The $280,000 Lab-Grown Burger Could Be a More Palatable $10 in Two Years (reuters.com) 207
Lab-grown meat, first introduced to the world six years ago in the form of a $280,000 hamburger, could hit supermarket shelves at $10 a patty within two years, European start-ups told Reuters. From a report: Consumers concerned about climate change, animal welfare and their own health are fueling interest in so-called clean meat, with the number of associated business start-ups climbing from four at the end of 2016 to more than two dozen two years later, according to the Good Food Institute market researcher. Plant-based meat alternatives are also booming. Shares in Beyond Meat have more than tripled in price since its initial public offering in May. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods each sell 100% plant-based meat alternatives to retailers and fast food chains across the United States.
And cultured meat grown from animal cells could be next on the mainstream menu, with producers eyeing regulatory approval as they improve the technology and reduce costs. It was Dutch start-up Mosa Meat's co-founder Mark Post who created the first "cultured" beef hamburger in 2013 at a cost of 250,000 euros ($280,400), funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, but Mosa Meat and Spain's Biotech Meats say that production costs have fallen dramatically since then. "The burger was this expensive in 2013 because back then it was novel science and we were producing at very small scale. Once production is scaled up, we project the cost of producing a hamburger will be around 9 euros," a Mosa Meat spokeswoman told Reuters, adding that it could ultimately become even cheaper than a conventional hamburger.
And cultured meat grown from animal cells could be next on the mainstream menu, with producers eyeing regulatory approval as they improve the technology and reduce costs. It was Dutch start-up Mosa Meat's co-founder Mark Post who created the first "cultured" beef hamburger in 2013 at a cost of 250,000 euros ($280,400), funded by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, but Mosa Meat and Spain's Biotech Meats say that production costs have fallen dramatically since then. "The burger was this expensive in 2013 because back then it was novel science and we were producing at very small scale. Once production is scaled up, we project the cost of producing a hamburger will be around 9 euros," a Mosa Meat spokeswoman told Reuters, adding that it could ultimately become even cheaper than a conventional hamburger.
Lab-Grown Burger (Score:5, Funny)
Brings the sugar
But greets defeat
From proper meat
Burma Shave
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Nothing says tasty like VAT GROWN!
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The cataract surgery tech is moving quickly, as is all of the vision science. Here's hoping that it catches up to your needs quickly. My wife wasn't a candidate for surgery but then became so, and has now a post-op success. I wish you well.
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One hopes that Fortune allows breakthroughs to fight blindness.
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Part of the problem is she’s using the new Freestyle Libre, which uses a sensor instead of blood tests from finger pricks.
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I'd be perfectly content to pay 100% more in order to not be eating an animal, to remove myself from the demand end of animal slaughter. I love eating meat. I hate that it requires an animal to suffer. This stuff can't come soon enough for me. I hope they get it right, and I hope they manage to do it in variety so as to address a lot of people's tastes.
I suspect that most people really aren't pro-animal-suffering, they're simply pro-eating-meat, jus
Ethics and survival (Score:3)
Let's look at cropland: It's not just poisoning, and it's not just rodents. Many animals lose their lives. They're killed by various heavy farm machinery as well, and in great numbers; and they lose habitat every time we turn a bit of wild range into farmland. This in turn kicks the local balance of species out of whack, and v
Come back when you brought it down to $ 0.2 (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Come back when you brought it down to $ 0.2 (Score:4, Interesting)
I live in the SF Bay Area, and thus know plenty of vegans. I have talked about vat-meat with about a dozen vegans, including several family members, and NONE of them are willing to eat it at any price. These are people that don't eat honey, or wear leather belts. They aren't going to compromise about what is and isn't "real" meat.
I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan (I eat dairy), and I would not buy these burgers either, because I don't like the taste or texture of meat.
The only way that vat-meat is going to be successful in the marketplace is to be cheaper than real meat. I don't see that happening anytime soon, but it may happen someday.
Re:Come back when you brought it down to $ 0.2 (Score:5, Insightful)
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There are plenty of people who would like a guilt-free experience when eating meat.
Not to mention there are plenty of people who are happy to buy whatever Oscar Mayer puts in the meat packages, as long as it's a nice color.
