this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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Recently tried an Impossible burger and nuggets and thought that if nobody told me it wasn't meat, I'd have thought the patty was made out of a weird kind of meat, rather than make a connection with the taste and texture of plants. Honestly, I might not complain if that was the only kind of "meat" I could have for the rest of my life.

Well, maybe I'd miss bacon.

I've yet to find the opportunity to try lab-grown meat, but I for sure would like to try it out and don't see much wrong with it as long as it's sustainable, reasonably priced, and doesn't have anything you wouldn't expect in a normal piece of meat.

Also, with imitation and lab-grown options, I'd no longer have to deal with the disgust factor of handling raw meat (esp. the juices) or biting into gristle. I'll happily devour a hot dog, but something about an unexpected bit of cartilage gives me a lingering sense of revulsion.

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[–] Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago

I'm all for it.

Gimme that vat grown cloned shit. I don't care. Meat is meat. If my guts recognize it as protein then that's all that matters.

If I had my druthers I'd get rid of industrial meat farming entirely. It is a major contributor to climate change. Plus all the death involved.

And while I was at it I'd end industrial farming all together. We could convert a state or 2 worth of farmland into hydroponic and feed the world. Instead we engineer scarcity and guarantee starvation for profit. It's fuckin disgusting.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 week ago (4 children)

If they’re tasty, no less unhealthy, and affordable, I’ll eat ’em. Grown muscle tissue isn’t connected to a nervous system, never mind a brain. They’re no more “animal” than tofu as far as I’m concerned.

But I can think of a couple of major likely problems:

  1. They’ll probably still require more resources (energy, water, etc.) to produce than plants, so I’d probably limit my consumption.
  2. Given the history of capitalism and the meat industry, I’d be suspicious of them still harming animals behind the curtain somewhere, somehow. The industry ought to be heavily regulated to ensure they aren’t doing that, but again, history shows that under late capitalism they probably won’t be.
[–] ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

no less unhealthy

Yeah, given the history of capitalism, that will not happen. Look, they even made real meat unhealthy just to increase the profit (meat "yield" from animal), with lab-grown meat they would cut corners even further.

Chickens we are given today weight at least 5 times more than chicken 50 years ago (or "heritage breed") and reach that weight in 6 weeks vs a year. To even buy a heritage breed chicken you need to have time, money and know-how, and you're still likely to get just a 100 days old chicken.

I can't even predict how they will enshittify lab-grown meat if it's ever perfected.

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[–] the_q@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I find it so strange that people think handling meat and biting grissle is revolting, but not the fact that you're eating a dead creature that had a life. There is clearly some weird compartmentalization happening separating "meat" from living creature.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I think part of it is the fact that raw meat gets you sick, and people are afraid of the germs more so than the ethics of it.

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[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 11 points 1 week ago

Imitation meat is very highly processed food. I've never had lab grown meat, I'd need to know the details to judge it

I do like me a good bean burger though...I make big batches of dried beans and mash them, it's great on rice, as a dip, you can fry it, you can add whatever you want to make infinite variations

But every once in a while I like to have a good burger. Like a few times a year... Honestly, if anything, meat tastes better because I rarely eat it.

Imitation stuff just doesn't compare, maybe you could convince me it's meat, but you'll never convince me it's better than "ok". And plenty of meat is just ok... Most of it even

I'd rather eat my beans every day, and eat my steak and tuna a few times a year and enjoy every moment of it

[–] _spiffy@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I would rather eat a meal that doesn't pretend to be meat and just be it's own tasty thing. I don't need a steak, but I do want a delicious savory thing.

[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well it doesn't really pretend to be meat, it is meat. It just grows differently.

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[–] jenesaisquoi@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago
[–] Nemo@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I don't like to eat meat, so I also don't like to eat things that remind me of meat.

I want plants that feel taste and smell like plants, please.

[–] Taldan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Which is a perfectly reasonable and valid preference

I personally like the taste of meat, but would prefer eating plants. Meat replacements are perfect for me

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I swear people would rather spend a fortune developing sci-fi meat than spend pennies on beans and peas.

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[–] folaht@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Lab-grown meat can't come fast enough.
I've never seen it being sold in the supermarkets,
but I agree with what one tv show host has said it best:
"Why would anyone have more contanimation concerns of meat grown in a clean lab when this person eats meat cultivated in a dirty stall with poop on every wall?"

For imitation meat, the stuff that's cheaper is not better.
It's cheaper nonetheless.
And the only better-than-the-real-thing imitation meat out there is a more expensive hamburger.

