Is It Sci-Fi? In-Vitro Meats Making Their Way to a Table Near You

Monica Bradbury
May 18, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Feb 8

As consumers, our food choices feel increasingly limitless—and ever changing. With that abundance comes an overwhelming amount of information to sort through when deciding what we want to put into our bodies.

At present, consumers can choose plant-based meat alternatives such as the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger. While these products are often promoted as better for the environment, I personally choose not to eat either. My hesitation comes from the long list of additives they contain, as well as the fact that I have a family member with severe allergies to plant proteins. In our home, I strongly prefer homemade foods where I can control exactly what goes into them. For me, these products don’t align with my personal food philosophy, even though they are plant-based and marketed as sustainable.

That said, I also believe deeply in personal choice. If someone chooses not to eat animal products for health, ethical, environmental, or cultural reasons, that decision is theirs alone—and it’s not my place to judge.

A Closer Look at Plant-Based Burgers

The Beyond Burger sources its protein from a combination of pea protein, mung bean, and brown rice, which together form a complete protein. According to beyondmeat.com, the ingredient list includes:

Water, Pea Protein Isolate, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, and 2% or less of: Cellulose from Bamboo, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Natural Flavor, Maltodextrin, Yeast Extract, Salt, Sunflower Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Dried Yeast, Gum Arabic, Citrus Extract (to protect quality), Ascorbic Acid (to maintain color), Beet Juice Extract (for color), Acetic Acid, Succinic Acid, Modified Food Starch, Annatto (for color).

The Impossible Burger is designed to mimic beef even more closely—it can “bleed” due to the addition of soy leghemoglobin. Personally, I don’t view this as a healthier alternative. The soy used is highly processed, and soy is not something we use in our home due to allergies. According to Impossible Foods, the ingredients include:

Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, and 2% or less of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Modified Food Starch, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12.

Enter the World of Lab-Grown Meat

Recently, I watched a CBC documentary titled Meat the Future, and it truly stopped me in my tracks. I went down a bit of a research rabbit hole afterward and discovered that meat is now being grown in laboratories—not harvested from animals in the traditional sense.

Interestingly, this idea isn’t new. Winston Churchill predicted the rise of in-vitro meat decades ago, writing:“We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing.”

In his collection Thoughts and Adventures, Churchill expanded on this idea, imagining microbes being cultivated under controlled conditions to produce protein—much like yeast is used today. Until recently, I assumed ideas like this belonged strictly in science fiction.

What I Learned from Meat the Future

The documentary focuses on Memphis Meats, a company founded by a cardiologist and a farmer-turned-scientist who share a bold vision for the future of food. Here are some of the most striking takeaways:

The exact ingredients are proprietary, but the company claims they are the same components used to grow conventional meat
Meat can be grown from animal cells in just 4–6 weeks, compared to roughly 2.5 years to raise a cow
Early lab-grown meat cost nearly $9,000 per pound; recent estimates are closer to $100 per pound and dropping
The goal is to produce nutrient-dense meat using far fewer resources
No methane emissions during production
No animal slaughter
Facilities aim to recycle resources and rely on renewable energy
Targets include using 10x less land and water, reducing deforestation, and lowering greenhouse gases
The vision is for meat to be locally produced and locally sourced
The company has received financial backing from major investors

So… What Do I Think?

I’ll admit—I’m intrigued.

I value whole foods with minimal additives, especially when managing allergens. But I’m also an environmentalist at heart. If this form of “farming” truly delivers on its promises, could it dramatically reduce our impact on the planet?

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder how our bodies will respond to in-vitro meat over time. What does this mean for our relationship with food, farming, and nature?

For now, I remain curious, cautious, and deeply interested in where this path may lead.

What about you—would you try lab-grown meat?