Would You Eat Meat Grown in a Lab?

Introducing the world’s first lab-grown meatball.

That we’re aware of. There could be an unknown mad scientist about to unleash a meatball zombie apocalypse for all we know.

Memphis Meats declares “The future of food has arrived” with meat products created entirely from stem cells taken from cows, pigs and other animals – no breeding or slaughter of livestock required.

We’re creating a new kind of farming, one that provides the same delicious meat we grew up with—without all the drawbacks.  With one foot in San Francisco and the other in Memphis, Tennessee, we’re using the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley coupled with the rich culinary traditions of the American south to provide better meat for the entire world.

Apparently this meat takes a third of the energy to create and results in 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions – and agriculture is one of the biggest sources of pollution in the world, so that’s a pretty big deal.

All of this is really cool and everything – but would you eat it?

First of all, if no animal is being killed, does that mean it’s okay for vegetarians and vegans? Or would the animal have to consciously and willingly volunteer their stem cells or something?

And second, it might just be too weird. Part of the appeal of steaks and hamburgers for some people is being a macho carnivore who can devour entire cows in one sitting, and these are the same kinds of people who tend to get mad any time the words “stem cells” come up. It wouldn’t surprise me if this got pushback from people who are super against genetically modified foods, too.

Personally I think that meatball looks pretty tasty, but I guess we’ll see if the concept catches on.