Can Vegans Eat Lab-Grown Meat?
It is no longer news that cultivated meat is set to transform the protein industry and global consumer identity. Choosing cultivated meat over conventional meats could depict environmental consciousness, distaste for animal cruelty, and a general affinity for nice trends. But it is very safe to ask if lab-grown meats are something vegans can now begin to munch on with a guilty-free conscience.
Yet, I do not think there is a straightforward yes or no answer to this question, since the word vegan interprets as different things to many people, including those who consider themselves vegans.
Who is a Vegan?
A vegan is anyone who abstains from consuming all kinds of animal and animal-derived products. Vegetarians on the other hand are those who abstain from the consumption of meat alone. They may however consume other products like eggs, milk, and other animal-derived products.
Why do People Become Vegan?
People choose to become vegan or vegetarians for several reasons: religion, concerns about animal welfare, religion, environmental consciousness, concerns about the use of antibiotics and growth hormones on food animals, and so on.
With so many reasons why anyone can decide to become a vegan or vegetarian, there would be no one-size-fits-all answer to if vegans can eat lab-grown meat or not.
However, we can make safe insinuations, but this will begin with us examining what exactly lab-grown meat is.
What is Lab-Grown Meat?
Lab-grown meat, cell-based meat, or cultivated meat is meat grown from a collection of animal cells in a laboratory or other scientific plant. While lab-grown meat does not involve animal grooming and slaughter, it is still real meat because it is grown from animal cells, which are the basic unit of all animal life.
Can Vegans Eat Labgrown Meat?
If we are to answer our question based on this basic definition, it is apparent that lab-grown meat is technically not a food product for vegans since it is still strictly an animal product.
However, a vegan can begin to consider cell-based meats from a friendlier perspective – and why would this be? Because of the reason why the person became a vegan in the first place.
As we already established, vegans choose to be vegans for several reasons. People who are vegans or vegetarians because of their religion would generally maintain a rigid attitude to revolutions on meat. After all, their religion informed them to abstain from meat and that would be it.
But for other kinds of sentiments towards meat, it would be quite easy to change a vegan's mind about consuming meat if you can get his major concerns out of the way. Asides from religion, ethical, environmental, and health factors are the major reasons why some persons will not consume meat.
Meanwhile, lab-grown meats were introduced to address these same issues, so omnivorous consumers can consume meat without worrying about ethics or what negative effects animal production processes are contributing to the environment.
It seems this could be a great appeal to vegans too since cell-based meat will be addressing their basic pain points – no animal cruelty; less carbon emissions or water use, and therefore more environmental sustainability; and no concerns about indirectly consuming unhealthy elements contained in growth hormones and antibiotics given to animals since there were no animals to groom in the first place.
In conclusion, there is no definitive answer. It depends on how vegan you are and what your convictions are based on. If cultivated meats do provide viable solutions to your pain point as a vegan, it is probably time to embrace the innovation and all the ethical and environmental positives it brings with it.
