should be implemented regardless of culture or religion.

It is not America"s responsibility to feed other impoverished countries free of charge because we still have a pressing hunger issue in our own country.

Let UNICEF handle 3rd world hunger.

SNAP should limit purchases to food products with nutritional value and ban the purchase of foods with empty calories. Stuff like junk food and soft drinks.

There are still a lot of people going hungry in the United States and this is shameful for a country of its magnitude and wealth.

As for underdeveloped countries experiencing hunger and famine, that's their problem.

If everyone ate healthier then death rates from poor nutrition and associated ailments would drop, leaving us with even more people on Earth and who needs that?

Better to partake in whatever one wants to eat and leave it at that.

As a periodic SNAP recipient, I feel that it is no one else's business what I purchase or consume providing it falls within the realm of SNAP approved purchases.

Fresh organic fruits and vegetables may be healthier but they do not appeal to everyone.

If anything, SNAP should be encouraging the use of air-fryers or include them free -of-charge to all SNAP recipients.

Large-scale lab-grown meat will also eliminate zoonotic diseases that can pass from the handling of natural poultry, and pork products.

On an international level, zoonotic diseases passing from physically handling raw camel meat (MERS) and raw bat/civet meat (SARS) can also be reduced provided all wet markets are banned.