Clean Meat and Where to Find It
Cultured meat, in vitro meat, synthetic meat, or clean meat? — Paul Shapiro chose the last name as the title of his 2018 bestselling book. As always, it’s all about the branding.
People prefer labels that remind them of something they like, enjoy, consume with happiness. That is why on American shelves you can find margarines with names like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, and that is why the same shelves are full of products called vegan sausage, vegan pork chop, and more.
Wikipedia chooses the term cultured meat to talk about this relatively new phenomenon which is basically meat created in the lab, without making animals suffer. But it’s easy to believe that finally Shapiro’s choice of the term will win. Cultured meat sounds better than in vitro or synthetic meat, but it is still far away from the positive reactions the word clean can elicit.
Talking that much about branding is more than necessary when it comes to this new meat the 21st century deserves. In his book, Shapiro talks about different companies that are related to the phenomenon: from the ones that actually do produce meat in the lab, to those who want to focus rather on other animal-related products, such as milk, eggs, or leather. For all of these companies, Shapiro foresees a great future.
Pork chops made in a lab, and not out of dead animal, will be once available in stores, he says. The question is: will people eat them?
Referring to them as clean meat is the first step to making people change their shopping habits and buy chicken nuggets from the lab rather than from the butcher. They will not only be healthier (e.g. less fatty or at least filled with healthier types of fats), but one day they can also possibly be cheaper.
What Shapiro does great in his book, is highlighting that this clean meat revolution is not something for vegans or vegetarians. The start-ups the writer talks about are often run by people who enjoy eating meat and can’t stop doing so, but they also love animals and want to make their lives happier. They know their products must not be focused on those who already enjoy tofu or seitan. To become a true revolution, the clean meat must be popular among traditional meat eaters.
What can help in this happening, is that the clean meat start-ups are becoming a point of interest for the biggest food corporations. Their CEOs may not care about the cows they are killing every day or the rainforests that are cut in order to create more fields where soy, one of the main elements of animal fodder, is grown. They do, however, care about the money. And if the clean meat can be once cheaper than the traditional, it’s better to get into this business before the rivals.
