Post and his colleagues were able to grow a hamburger in their lab. By bathing animal stem cells with growth serum, Dr. That changed in 2013, when the Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the first in vitro hamburger. Fifty years ago, few barbecues included burgers made of tofu or lentils for the stray vegetarians found in so many families today.įor centuries, the definition of meat was obvious: the edible flesh of an animal. And, like it or not, it is still part of how the United States sees itself - cultural icons, from cowboys and ranchers to the Golden Arches, express the country’s long, tragic love affair with meat.īut just as the meaning of American identity has changed over time, so too has the food people eat to celebrate it. Yet Americans on average consume more that 200 pounds of animal flesh each year. The social, environmental and ethical costs of industrial agriculture - exacerbated by a pandemic being traced back to a live animal market, and a vulnerable meat processing industry - have become too obvious and damaging to ignore. It’s no secret by now that the case against meat keeps getting stronger. (Unless, of course, you invite a philosopher to your barbecue.) But it is a timely one and how we answer it - how we ultimately define the word “meat” - could have a significant impact on the future of our food supply, our health and the health of the planet. That question is unlikely to be asked along with the usual ones - Medium or well-done? Cheese or no cheese? - over grills being fired up all over the United States this summer.

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