Cultured Meat: an Ethical Alternative to Industrial Animal Farming

Cultured Meat: An Ethical Alternative To Industrial Animal Farming Policy paper Industrial livestock production presents a growing problem on a global scale in terms of animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and human health. One solution might be cultured meat, in which animal tissue is grown in a controlled environment using cell culture technology, thereby making the raising and killing of animals for food unnecessary. This approach shows great potential of meeting all the requirements of a humane, sustain- able and healthy form of meat production. However, a great deal of scientific, technical, cultural and legislative challenges must be overcome before cultured meat can reach cost- competitiveness. Lack of funding is the main barrier to further development, and consid- erable upfront investment is needed for cultured meat to attain commercially viable retail prices. We therefore strongly support increased funding of cultured meat initiatives. This entails, in order of priority: research and development of technology suitable for mass production, promoting fact-based public discussion regarding the technology and its societal implications, and eventual marketing of end products to consumers. September Policy paper by Sentience Politics. Preferred Citation: Rorheim, A., Mannino, A., Baumann, T., and Caviola, L.(). Cultured Meat: An Ethical Alternative To Industrial Animal Farming. Policy paper by Sentience Politics ():–. First release May . Last update September . Website: sentience-politics.org Contents Introduction . Current impacts of livestock-based meat . Cultured meat in comparison . Challenges to cultured meat development . Conclusions . References . A R, Research Associate, Sentience Politics A M, President, Sentience Politics T B, Director of Strategy, Sentience Politics L C, Executive Director, Eective Altruism Foundation Cultured Meat: An Ethical Alternative To Industrial Animal Farming Introduction The concept of producing meat intended for human consumption independent of a complete living organism has been a subject of speculative interest since at least Each year, more than billion sentient animals are , but proof of concept has existed in various forms reared in industrial conditions in order to produce meat. only since the early ’s. Cultured meat technology is This global enterprise is currently the planet’s main source still in its experimental stage and has so far been limited to – of human pandemic diseases and likely among its producing a small number of processed meat items in lab- – greatest concentrations of human-inflicted suering. oratory settings for demonstrative purposes. , Current Curbing this ongoing moral catastrophe should thus be of research is focused on refining production methods in or- high concern for people aiming to eectively help as many der to lower cost, improve scalability and minimize depen- ,– sentient beings as possible. Moreover, animal agricul- dence on animal sources. ture contributes to climate change and makes ineicient In this paper, we begin by presenting the rationale be- use of a significant portion of our available resources. hind developing animal-free meat products. Moving on, Addressing this massive challenge would ideally in- we explore cultured meat and its ethical, economic, envi- volve a worldwide shito a vegetarian lifestyle, but such ronmental, and human health implications. We then re- a shiis unlikely to take place in our lifetimes. Humans view the most pressing challenges facing public accep- around the world namely place a high value on meat in tance and technical feasibility of cultured meat produc- terms of taste, nutrition, and tradition, evidenced in part tion, and conclude by proposing a number of funding rec- by a clear rise in global meat consumption over the past ommendations. half century—a trend strongly associated with economic growth in newly industrializing countries. – Despite the vegetarian movement having witnessed steady growth in Current impacts of livestock-based recent years, its growth pales in comparison to the global meat demand for meat, which is predicted to increase by % within . Meanwhile, plant-based meat substitutes Environmental may, despite decades of costly improvements, not be suf- ficiently eective at replacing meat in people’s diets. It Greenhouse gas emissions: The main causes of climate would thus be a significant gain if we were able to intro- change are usually attributed to transportation and duce a cruelty-free replacement for meat with the ability housing. This, however, ignores another significant to rival conventional livestock-production. contributor: according to the UN Food and Agri- Enter cultured meat, an innovative way of synthesiz- culture Organization (FAO), animal agriculture is re- ing meat from animal tissue samples. Compared with sponsible for .% of the world’s total greenhouse conventional methods of meat production—which involve gas (GHG) emissions. It is therefore as bad for the the breeding, raising, feeding, and slaughter of living environment as the combined impact of every mo- animals—cultured meat instead involves using a cell sam- tor vehicle in the world, which collectively repre- ple to grow desired tissue in a controlled environment, sent at %. Methane, whose global warming po- making use of biotechnology originally developed for tential is times greater than that of carbon diox- medical research and organ transplants. Proponents of ide, makes up % of the animal industry’s total cultured meat argue that this technology holds consid- emissions. Most of this methane is emitted by ru- erable promise as a replacement for conventional meat. minants such as cows, sheep and goats as a natural Indeed, cultured meat seems likely to oer vast benefits by-product of their digestive processes. The United in terms of animal welfare, , environmental impact – Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) maintains and human health. that a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of at Cultured Meat: An Ethical Alternative To Industrial Animal Farming least % by is necessary in order to avoid the terways – is now considered a leading cause of the worst impacts of climate change. global rise of antimicrobial-resistant (multiresistant) – Resource ineiciency: The global surface area required pathogen strains. The World Health Organiza- for livestock farming—including land used for graz- tion considers this one of today’s biggest threats to ,, ing and feed production—currently takes up around global health. % of all arable land on the planet, and % of its Animal welfare total ice-free land surface. The rate at which livestock animals convert feed to energy and protein, Non-human sentience: There is a scientific consensus re- meanwhile, is extremely ineicient; cows, for exam- garding animal sentience and their capacity to suf- ple, normally convert less than % of their protein fer and this is oicially recognized in EU legisla- and energy intake into edible meat. Taking into action. The opposing view that conscious experi- count the water consumption for production, more ence is only possible in human brains is not sup- than ,L of water are needed for kg of beef. , ported by current evidence. , It follows that any needless suering inflicted upon animals under hu- Water pollution: The livestock sector uses a great deal of man care, whether through direct action or inac- water for feed production, animal rearing, and sani- tion/neglect, is ethically unacceptable and must be tation. Water recycled from livestock manure is cur- stopped. rently responsible for around % of global nitrogen and phosphorous pollution, % of antibiotic pol- Suering in factory farms: Intensive animal farming is in- lution, and % of toxic heavy metals contaminat- escapably associated with systematic disregard for ing the world’s freshwater. Additionally, around % their welfare. – Animal farming is already very of pesticides that end up in global freshwater sup- ineicient in terms of land and sustenance re- plies have their origin in the production of animal sources, , and high market demand for meat thus fodder. results in farmers striving to make all aspects of production more cost-eective. Maintaining the well- Human health being of animals is oen time-consuming, yet not Infectious disease transmission: Livestock pose a signif- strictly necessary to produce meat at an aord- icant disease risk to humans. Around % of able level. The result is that animal welfare mea- all known human diseases and % of the most sures are commonly reduced to an absolute mini- damaging emerging diseases are zoonotic (animal- mum or largely ignored in factory farms. ,–,– transmitted) in origin. , Most pathogens of recent An example of this eect is the “broiler chicken”, concern—including mad cow disease (called new a chicken breed optimized for morbid obesity and variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans) and all rapid maturation. Kept in intensive farming con- forms of influenza (swine, avian, etc.)—are transmit- ditions throughout the industrialized world, these ted through livestock in particular. , Increases in birds frequently experience lifelong suering , global demand for animal products have already led from their legs collapsing under their own morbid to intensification of industrial livestock farming, , weight , and from chronic sickness due to poorly and this trend is expected to magnify as millions of ventilated, overcrowded and/or tightly confined liv- households are lied out of poverty in developing ing conditions.

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