Say scientists could synthesise meat on a wide scale in a lab without any animals dying. It's equally nutritious and there is no discernable difference in how you cook it, or how it tastes. Would you try it?
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In reference to your question about Imitation Chicken Nuggets and Gardenburgers. They are made of veggies and tofu. And you should try them sometime it might make a Vegetarian out of you they are delicious, and fat and cholesterol free. Plus high in fibre.
Imitation food can't be much worse.
In the end, people's mistrust of science (quite rightly in many cases) seems to be the abiding factor. The food industry, as much as any other, is self-serving. Individual people's health is much less important than profit. GM crops, for instance, exist for profit-making, not for making people happy and nourished.
That's why I said "equally nutritious" and it may only have been implied but I meant that there were no nasties in there or knock-on health effects.
I was interested in how little thought people gave to animals. Whether just an extra 10% added to the cost would persuade people to take a more animal-friendly stance. Or whether even a benefit to themselves would persuade them.
I think people are quite set in their ways and it's difficult to imagine them choosing to do things differently, no matter what the benefit is.
The same way you find it disheartening that people didn't go to your side and choose to save animals is the same reason I found it maddening that people didn't shy away from the whole imitation factor (most people chose only if it was cheaper, I think few people thought of the safety factor)-which is pretty predictable, considering most people buy their groceries/food based on price/convenience and most people are carnivores.
I'm a farmer and overall raise my own meat and veggies, so I probably didn't answer in the "typical" way, based on price...much of the reasons I farm is because I'm leery of what's in grocery store foods so my answer is probably not typical...I also treat everything I grow or raise with the utmost personal attention, respect and kindness, so again probably a rarity...but thankfully due to the nature of my business I get to meet nice, concerned people on a daily basis. I personally think that maybe the answer is not to create artificial meat but to make people more aware of where their food comes from and what suffering may occur and what artificial means may be used to provide that food...If people actually faced where and how their food comes to be, they may have a different attitude.
As for the rest of your post, I know farmers and they all have a remarkably similar attitude to you. I think it's absolutely the right attitude and I wish farmers had more power than supermarkets. Farmers are some of the few people in the food production chain that I actually trust and (in this country, at least) they get treated abysmally.
It's interesting you bring up that idea. If I remember, China was doing something similar... only they were using human DNA. Not for food though.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2004-01/16/content_299628.htm
Though I do wonder at what point does the human DNA you clone gain legal rights?