[–] JennyLaFae@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 week ago

I'd love a future where our food was about being nutritious and satisfying, while being ethically sourced and produced.

The problems we have only exist because capitalism demands ever increasing profits.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Completely unnecessary. Vegan chefs are wizards nowadays, and can show you how to make replacements for everything you need.

I make vsteak, and vchicken in large amounts about once per week, and use it in recipes. I can share the recipes I use if you like. I make vbacon about once per month, its a bit more labor intensive, but it tastes great.

Even apart from ethics, its 10x cheaper, and doesn't contain any of the puss, blood, and feces that come in your meats currently.

[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My spouse and I are foodies and both vegetarian. We've had several chefs put together some absolutely incredible vegan/vegetarian dishes.

One of the chefs told us that being a plant-based chef has recently become much more respected in the culinary world. He thought we were at the start of a plant-based revolution in the culinary world. Younger folks are reducing meat consumption more than any previous generation, and there are beginning to be a lot of dedicated vegetarian/vegan restaurants popping up in most medium to large cities.

[–] Angelusz@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Please share! This is on my list of things to learn

[–] MisterNeon@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

I'm a vegetarian. I'm just going to continue eating beans.

I think it's okay, the Impossible stuff gets pretty close to what they're imitating.

But I also think I'm not really their target audience.. like I'm okay with a veggie burger tasting like veggie. I'm not really looking for something that tastes like beef or whatever. These products like the Impossible burger aren't targeting vegetarian/vegan shoppers, maybe their niche are the meat eaters curious about trying to cut down on meat consumption which is okay.

There's definitely an opportunity to lower or even eliminate all the factory farming and animal abuse if some sort of meat replacement manages to catch on in a big way. We're not quite there yet but you never know how things will work out in the future.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can't wait for a future, where all livestock is raised on free-range farms, and treated like pampered pets, with all their earthly needs, more than satisfied. All that would ever be required of them, is to provide the occasional tissue sample to keep the cloning stock fresh. But other than that, they would live long and happy lives, under the care of kind and gentle human attendants.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Sorry, best I can do is the sci fi dystopian option where we grow entire cows in vats, but we make it humane by just growing them without brains.

[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

They're good for cravings, and absolutely help keep cultural foods alive even when going vegan. However, these days I'm very tofu-pilled (and tempeh-pilled), and don't really rely on imitation meat.

[–] MrEff@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

I love a good impossible burger over a normal burger for the big reason of how I feel after. Eating a normal burger as I am getting older means that I feel full in a gross way after, like I can feel the fat from the burger slowing me down, and I feel tired both physically and mentally and I sometimes feel borderline sick for an hour or so after. But with the impossible burgers I can just feel full in a healthy way. I love it. I will admit to also getting it with bacon though for that extra flavor.

I an pretty anti factory farm and love the idea of cutting out at least burgers from their industry. I also enjoy their sausages. Highly recommend them if you have not tried them. I try to cut out bulk meat eating for the environment and keep it to occasional, smaller portions, and even then it is normally chicken. Impossible meat helps scratch that itch if I want some meat but don't want to commit to blowing my personal weekly allotment of red meat.

[–] WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Imitation meats have never impressed me. They get close, but they inevitably fall just enough short of tasting and feeling like real meat that it feels to me like a wasted effort. I think I'd like them better, oddly enough, if they didn't even pretend to be meat - if they were marketed as something else entirely.

I love the concept of lab-grown meat, and it seems as if it should be without issue, since it basically is meat in all senses, except that it's grown in a vat instead of inside an animal's skin. But since I haven't had a chance to try it, I can't say.

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[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Meat is meat, and growing it in a lab means cattle won't have to suffer the conditions of the average meat farm. Also means less greenhouse gasses from cattle.

Animals don't have to suffer to make a steak taste good.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

Im game as long as the taste is good and the price is competitive (currently it would have to be the lowest price but if my situation changes I would pay a bit extra but not twice as much. well unless my circumstances changed enough for the spleurge). Im not sure if its impossible or beyond but I have had the bk plant one and the white castle. Both were fine especially in comparison to the fast food places regular fair. For those places I could see taking the plant based on just on taste as their regular burgers sorta suck.

[–] bennieandthez@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 week ago

if they were cheaper and with near same nutrition, what's there to not like? thing is that they're just not economically viable atm.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 week ago

Existing meat substitutes are so, so much better than they were when I first gave up meat.

