3D-Printed Steaks: The Future of Veganism
“It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathe and disgust.” Poet Percy Bysshe Shelly describes the destructive methods undertaken just to consume an animal’s flesh using visceral images.
Researchers estimate that livestock-based food production causes around one-fifth of all deadly global greenhouse gas emissions. The alarming environmental effects of slaughterhouses and instilled cravings for animal flesh have recently encouraged the production of alternative meats.
Alternate meats have proven to not only improve the health of the environment but also the people who consume them.
Like many individuals, I believe that our earth is at stake due to the alarming climate impact caused by animal agriculture. Each kilogram of meat requires more than 25 kilograms of field and 20,000 liters of water. Production takes up 80% of all agricultural land and contributes to around a fifth of all human-produced greenhouse gases. If this production continues, our planet would run out of space.
In 2009, Ethan Brown started Beyond Meat; a company producing plant-based burgers that have the taste of steak but not the texture. Soy-based alternatives such as textured vegetable protein (TVP), have the texture of meat, but not the taste. The alternative meat markets lacked the ideal substitute that replicated the texture, flavor, and experience of beef; until now.
Researchers have created a 3D-printed meat alternative that replicates all of the components of meat. The leading company, Redefine Meat, uses the principles of Multi-material 3D printing to create “Alt-meat.” In multi-material printing, multiple ingredients are printed at the same time to mimic the fiber layers of animal meat. Each piece of “Alt-Meat” is composed of the “Alt-products: Muscle™, Alt-Fat™, and Alt-Blood™” replicating the composition of a real piece of steak. This new category of meat reduces land and water use, helps with global food shortages, alleviates animal suffering, while also reducing the adverse human effects.
Animal red meat is known to be high in saturated fat, which raises blood cholesterol. A high level of LDL cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, builds up in arteries to form plaques. This raises the chances of heart attacks, strokes, and other heart diseases. As it is made with real protein, this meat-less meat has less saturated fat and no cholesterol.3D printed meat is just as, or at times, more nutritious than animal beef.
Replacing your meat with alt-meat is not only better for the planet, but also for human health. It reduces the risk of high levels of cholesterol and decreases environmental effects. The area used by animal agriculture can now be used for growing crops that help with global food shortages. Society is more nourished as cholesterol levels decrease. The 3D-Printed meat markets are rapidly growing to other types of meat such as chicken and pork to end all animal suffering.
works cited:
A Cognitive Experimental Approach to Understanding and Reducing Food Cravings - Eva Kemps, Marika Tiggemann, 2010 (sagepub.com)
Is this 3D-printed Steak the Future for Meat? (finedininglovers.com)
Does this 3D printed 'steak' taste like the real thing? (nypost.com)
3D ‘Alt-Steak’ printed using plant-based ‘fat, blood and muscle’ (fox5ny.com)
Meat eaters try 3D printed plant-based meat - 3Dnatives
3D-printed steaks are starting to look like real meat| Sifted
Plant-Based Meat | NOVAMEAT | Barcelona
Fake-Meat Companies Are Racing to 3D-Print Steaks - Bloomberg
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/us/plant-based-meat-has-roots-in-the-1970s.html
‘Most realistic’ plant-based steak revealed | Vegan food and drink | The Guardian
https://vegconomist.com/science/redefine-meat-on-why-3d-printing-is-best-placed-to-replicate-animal-meat/
Beyond the Factory Farm: How Slaughterhouses Are Polluting the Planet - One Green Planet
RELEASE: First Ever Agriculture Guidance Empowers Companies to Measure and Manage Emissions | Greenhouse Gas Protocol (ghgprotocol.org)
Vegetarians Live Longer, Study Finds | HuffPost Life
How much water is needed to produce food and how much do we waste? | News | theguardian.com
What is the true cost of eating meat? | News | The Guardian
