Don't print direct mail - print meat instead!

[gordo]

A Spanish company uses a 3D printer to meticulously print a steak in under 10 minutes. Giuseppe Scionti, founder of Nova Meat says that the 3D printed beef steak tackles the issue of sustainability since many Americans eat double the recommended amount of red meat. (Maybe that's why the excessive use of toilet tissue?)

I'm a 40 year vegetarian and this has zero appeal for me. More info here:

https://local12.com/news/nation-world/company-uses-3d-printer-to-create-steak

 

[Slammer]

They are printing it with veggie stuff so it should be well on your radar.

 

[gordo]

They are printing it with veggie stuff so it should be well on your radar.

Nah. They're making it resemble meat, however, the vast majority of veggimatics and vegans do not find meat appealing so making vegetables appear to be meat has no appeal. It might appeal to people who do eat meat though.

 

[curiosity]

Seems to me that no one really wants this.
Vegans? Why would a vegan want to eat something that looks like meat?
Carnivores? Why would a carnivore want to eat veggies disguised as meat?

 

[gordo]

Seems to me that no one really wants this.
Vegans? Why would a vegan want to eat something that looks like meat?
Carnivores? Why would a carnivore want to eat veggies disguised as meat?

Exactly.

 

[Bret Hesler]

A lot of people choose vegetarian or vegan diet for health or ethical reasons, not because they dislike the taste or texture of meat and animal products. Eat steak without worrying about heart disease or the environmental impact of raising cattle, sure. My wife can enjoy vegan desserts without having to worry about dairy allergies. Most of the vegan products we have seen are trying to mimic the taste and texture of animal products because we are hard wired to like them. Cheese, milk, butter, whipped cream, cheesecake. Don't get me wrong, I'm an omnivore, but i'll eat the vegan stuff if the taste and texture is good. Not sure about this steak stuff, it doesn't say they matched the flavor, just the texture.

 

[gordo]

Most of the vegan products we have seen are trying to mimic the taste and texture of animal products because we are hard wired to like them.

That's a little bit true (veggie hot dogs, veggie hamburgers, veggie deli slices) because, IMHO, it's not because vegans/vegetarians want a meat experience but instead find those protein formats to be convenient. (veggie dogs for kids so they don't feel odd at friend's places, veggie burgers at restaurants are often the only veggie item on the menu (in N America), and veggies deli slices for lunch. AFAIK humans are not hard wired to like animal products. It's a learned habit that is also often seen as a status symbol in some countries. As the wealth of individuals increases there is often an increase in meat consumption. Being obese can also be a status symbol in some cultures as it means that you can afford mass quantities of food. But that doesn't make being obese biologically natural or correct.

That being said, you're unlikely to see veg products trying to mimic the taste and texture of animal products in other cultures where being veggie is very common. They just enjoy a plant-based cuisine.

 

[OffsetStorefront]

A few companies are currently trying to figure out how to artificially "grow" meat in a lab, the idea being, if one can mass-produce meat without having to grow it on and harvest it from an animal, it could reduce a lot of the ethical and environmental concerns around eating meat. Still working on getting it to taste right last I heard.

Kinda weird seeing someone trying to mimic that but with plant-based material...looking like meat. That ain't gonna fly.

 

[Slammer]

Nah. They're making it resemble meat, however, the vast majority of veggimatics and vegans do not find meat appealing so making vegetables appear to be meat has no appeal. It might appeal to people who do eat meat though.

Hmm! Hadn´t thought of it that way, I suppose you could print it to any shape or size appealing to every taste, even the kinky ones :-0

 

[prepressdork]

Computer: sirloin steak, medium well

pd

 

[Bret Hesler]

We have been omnivorous, hunter/gatherers for millennia, and relatively recently transitioned to farming with domesticated livestock as the main source of meat. I can only think of Hinduism and Buddhism as major cultures that avoid meat to a great extent, and even at that not animal products completely, with cheese, yogurt and butter being common in vegetarian Indian cuisine, and not all Indian cuisine is vegetarian. It is a dirty secret in the US food service industry that cheese and bacon sell. They put that stuff on everything, because people love it. So, while I agree the prevalence of meat in the western diet is due to economics and farming practices, it would seem that the avoidance of meat is the learned behavior, with veganism being the outlier.

