IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2015 - 61

with - more fat, less fat, or just different fat." Another
respondent warned, "Perhaps there will be more obesity
as additives are used to make cultured meat more desirable and marketable." Some participants saw a sinister
side to additives: They could have mildly addictive properties such as meat with caffeine ("Wakin' Bacon"), and
other, perhaps undisclosed, properties. Moreover, some
participants expressed concern regarding the long-term
health effects of cultured meat itself: It could cause
both physical and genetic abnormalities that could be
passed from one generation to the next, limiting personal development and, on an aggregate basis, national
economic growth.

Education
Participants were queried about how IVM might impact
trends in standardized test scores as an indicator of
education and intelligence. Those who responded were
slightly and tentatively optimistic. Assuming that academic test scores are correlated with nutrition, they
said, increasing school lunch quality could have a positive impact on test scores. Another participant simply
foresaw an "increased educational emphasis on the
food science, engineering, and biological fields required
to generate and support the new cultured meat industry." As with health care delivery, one participant suggested that food might become an integral part of
career preparation. The participant postulated that in
the future, "Children's diets [will] become as strictly
controlled as their exposure to strangers has been:
scholars, athletes, and models [will all be] raised on
custom diets from infancy." This scenario highlights
the possibility that greater flexibility in food design will
facilitate its integration and coevolution with existing
human institutions.

Ethics and Animal Cruelty
Workshop participants believed that cultured meat
would reduce animal cruelty and suffering, and then
went on to suggest that animal rights movements might
be spurred by cultured meat. One respondent put it this
way: "My sense is that we will see increasing sensitivity
and expansion of ethical concerns as regards sentient
beings, especially higher order mammals (cows, etc.).
We may even see widespread acceptance of rights for
animals and with this various mechanisms, legal and
social, to minimize the pain of animals and possibly
even protect some from killing for the purpose of food."
Another respondent put it more starkly: "There will be a
different relationship with 'the farm' - [we will come to
see it] as an inhumane slaughterhouse..."
Some respondents extended these views to human
relations, theorizing that enhanced "ethical consciousness may transcend to human interactions, possibly
MARCH 2015

∕

leading to fewer violent crimes." But views on this issue
were mixed. Pessimistic participants imagined that
diverse adoption decisions could be a polarizing factor,
leading to increased tensions among religions, cultures,
and nations: "On the human side I can see a backlash
against 'real' meat eaters as savages, which could lower
intercultural relations."
Still others imagined that the elimination of animal
slaughter would similarly eliminate the need for ethical
reflection and forestall change: "I think it will prop up a
lack of reflexivity in our culture about where the products we consume come from. It could slow down the
changes in values the vegan community wishes to see
in terms of [ethical treatment of] animals, humans, and
'nature.'" Another participant made the same point: "If
we don't have to address the violent ways animals are
treated in society today, will that be an overall loss to
cultural values? Or would a transition to cultured meat
open up this discussion?" A final participant observed
that some cultures view nature as being separate from
human society and, further, that the distinction can lead
to political clashes. To illustrate the point, the participant
queried, "Will we get over the epistemic divide engrained
in our mindsets between nature and culture, or will cultured meat reinforce this great divide and lead to more
GMO-like conflicts?" The implication that IVM, an animalderived food source cultivated with industrial technology,
could incite a shift toward integrated views of nature
and human society or facilitate institutionalized animal
rights illustrates the powerful links between technology,
personal mental models, and cultural values. Simultaneously, the diversity of plausible scenarios discussed

Will we get over the epistemic divide
engrained in our mindsets between
nature and culture - or will cultured
meat reinforce this great divide and
lead to more GMO-like conflicts?

by the panels reflects the complex and unpredictable
nature of these large-scale sociotechnical interactions.

Environment and Land Use
Workshop participants were not specifically asked to
comment on the environmental impacts of cultured
meat, but many emphasized the importance of,
and potential for, improvements in environmental

IEEE TEchnology and SocIETy MagazInE

61



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