Lab-growing is really hard to make work, since muscle just doesn't like to develop that way, and solves a problem that now barely exists because of the plant-based substitutes.

[–] ambardeshielo@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

Have you tried mushroom bacon? I havent, but seems like an alternative.

[–] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 2 points 1 week ago (4 children)

In prinxipal fine. In fact I would like to understand the resource intensiveness of the supply chain and health effects. Wonder if vegitarian is better direction for example.

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[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 week ago

I'd like to experiment more of those "not really" vegetable meats, but they're expensive. Like, the price for 300g is what I'd pay for 1kg of pork sirloin

[–] MrJameGumb@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I've had a few miracle burgers. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It just kind of tasted like a mediocre fast food hamburger. I don't eat burgers that often anymore so when I do have one I want it to be really good so I probably won't get another one unless there's some great innovation in plant based meat in the future.

I suppose it accomplishes its goal in that it does taste like a hamburger, just not a particularly great one

I kinda feel like the name is part of the problem there. If someone says they're serving me something called a "miracle" burger the expectation created is that it will taste exceptionally good, or at least better than average

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Yeah, this is one of those areas that capitalism really screws us over.

The natural and most obvious use for these lab-grown and imitation meats are for filler meats. Think a ground beef replacement. Something that would be added to a casserole, a burrito, or any other dish where meat is present, but not the primary focus of a dish.

But it costs money to develop lab-grown meats. And to pay that investment back, for-profit companies have to target the luxury market first. It's like how Tesla started with building an expensive sports car. Then they used the profits from that to build a cheaper next generation car, and so on. That's what the lab grown meat companies have had to do. The ideal market for products like these would be things like chicken nuggets or the meat inside hot pockets. But those are also the cheapest form of meat sold, and they need to target the upper end of the market to have any hope of profitability.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 2 points 1 week ago

I'd be fine with lab grown meat, I'd actually prefer it, for health and safety reasons. Real meat is dirty.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

The few imitation meat products I have tried have been ok, I guess. Impossible burgers aren't terrible and I could probably make do with them, if meat were removed from the market completely. I have yet to taste any non-pork bacon which didn't taste bad (meat or no meat). And I doubt I'm going to find anything to replace a good rack of pork ribs. Really, the best place I've found for imitation meats is in dishes where ground meat is used as a protein and is so heavily spiced that you'd have a hard time identifying the type of meat anyway. Once the flavors are all mixed up, the meat is mostly about protein and texture.

Lab grown meat could be a complete game changer, if it's ever more than a novelty product. A lab grown hamburger, which costs significantly more than one sourced from a cow isn't it. Sure, you might get a bunch of rich, privileged yuppies eating them, just to show off their smug superiority. It will never have mass market appeal. I do think we're seeing some interesting advancement in higher end meats though. Lab grown steaks seem like a place where the cost could be competitive and, if they are close enough to, or indistinguishable from cow sourced steaks, then that would be great. I'd be perfectly happy to slap a lab grown rib eye on the grill. I'm not squeamish about raw meat or it's sourcing from dead animals, but I do recognize the impact that ranching has on the environment and that needs to be reduced.

Overall, I see lab grown meat as a net positive, assuming the costs can be brought in line with other options. This may require subsidies or taxes to skew the market in that direction. But, the government using its power to deal with large, complex problem is kinda the point of government. Stopping more climate change isn't profitable in a way which will favor it in the market, but it does have a negative impact on society. So, the only real solution is going to be government action to reduce the harm, before the tragedy of the commons comes for us all. Lab grown meat can be one part of a broader solution. And hey, if it means more rib eye, without all the climate harm those bring to the table, that's fantastic. Though, I'd probably still keep lab grown red meat to a sometimes food, just for health reasons.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I haven't tried lab-grown meat but assuming it tastes more or less the same, I think it's much more ethical and probably better for you. The substitute meats like Beyond and Impossible are good but like all groceries that aren't staples bought in bulk, they're ridiculously expensive, at least where I live.

[–] FRYD@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I haven’t tried any, but it seems like an inevitable endpoint. I’ve long held a rule that I can’t meet a cow in person because they look so cute on the internet and if I met one, I fear I’d have no choice but to go vegan.

I feel like the ethics of meat consumption is inarguably bad, but it’s a fundamental part of my diet and meat is some of my favorite stuff to eat. If I could eat meat like stuff that’s indistinguishable from the real stuff, that would be ideal.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

If it makes you feel better, cows themselves are opportunistic carnivores.

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