 

[gordo]

Human physiology is very different from that of a carnivore. When we started off swinging in trees the food we ate grew on those trees and our physiology reflects that, from the length of our middle fingers to that of our digestive tract. (Read "The Naked Ape" for more detail). The fact that we can also eat meat does not make it appropriate fare. We can smoke cigarettes too. But should we? For sure, meat is a compact source of nutrition and is useful when plant nutrition is unavailable - but it is not necessary for health. In fact, meat in the diet can have very negative health impacts. An animal-based diet isn’t diverse in terms of nutrients, you pretty much get two main nutrients — protein and fat — with essentially few vitamins or minerals, and no fiber. In addition to causing heart disease, excess meat consumption leads to health-degrading conditions, such as osteoporosis and even cancer.

There are many studies on the benefits of a plant-based diet are many - but not so for a meat-based diet.

In any case, I don't want to be an apologist for a plant-based diet. I would hope that people would do their own, objective, research and come to their own conclusion. We are fortunate that we have a choice in what we eat.

 

[smalloffsetpressexperts]

That sounds like a half a roll of TP after eating that junk.

 

[Bret Hesler]

Not to be pedantic, but we are not carnivores, and I have not claimed such. We are also not herbivores, lacking the type of teeth and digestive tract capable of digesting fiber. We ARE omnivores, capable of digesting both plants and meat. I fully agree that too much meat can be a bad thing, particularly red meat, but its simply not a situation of "we can but really shouldn't eat meat". We evolved and spread over darned near the whole planet, because we can survive on a diet of largely meat, like the Inuits, or largely vegetables, for those who can't hunt or raise livestock, or any variation in between.

 

[Slammer]

A few companies are currently trying to figure out how to artificially "grow" meat in a lab, the idea being, if one can mass-produce meat without having to grow it on and harvest it from an animal, it could reduce a lot of the ethical and environmental concerns around eating meat. Still working on getting it to taste right last I heard.

Kinda weird seeing someone trying to mimic that but with plant-based material...looking like meat. That ain't gonna fly.

Growing meat in a vat is rather simple, its scalable and with the right political backing it could well be a vaiable way of feeding billions of people and the technology to do so has been around since the fifties. Thing is you would be eating what is in effect a cancer and that is a hard sell... Maybe not for McDonalds & Co. but you get my meaning. (For instance; Henrietta Lacks, who died in 1950 is still allive and well and in labs all over the world as so-called HeLa cells)

 

[gordo]

Not to be pedantic, but we are not carnivores, and I have not claimed such. We are also not herbivores, lacking the type of teeth and digestive tract capable of digesting fiber. We ARE omnivores, capable of digesting both plants and meat. I fully agree that too much meat can be a bad thing, particularly red meat, but its simply not a situation of "we can but really shouldn't eat meat". We evolved and spread over darned near the whole planet, because we can survive on a diet of largely meat, like the Inuits, or largely vegetables, for those who can't hunt or raise livestock, or any variation in between.

You're not being pedantic. I think that the important thing is that humans have flexibility in nutrition - although there may be environmental factors that determine what kind of food is available. The choice of food source that we individually make has consequences. Some to our health, some to the environment, some to other beings. All I wish is that people consider the consequences of their choice and choose accordingly.

 

[Keith]

I created a new category- vegetablist. Someone who eats mostly plants but won't run screaming if meat is the only option assuming it's infrequent.

 

[gordo]

I created a new category- vegetablist. Someone who eats mostly plants but won't run screaming if meat is the only option assuming it's infrequent.

I think you've been beaten to the punch line. They're called "flexitarians" and get no respect from veggies: https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-a-flexitarian-3376803

I do not choose to go to restaurants where meat is the only option. If I have to, for example, because it's a business lunch/dinner then I can usually get away by ordering appetizers for my meal as they are often veggie. Thankfully most restaurants - even steak houses - now offer veggie dishes due to the increased customer demand. In some countries, like Belgium, the restaurant will have veggie options for their mains but they don't list them on the menu. You have to ask the server. Vegan (which I am not) meals are much harder to come by in conventional restaurants. But even there, if you speak to the server, they will let the chef know who, in my experience, is more than happy to release his creative side and prepare a vegan dish on request.

 

[agmfan3]

I will stick to killing my meat myself (deer) we like it and I enjoy doing it.

 

[gordo]

I will stick to killing my meat myself (deer) we like it and I enjoy doing it.

The deer - not so much.