By John Schwartz
ASSOCIATED PRESS

April 21, 2008

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to pay $1 million for fake meat – even if it has caused a “near civil war” within the organization.

The animal rights group said it would announce plans today for a $1 million prize to the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in-vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.”

The idea of getting the next Chicken McNugget out of a test tube is not new. For several years, scientists have worked to develop technologies to grow tissue cultures that could be consumed like meat without the expense of land or feed and the disease potential of real meat. An international symposium on the topic was held this month in Norway. The tissue, once grown, could be shaped and given texture with the kinds of additives and structural agents that are now used to give products such as soy burgers a more meaty texture.

New Harvest, a nonprofit organization formed to promote the field, says on its Web site, “Because meat substitutes are produced under controlled conditions impossible to maintain in traditional animal farms, they can be safer, more nutritious, less polluting and more humane than conventional meat.”

Jason Matheny, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University who formed New Harvest, said the idea of a prize for researchers was promising. Citing the example of the Ansari X Prize, a competition that produced the first privately financed human spacecraft, Matheny said, “They inspire more dollars spent on a research problem than the prize represents.”

A founder of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, said she had been hoping to get the organization involved in advancing in-vitro-meat technology for at least a decade.

But, Newkirk said, the decision to sponsor a prize caused “a near civil war in our office,” because so many PETA members are repulsed by the thought of eating animal tissue, even if no animals are killed.

Lisa Lange, a vice president of the organization, said she was part of the heated exchange. “My main concern is, as the largest animal-rights organization in the world, it's our job to introduce the philosophy and hammer it home that animals are not ours to eat.” Lange added, “I remember saying I would be much more comfortable promoting eating roadkill.”

Newkirk said the disagreement was natural, adding, “We will have members leave us over this.

“People say animal rights people can't agree,” she said. “Well, human beings can't agree. In any social-cause community, there are people who strive for purity.”

Her goal, she said, was more pragmatic. “We don't mind taking uncomfortable positions if it means that fewer animals suffer.” In that way, she said, “in-vitro meat is a godsend.”

For some already working in the field, the news was greeted with a wary welcome.

Henk Haagsman, a professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and a pioneer of in-vitro-meat research, said he welcomed the prize competition.

“It will hopefully spark more interest to invest in the technology,” Haagsman said.

But he said he would not like to see the field dominated by the animal-welfare issue, because environmental and public health issues are such important “drivers for this research.” The Netherlands has put $5 million into in-vitro-meat studies.

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me@rescam.org

...it's our job to introduce the philosophy and hammer it home

Gee....I don't know about you all...but I really enjoy it when someone decides that they have to " hammer home " their philosophy.

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Air Cold, the blade stops;
from silent stone,
Death is preordained

Calm Chaos Forums : Everyone Welcome

But, Newkirk said, the decision to sponsor a prize caused “a near civil war in our office,” because so many PETA members are repulsed by the thought of eating animal tissue, even if no animals are killed.

[emphasis mine]

Exactly. That's always been the issue with PETA, or any other group of nearly irrational ideologues.

It's never been OK with them that you make choices for yourself, EVEN IF YOU EAT NON-ANIMAL MEAT THAT WAS NEVER AN ANIMAL TO BEGIN WITH.

Some of them are repulsed, and so because they are repulsed, then they want to force you to change as well. It was/is always about using gov't force to make you do whatever the hell they think you should do.

Just like Thorin wants to do to you.

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Cordially,
Rush

elrushbo2@theobviousgmail.com
Remove the obvious...

For me, animals have a place.... usually right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

spare the animals..eat the PETA peeps...

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Scorpions - Wind Of Change

Hmmmmmm.........
Brave New World, here we come...
Why don't we solve bigger problems, like over-population first?
Grief, we could go for some gruesome stuff there, couldn't we?

Has anybody told these people about TOFU?

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Hmmm...I always thought that PETA stood for "People Eating Tasty Animals".

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Calm Chaos Forum...Join Calm Chaos Now

I agree with you Labbie. Protect the seals, whales and dolphins etc and let me enjoy cow, pork, chicken, rabbit etc. I grew up on a farm in Germany and our animals were happy and tasty.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

spare the animals..eat the PETA peeps...

