. The clean cow, in other words, is a lame duck.
What good is investing in technologies to reduce emissions if their sources are industries that should be phased out rather than saved? The second issue with this techno-optimistic approach is that even if these technological fixes are as effective as promised, they will perpetuate a food production system that will continue to be harmful to animals, workers, and the planet. There are scores of other impacts of beef production, including overgrazing of land, deforestation, harmful runoff and odors, animal welfare issues, and the treatment of workers in slaughterhouses.
Then there’s the technology-driven “solution” of alternative proteins such as plant-based and cellular meat. On the one hand, these products, both lowering emissions and removing many of the other harms of conventional meat production, including factory farms and slaughterhouses. Investing in the development of this technology might help usher in a far more ethical food system, one better for animals, consumers, and the planet.
But alternative protein still operates within the confines of existing, highly problematic systems. To realize its full potential in creating a better food system, we need to look beyond its advantages over conventional meat. The technology itself does little to address other major structural and ethical issues within the food system, including corporate concentration and the treatment of workers.
Ethical one? Pero que carajos
There is a difference between a flavoured sludge simulation of meat and an actual steak.