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$10 is just the point where it still start to hit store shelves. Up-market supermarkets and butchers already carry burgers in that price range. Decadent bastard that I am I even bought a 5 Euro burger the other day.
From there the price will keep falling.
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I mean â5 for a patty. It was a damn good burger.
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1/10 the environmental impact of farmed beef
Let's have some proof of that first.
Cows are mostly notorious for burping methane, a greenhouse gas. However, methane only survives about 10 years in the atmosphere, so as long as the herd of cows is not growing, the amount of methane stays constant. The methane that was produced 10 years ago is disappearing at the same rate, as new methane is produced.
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Grazing land, plus crop land for feeding the cows, accounts for a disproportionate amount of the land cleared for agriculture. This could be mitigated by grazing on more tree covered land, but it's still an impact.
Cow burps are a red herring.
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A lot of grazing land is unsuitable for agriculture, so at least we should make distinctions between various types and sources of meat. Using such land for grazing animals and then eating their meat is better for the environment than wasting the land, and growing human food crops somewhere else.
And of course, the lab grown meat needs to be fed as well. The fact that we're talking about hopefully bringing the price down to $10 rather than 25 cents gives an indication that this may be more resource intensive
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And of course, the lab grown meat needs to be fed as well.
While you're not wrong, that's a pretty useless comment to make. Yes, lab-grown muscle will need food. But a) we only eat like 50% of any given animal, and b) the vast majority of energy required for an animal is based on keeping it thermally regulated, moving, breathing, thinking, and its metabolism going. Muscle growth is not one of the big energy sinks.
I'm guessing we're talking an order of magnitude less energy to grow a cow's worth of steak in a vat than a cow itself, at minimum. And there's no real ec
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Or we could, you know, rather than "wasting" the land for no apparent reason re-forest it
Have you ever wondered why prairie lands even exist in nature ?
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Let's have some proof of that first.
Cows are mostly notorious for burping methane, a greenhouse gas. However, methane only survives about 10 years in the atmosphere, so as long as the herd of cows is not growing, the amount of methane stays constant. The methane that was produced 10 years ago is disappearing at the same rate, as new methane is produced.
I don't have any proof on Barbara's 1/10th impact claim... however I will say... Methane may only last for 10 years, but it breaks down into Ethane which is also a greenhouse gas, and Ethane breaks down into Carbon Dioxide, which we all know is also a greenhouse gas. So methane may not accumulate long term, but it does eventually convert to CO2 which DOES hang around a long time.
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So methane may not accumulate long term, but it does eventually convert to CO2 which DOES hang around a long time.
All that CO2 comes out of the grass that the cow eats, and goes back into next year's grass. It's a cycle (of liiiiiife)
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Not to mention the amount of land required to raise a heard of cattle is enormous. No doubt that land could be used in a better way.
Re:Come back when you brought it down to $ 0.2 (Score:4, Insightful)
Please explain to us what's a better use of grassy hills where you can't grow crops. Maybe forest, where there's enough water. Cows which aren't grazed are raised in CAFOs which are disgusting, but don't actually take up much space. Plus, the shit can be collected for methane production when you pile the animals up like that.
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Vat meat will win out if it’s the same price. There are plenty of people who would like a guilt-free experience when eating meat. No killing animals, 1/10 the environmental impact of farmed beef, these have value among meat eaters.
It doesn't even have to be the same price. Lots of people are willing to pay extra for organic due to perceived notions of the origin of the food. Same for this lab-grown meat. Vegans and vegetarians won't touch it, but they are a small minority of the total population are not definitely not the target consumer. Out of the much larger market of meat eaters, are there sufficient numbers willing to pay for some perceived quality or environmental benefit? The actual quality or benefit doesn't even have to
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Lots of people are willing to pay extra for organic due to perceived notions of the origin of the food
Right, I'd rather have a nice piece of organic meat than something constructed in a lab made from the cheapest ingredients.
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It doesn't even have to be the same price. Lots of people are willing to pay extra for organic due to perceived notions of the origin of the food. Same for this lab-grown meat.
