Richard Branson: ‘Animals will no longer need to be killed en masse for food’

STORY VIA LIVEKINDLY.CO
by Charlotte Pointing | 4 November 19

“A future where animals are no longer killed en masse for food is on the horizon, says Richard Branson.”

The British founder of Virgin believes that, in the not-to-distant future, meat will be slaughter-free and grown in a lab.

He made the comments in a blog post after tasting clean meat developed by Memphis Meats. The California-based food technology company served Branson and his guests sustainable, cultured chicken at a dinner party.

Dr. Uma Valeti — the co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats — was also in attendance at the meal. After Branson and his guests finished eating, they were told the chicken was grown directly from animal cells.

According to Branson, Valeti worked in stem cell research before turning his hand to growing meat in a lab. Together with Branson, American business magnate Bill Gates is an investor in his company. Meat giants Tyson Foods and Cargill are also investors.

So, what do you think? Would you eat this sort of “meat”?

I dunno. I have never trusted Tysons or Cargills who are responsible for so much of the factory farming that goes on right now.

I am no scientist, so correct me if I am wrong, but animals would still be used, but just for their “cells” right? What would collecting stem cells from them for something on a giant scale like this entail? How many animals would they need to take “cells” from to feed masses of people meat made this way?

I searched the internet to find out how stem cells are collected from humans for stem cell therapy thinking it might give me a clue when it comes to animals. I found this:

Adult stem cells can be isolated from the body in different ways, depending on the tissue. Blood stem cells, for example, can be taken from a donor’s bone marrow, from blood in the umbilical cord when a baby is born, or from a person’s circulating blood.

It all sounds icky to me, but then I faint at the sight of blood. I think I’ll stick to fruit, veg, nuts and grains.

In the meantime, I bet Jane can shed light on this for us, whether or not this is a good idea or not regarding the animals.