by Jessica Wright

Created on: June 14, 2008

Would I eat animal stem cell grown, or in vitro' meat? There's no question about it; of course I would. For decades animal right's activists have been pleading with the international community to bring an end to the inhumane treatment of animals bred for the consumer market purely for the reason that no animal should live to die. Finally the community is staring into the face of a very real solution that no-one can ignore. Through decades of efforts to enlighten the masses, even more pressing matters related to the breeding of animals for food have come to light. Not only does the traditional way of producing meat increase room for unnecessary animal-suffering, it poses a great threat to the already rapid build up of green-house gases' and the depletion of the o-zone layer. The high levels of methane gas produced by live stock add greatly to the ever-present issue of global warming. By converting to in vitro meat, we would not only be eradicating the leading cause in mistreatment of animals, but we would be alleviating the amount of gases adding to global warming by a great margin.

Through the revolutionary idea of growing meat using stem cells, many current vegetarians and environmentalists would find it acceptable to add meat to their diet, as they would be causing almost no damage to the earth.
Eating clean meat' would not only benefit nature, but the general health of the world's population. This meat would honestly deserve the title "clean meat". It would be free of the growth hormones and antibiotics used by farmers on their live stock, as well as any disease that may contaminate traditional meat. The fat content would be controlled and production costs lowered; this means that not only would more people be able to afford the choice as to whether or not their diets should contain meat, but those with meat in their diet would be healthier, and guilt-free. The grain used to feed masses and masses of animals destined for the slaughterhouse could be distributed amongst famine devastated countries, and animals eating grain would in fact be eating it in order to live, and not for the sole purpose of being killed and eaten.
The fact is that the advantages of Clean meat' far outweigh the disadvantages. Some may say that the scientists developing stem cell grown meat are attempting to play God. But do those same people not allow those scientists to save their family members using equally revolutionary ideas such as stem cell grown organs for transplant? If using our God-given intelligence to save the earth given to us by that same God is unethical, then is there not perhaps something wrong with our perceptions of what is ethical and what is not? The truth is that the real inhumanity, and unethical behavior lies in murdering millions of animals in order to feed populations that are faced with a better option. "Clean meat" offers our world a humanitarian way of eating meat, without permitting the blatant abuse of animals, and devastation of our already severely crippled environment. For all these reasons, and even more, I can say that not only would I eat this meat without hesitation, I would encourage it to be eaten by others. Perhaps by spreading awareness of the concept of clean meat, we would remove any excuse for people to sit back and ignore the fact that we are all responsible for the environment and the animals in it. This is our planet, and no-one is exempt from protecting it. So the answer is yes, I would eat animal stem cell grown meat with pleasure.

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