For me, it's probably a 50% premium. If you get the price to 50% more than a farm raised piece of meat I might buy it regularly. Get it to double the price and I will try it and maybe have it occasionally. At $10 for 4oz, I'm out... sorry, not willing to pay that much for such a small portion.
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I think there is a giant side effect of lab grown meat that we'll have to get over: Lack of variety.
Right now we get tons of different cuts from animals, and some require special cooking to be edible. Give me 10 minutes with some hamburger, and I'll produce something terrific to eat. Give me 10 minutes with some brisket, and I'll be lucky to produce anything but inedible garbage. But give me 16 hrs with that brisket, and I'll make something mindblowingly awesome.
When we start with lab grown meat, I can guar
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Vat meat will win out if itâ(TM)s the same price. There are plenty of people who would like a guilt-free experience when eating meat. No killing animals, 1/10 the environmental impact of farmed beef, these have value among meat eaters.
Funny. My first thought was, "Why do these people hate animals so much that they'd rather replace them with frankenstein monsters".
It's not like this is going to result in "cow liberation day" where they let all the cows go free to be hunted by non-human predators.
This i
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So.. fate worse than death better than not existing?
You're fucking right it is.
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So.. fate worse than death better than not existing?
You're fucking right it is.
You say that, because you're here, and not currently experiencing a fate worse than death. It takes relatively little to make most people wish they'd never been born, at least in the grand scheme of things. If you'd never been born, you'd have much less to say on the subject.
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Don’t see them labeling it Barbecue Baby Chicken Parts any time soon ...
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Vat meat will win out if it’s the same price. There are plenty of people who would like a guilt-free experience when eating meat. No killing animals, 1/10 the environmental impact of farmed beef, these have value among meat eaters.
Yeah, I very much fall in this category. I eat meat. I don't love the environmental consequences of meat. I don't hate them so much that I've stopped eating meat, but if someone gives me an alternative for a reasonable price I'll definitely switch. I'd say $10/patty is still a little rich for my blood, but it's getting a heck of a lot closer.
Re: Come back when you brought it down to $ 0.2 (Score:2)
I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan (I eat dairy), and I would not buy these burgers either, because I don't like the taste or texture of meat.
Thirty-year vegetarian (five years on-and-off vegan) and I find that the Beyond Burger w/a slice of Daiya really hits the spot... but I really feel like shit afterwards - i feel better than I ever have on my paleo, fruitcarb-based diet until I load up on inflammatories like pea protein and canola oil...
I live in fantasy land too. (Score:4, Funny)
Here we abhor the exploitation of plants for food. I belong to the larger group. I am an Inorganian, we only accept what Nature would give us freely. So I sit with my mouth open and eat only what inorganic matter falls in it. It was hard at first, but now, through my improved psychics, I am full at almost every meal.
My brother sitting next to me has gone a step up, he's a Lightarian, ze only subsists on pure sunshine and will consume the sunlight that Nature bestows upon zim at the most magical hours immediately after dawn and before sunset.
We think all these contraptions that force people into creating life to suffer so that they can eat are terrible.
Follow us, and become better human beings.
Inorganians and Lightarians for Better Humanity!
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Mother Earth craves for what comes out of zis "stealing" end. Ze is like the poor plants that the vegans slaughter.
smug self righteous ass-hats (Score:3)
I have talked about vat-meat with about a dozen vegans, including several family members, and NONE of them are willing to eat it at any price.
I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan (I eat dairy), and I would not buy these burgers either, because I don't like the taste or texture of meat.
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So, guy who has a negative biased view of a product asked similarly biased peer group, if they want to try the product and they reactive towards the negative? How strange. No doubt you presented the question fairly and without bias so as not to skew the outcome.
If anything, your post simply proves what a bunch of ignorant hypocritical ass-hats many vegans are. They "claim" not to use animal products for moral reasons. Then, science creates an alternative to using animal products so that people actually get
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I live in the SF Bay Area, and thus know plenty of vegans. I have talked about vat-meat with about a dozen vegans, including several family members, and NONE of them are willing to eat it at any price. These are people that don't eat honey, or wear leather belts. They aren't going to compromise about what is and isn't "real" meat.