I'd rather eat beef, ham, chicken or turkey, But not liver or PETA turkeys, I do like vegetables, Just not that much and fake meat? If It's made from animal tissue It's not fake, To be fake It would have to be from plant tissue, Can You say they'd prefer Soylent Green?? ;p

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

<snip>

Has anybody told these people about TOFU?

That's what I just wanted to post :)
Tofu, soy burgers - what else is that than a wannabe suroggate for fake meat?

I rather eat (real) meat when ever I have the opportunity: I tend to be much more carnivore than vegetarian.

One of them tried to begin a discussion with me the other day. He said proudly, "we also don't eat dead animals!" - I replied: "What, you eat living animals then?"
This boy was so shocked and speechless then, I had to laugh because he looked quite dense. :D

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Account frozen...

spare the animals..eat the PETA peeps...

I'd rather eat beef, ham, chicken or turkey, But not liver or PETA turkeys, I do like vegetables, Just not that much and fake meat? If It's made from animal tissue It's not fake, To be fake It would have to be from plant tissue, Can You say they'd prefer Soylent Green?? ;p

"Soyelnt Green is made out of peeeeoopleee!!!"

Hahaha good one.

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Scorpions - Wind Of Change

Hmmmmmm.........
Brave New World, here we come...
Why don't we solve bigger problems, like over-population first?
Grief, we could go for some gruesome stuff there, couldn't we?

Has anybody told these people about TOFU?

Reading your misanthrope Malthus again? But if you are genuinely concerned about so called "overpopulation" we could start solving the problem by thinning out some of the herd in the Cafe.

Don't be a human hatin'!

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Founder of BOINC team Objectivists. Oh the humanity! Rational people crunching data!
I did NOT authorize this belly writing!

spare the animals..eat the PETA peeps...

I'd rather eat beef, ham, chicken or turkey, But not liver or PETA turkeys, I do like vegetables, Just not that much and fake meat? If It's made from animal tissue It's not fake, To be fake It would have to be from plant tissue, Can You say they'd prefer Soylent Green?? ;p

"Soyelnt Green is made out of peeeeoopleee!!!"

Hahaha good one.

Yep and it has the advantage of dead people not taking up too much space on the planet.... Hmmmm, if they could modify the parameters, then the planet might not be over populated! lol

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Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive!

It takes four pounds of grain to grow one pound of beef. With the price of grain rising daily soon meat will be priced out of the mouths of many.

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Klatu barrata nicktoe.

spare the animals..eat the PETA peeps...

I'd rather eat beef, ham, chicken or turkey, But not liver or PETA turkeys, I do like vegetables, Just not that much and fake meat? If It's made from animal tissue It's not fake, To be fake It would have to be from plant tissue, Can You say they'd prefer Soylent Green?? ;p

"Soyelnt Green is made out of peeeeoopleee!!!"

Hahaha good one.

Yep and it has the advantage of dead people not taking up too much space on the planet.... Hmmmm, if they could modify the parameters, then the planet might not be over populated! lol

My bologna has a first name, it's O-s-c-a-r........

I'm getting sick and damn tired of you and your phony meat products. I'm in the back pocket of both the cattle lobby and the soybean interests. I can't keep the bribes straight anymore.

Can't I just have a hot dog at the ball game?

they were tastier when the jews made the hotdogs anyway

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Founder of BOINC team Objectivists. Oh the humanity! Rational people crunching data!
I did NOT authorize this belly writing!

Can't I just have a hot dog at the ball game?
they were tastier when the jews made the hotdogs anyway

They still do

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me@rescam.org

Can't I just have a hot dog at the ball game?
they were tastier when the jews made the hotdogs anyway

They still do

To those concerned: Misfit is now in charge of my meat intake regimen.

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Founder of BOINC team Objectivists. Oh the humanity! Rational people crunching data!
I did NOT authorize this belly writing!

i would like to have all the throwaways from those cows cause they don´t use the good parts of cow, according their add

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"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exist elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin to the Hobbes