Is lab-grown meat better for the environment than actual animal meat? No. According to a new study, it is not.
In studying what is called ACBM or animal cell-based meat, researchers found this:
“The results indicate that the environmental impact of near-term ACBM production is likely to be orders of magnitude higher than median beef production if a highly refined growth medium is utilized for ACBM production.”
Yikes! The UC Davis researchers found that lab meat making could increase global warming between four and twenty-five times more than retail beef.
Yet investment in lab-grown meat has grown to about $2 billion and investors are aiming to replace ground beef by 60-70% with lab-grown meat. This week, Good Meat will start serving lab-grown meat in some locations. This will have the label “cell-cultured” written on the packaging. You’ve been warned!