I am a vegetarian, but not a vegan (I eat dairy), and I would not buy these burgers either, because I don't like the taste or texture of meat.
The only way that vat-meat is going to be successful in the marketplace is to be cheaper than real meat. I don't see that happening anytime soon, but it may happen someday.
"Vat Meat" is such a loaded phrase. It's like "Socialized" medicine, the phrasing is deliberately placed to make it sound bad. Of course people aren't going to eat it if you call it "Vat Meat". That said, if you don't like the taste and texture of meat- you're probably not the target consumer so they probably are not worried if you don't want it.
The target consumer, who they're trying to win over is the person who likes meat but has angst or concern about eating it. I am probably their target consumer.
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For $10 I can have a wagyu burger
No lol. For $10 you can buy a "Kobe beef" burger that is really black Angus raised in eastern California or Montana.
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Here's info on real Kobe
https://www.crowdcow.com/blog/... [crowdcow.com]
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No lol. For $10 you can buy a "Kobe beef" burger that is really black Angus raised in eastern California or Montana.
For $10 for a single burger patty, Kobe beef better be sliced from Kobe Bryant's ribs.
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"And just FYI 9 euro a patty is going to come out at over $100 a pound."
I make half-pound burgers, you insensitive clod. That's only just over 20 per pound. What kind of dumb shit buys a burger that expensive anyway? It's not that much better. If you have meat of that quality, the last thing that makes sense is grinding it. Consequently, statistically nobody does. They just fake it, and lie to you.
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Sure as shit this fake meat is NOT gonna taste ANYWHERE near as good as that.
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Sure as shit this fake meat is NOT gonna taste ANYWHERE near as good as that.
This isn't fake meat, this is lab grown meat. This is something completely different to the fake meats that don't contain animal proteins. As for how good it will be, that remains to be seen. I'll keep an open mind and will wait until it has been more widely reviewed.
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That "small premium" for just the patty is about 4x the price of the average loaded burger in the US
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/0... [cnbc.com]
And, people don't have a problem with animal cholesterol in regards to their own. Diabetics do still need to be wary.
https://health.clevelandclinic... [clevelandclinic.org]
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Slashdot is clearly degenerated to the point of where it is not worth visiting anymore thank to people like this.
That happened years ago. You must be new here :-)
Everything in tech is turning into shit, has been for quite a while. Working conditions suck, crunch is just an excuse for incompetent managers to go full drama queen to deflect blame from themselves, etc.
Funny how such a male dominated field is so permeated with gossipy spineless drama queens who still manage to be libertarians until they are the ones on the receiving end.
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Too late it's already here- Sorry fat Republicans! (Score:2, Interesting)
No need to wait at all, and already cheap. Soon even cheaper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Meats
Unicorn farts... (Score:2)
Meanwhile the elites will still be dining on (Score:3, Insightful)
real meat, while you and I will be dining on cricket burgers and lab-created monstrosities.
Re:Meanwhile the elites will still be dining on (Score:4, Insightful)
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If a lab-grown "monstrosity" tastes as good (doesn't need to be the same, just good) as naturally grown meat... I don't see a new issue
Health is not a concern for you ? Just taste ?
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If a lab-grown "monstrosity" tastes as good (doesn't need to be the same, just good) as naturally grown meat... I don't see a new issue
Health is not a concern for you ? Just taste ?
Seems like lab-grown meat has the advantage in this situation? I'll take my ground beef grown in a controlled environment, without the risk of e.coli and mad cow disease. Plus, it seems like it would eventually be possible to tweak the composition of the meat (fats, proteins, etc.) to produce a specific nutritional profile.
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Plus, it seems like it would eventually be possible to tweak the composition of the meat (fats, proteins, etc.) to produce a specific nutritional profile.
That's how we ended up with trans fats. The were sold as a healthy alternative to saturated fats. In reality, they were used because manufacturers had a surplus of dirt cheap cotton oil.
Nutrition science is an extremely difficult topic, and relatively easy for manufacturers to manipulate for profit rather than truth.
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If a lab-grown "monstrosity" tastes as good (doesn't need to be the same, just good) as naturally grown meat... I don't see a new issue
Health is not a concern for you ? Just taste ?
