PETA Encourages Production of In Vitro Meat

PETA is funding a $1M prize for the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.”

I don’t know much about in vitro meat, but I can see why it would be so controversial. In vitro meat reduces or eliminates the ethical/animal rights and environmental justifications for vegetarianism, which makes eating meat a more justifiable decision. On the other hand, any health concerns about eating meat would remain, plus for many existing vegetarians, our diet is so ingrained in our lifestyle that we can’t fathom eating meat under any circumstance. (And, for “vegansexuals,” that includes intimacy with a meat-eater).

At minimum, it’s easy to see why the PETA move would be controversial among its members and employees. After all, it runs completely counter to the “meat is bad” mantra that has been thoroughly instilled into them. Personally, I have no interest in eating “in vitro meat” but I applaud PETA for taking an aggressive approach to address some of the major social ills associated with meat manufacturing.