What if the food literally was an animal, just that it had been grown in a lab and without a brain, so it couldn't feel pain? Would that be vegan?
It seems that these advances in food science & technology might trigger a split in the vegan community.
Edit: Personally, I would consider these foods a new category which may be ethically sound, but yet not vegan.
I agree... If to think that "vegan" is a shortened (with the featured meaning) version for vegetarian (i.e. it's a derived term)... and as for "vegetarian",- modern dictionaries explain its origin as a compound of "vegetable" and the suffix "-arian" (in the sense of "agrarian").... then it's clear that even "humane meat" consumption (grown in the lab) still doesn't fit the concept of veganism. Anyways, someone might argue with me. I'm not sure. I wouldn't stuff my face with animal flesh, even if it's artificial and ethical.
It's a little offtopic, but when i hear debates about whether animals are being exploited for artificial lab-grown meat or not,- i always think of aliens and their experiments on humans. People who consider themselves abductees, frequently complain about being taken onboard alien flying crafts or smth. and being examined and so on. Sometimes people are forced to have s€x with otherwordly creatures, sometimes they are inseminated, also, particles of flesh and various types of cells are being taken from humans, sometimes it's just experiments on how a human brain works. It's interesting that even if extraterrestrials tell humans that it's important for them, for the research, or even if they tell humans that humans were "chosen",- poor frightened people still (mostly) think that they were kidnapped (abducted) and consider themselves victims. For aliens, this type of exploitation of humans is pretty acceptable, because no physical harm is being done, or even if it's done during the procedures, humans are not supposed to remember anything afterwards or feel any physical discomfort. But people still freak out about their abductions, and the fact that it was somehow important for extraterrestrials, is a weak condolence for them. The quiestion is: when cells are taken from an animal (in lab conditions),- does the animal like it? Does it feel fear? Does the animal understand that it's being exploited (a.k.a. that something is wrong)? If people think that no harm is done, it doesn't mean that animal's perception of the issue is the same. Like i said, aliens (mostly) treat abductees (and contactees) in a good way, and it's mostly the feeling of humiliation and the sense of being used that bugs people so much (if people still remember anything from their experience). Most of the time, a very minimal physical harm (to a zero harm) is being done to an abducted human. And who forbids an individual to live his normal life after the abduction and forget about it..? Despite that it's clear that experiments and taking samples of bio materials are important for aliens and for their science, people are still walking around and moaning about the injustice that has been done to them. If we question the animal's ability of feeling the fear during lab tests, we question human's ability to consider themselves victims when they are being used by aliens for their purposes. These matters are equal.
Another (deeper) question is: who gave humans the right to play the role of God (a.k.a. creator)? This question will never be answered, and everyone has to decide for himself, i think: to decide where the personal borderline is. I can speak only for myself, and i set the limits for myself (these limits match my moral values, and i'm ok with it). Moral limits of every individual may be different, so the society will never 100% agree on the subject "if lab-grown meat is vegan or not" or even "if lab-grown meat is humane".
www.godairyfree.org
