Monday, January 31, 2011

I'm Supposed to Eat That?

I read a story online today that gave me the willys...err, you know what I mean. It was a Reuters article about a developmental biologist and tissue engineer (huh?) by the name of Dr. Vladimir Mironov who is trying to bio engineer "cultured" meat in a South Carolina lab. He feels that these new meat products could help deal with global food crises of the future.

Did anyone else think of the movie Soylent Green just now? What's not to love about those cool, green wafers. Yum! For the younger crowd who haven't seen it...it's set in the year 2022 (was made in 1973) and is a stark vision of the future where the population has exploded and the food is scarce. I'll stick on a trailer for the movie at the bottom of the post, for those feeling in a '70's Retro sort of mood. Fantastic sci-fi with Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson in his last movie.

You can link to the full Yahoo story here. Dr. Mironov has a visiting scholar of cancer cell biology, Nicholas Genovese, who is working under a three year grant from PETA. Genovese said, "Animals require between 3 and 8 pounds of nutrient to make 1 pound of meat. It's fairly inefficient. Animals consume food and produce waste. Cultured meat doesn't have a digestive system..."

Laboratory cultured steaks. I only have three or four steaks a year (evil cholesterol) and prefer them the old-fashioned way...from the freezer section. Under plastic. Chock-full of growth hor...

I'm thinking that if my only cost-effective options are cultured meat products from my friendly neighbourhood Fermi or DuPont Labs I may be looking at a future diet of eggplants and lentils...Oh! That reminds me of the sweet potato soup that 'V' force-fed me for supper tonight...my doctor would be so happy.

13 comments:

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

Why haven't I heard of that movie before?
I had a great giggle over that trailer... where on earth did you find it?

Kara McElhinny said...

I hit the NyQuil pretty hard tonight, Alan and while I'm skipping the trailer for now, I will come back to watch it again. I haven't seen the movie, but I have heard of it.

And I have a plan...

What if all of these people... the scientist's that want to end world hunger... just. plant. vegetables. Animals are not the only form of protein that is out there, lots of beans and other things (that are evading me at the moment) have protein in them. Why start creating more bi-products out of bi-products...are we unhealthy enough as it is?

/NyQuil rant (okay, I could go on, but I am stopping myself before I scare someone...:P)

As for the Sweet-Potato Soup, good for you! (even if you didn't like it, it's always good to try something new. Mashed Sweet Potato's are really good. I'm just sayin')

take care!
Happy writing, reading and watching!
Kara

Jameson T. Caine said...

Someone once altered the menu sign at the local McDonald's drive-thru to read "Now with Soylent Green!" Funny. At least...I thought so.

Cate Gardner said...

I've never seen Soylent Green--must rectify that.

Laurita said...

I have never seen this movie, but the ending has been spoiled for me many, many times. Still, it looks like a fun retro flick.

I can't believe you had to be force fed V's soup. If it was even half as good as her carrot soup it was awesome.

Fox Lee said...

Huh. People can make anything into soup, can't they?

Paula RC said...

Now you know why I don't eat meat.... I know the secret...

Alan W. Davidson said...

Cathy- I remember seeing that movie on TV years ago. They don't put it on very often. Another old favourite with Charlton Heston was from 1971, The Omega Man (kind of a loose remake of I am Legend).

Kara- The planting sounds like an excellent idea (also a good way to put the unemployed to work). I didn't like sweet potato fries, so the outlook wasn't good for the soup.

Jameson- Har! Nice kids. Brings back memories of when they used to post "One Million Served", "50 Million Servered"...at least until it became an unmanagable or embarassing number.

Cate- Definately rent it. And 'The Omega Man' as I mentioned to Cathy above.

Laurita- Yep, it's a classic line. I'll bring you a container of soup (that much less for me and the boy to eat).

Nat- I wasn't going to tie in the Soylent Green thing with my wife's soup, but since you started the conversation...

Jarmara- You're a wise woman. The rest of us are slaves to the system (or something like that).

Mari said...

I wonder how would that taste. O.o

Mike Robertson said...

Tastes like chicken. ;-)

Karen from Mentor said...

Don't agree with Mr. Heston's politics, but love some of the movies he's been in. Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, Omega Man....

The story about the manufactured meat really frightens me. Maybe they'll stop after they notice a few lab techs going missing from the night shift.....

oh and *snort* @Mike Robertson

Michael Solender said...

oh my - your a bit alarmist here - bioengineering will cure world hunger and hopefully be more earth friendly than some of our current methods - as the used to say better living thru chemistry!

Alan W. Davidson said...

Mari- I wondered that myself. I would say chicken, but I see that Mike stole my line.

Mike- Great minds think alike, sir!

Karen- I don't agree with his politics either but he did come out with great movies in his time. LOL at the missing lab techs and at your snort. You've got a funny laugh. Har!

Michael- I think some advancements in science have been great for mankind. THough, I don't like to mess with what goes into our bodies.

"...better living through chemistry". I figured it was Timothy Leary that said that...