Seems like lab-grown meat has the advantage in this situation? I'll take my ground beef grown in a controlled environment, without the risk of e.coli and mad cow disease. Plus, it seems like it would eventually be possible to tweak the composition of the meat (fats, proteins, etc.) to produce a specific nutritional profile.
But it's not natural, and as everyone knows, "natural" means "good" and "unnatural" means "bad". </sarcasm>
Unfortunately, that view is all too common.
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If an animal goes bad due to replication errors, we generally notice. You can tell by observing the animal. If a lab-grown culture goes bad, you can only tell by testing. You can be replicating something toxic and not know until you check. Are they going to adequately test each batch? If history is any indication, the answer is no.
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Oh yes it is.
You want to die in your 60s or younger, then be like the 40% of India that doesn't eat meat.
The countries with the longest average lifespan eat meat.
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Not only that, you'll see other differences. As meat became more common in the diet of South Koreans their average height grew 10cm in just 50 years.
http://www.koreaherald.com/vie... [koreaherald.com]
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I believe you'll find it hard to find a reputable dietician that would recommend eating more meat.
Ah, the No True Scoctsman argument. Always a good idea.
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Not necessarily good for vegetarians (Score:2)
>"Plant-based meat alternatives are also booming. [...] Beyond >"Meat and Impossible Foods each sell 100% plant-based meat alternatives to retailers and fast food chains across the United States."
Just keep in mind there are some (although I have no idea how many) vegetarians and semi-vegetarians who simply don't like meat (I am one of them). So any substitution which smells and/or tastes like meat is not attractive to them/me at all. :) I am hoping these new meat-clone products do NOT displace tradi
No way (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, duh! (Score:2)
Just by reducing the price from $280,000 to $10 would make it more palatable.
It is a Satanic Plot to Alter Human DNA ! (Score:2)
Fundamentalist preacher Rich Wiles is proving that Poes Law is no joking matter.
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/... [rightwingwatch.org]
Watch the video and understand that this is not the Onion.
Memphis Meats (Score:2)
One company that I am looking at closely that the article does not mention is Memphis Meats [memphismeats.com]. One of its founders is Slashdot-favorite Billg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/tyson-joins-bill-gates-cargill-to-invest-in-lab-meat-producer [bloomberg.com].
Avg Price in US (Score:2)
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/0... [cnbc.com]
So sure, let's pay $10 for a patty instead of ~$2.50 for a loaded burger. Oh, an those are with real meat.
Pass Muster against EU anti-GMO Rules? (Score:2)
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These guys will have to get some of that sweet taxpayer's money if they ever hope to compete on price with farmed meat.
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The idea would be to end the subsidies for farmed meat and given to lab grown producers.
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Oh I don't believe for a minute that this will happen in the US. But in other countries? Yes. I can see the EU heavily subsidizing lab grown meat as a way to combat climate change.
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Without getting into the reading argument, I would argue that unless it came from a live animal, it's never going to be "meat".
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What if the original cells, cultured to grow this "Meat", came from an animal? you start with 1 oz of meat, and grow it to 1000 oz of meat.
Depends. Are these cells fed with real cow's blood ? If not, then it's probably not the same.
Also, is the end product an unmodified piece of cultured meat, or is it mixed with oils, starches and other fillers ?
Re: Nope, you can't read either can you? (Score:2)
Re: Real meat is $1/patty (Score:2)
You mean foie gras?
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and margarine than
Woah now! Now that's going too far.
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American "cheese"
Instant macaroni and "cheese"
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i wish the vegan's would stop caring what others eat.
i'm sick of hearing about it.
I couldn't care if you eat sawdust.
Just step away from my sandwich!
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What makes think vegans care about what you eat?
Then why are they attacking butcher shops and farms ?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/... [thesun.co.uk]
Re: Not a "burger" (Score:2)
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And because they dont understand prion diseases
If it is lab grown human meat you're not very likely to get a prion disease from it.
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That depends on the beef you eat. If you don't mind hormone injected mechanically reclaimed beef then sure you can hit that price point. Personally I would not touch that short of junk with a 100ft barge poll.
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