IN VITRO MEAT COOKBOOK – INTRODUCTION

By Koert van Mensvoort

Hello meat lovers, hello vegetarians. We need to talk about the future of meat. With the world’s population expected to reach nine billion people by 2050, it’s becoming impossible to produce and consume meat like we do today. Climate change, energy use, animal diseases and global food shortages are just some of the problems facing us, not to mention the issue of animal welfare on factory farms.

Will we soon be limited to eating rice, beans and seaweed burgers? Insects perhaps? Some researchers expect that in vitro meat, grown from stem cells in a bioreactor, could provide a sustainable and animal-friendly alternative to conventional meat. In 2013 the world’s first lab grown burger was cooked. Nevertheless, many people still find it an unattractive idea to eat meat from a lab. And rightly so. Because before we can decide whether we will ever be willing to consume in vitro meat, we must explore the new food cultures it may bring us.

Although it is tempting to think we will simply mimic the hamburgers, sausages and steaks we already have, in vitro technology also has the unique potential to bring us new food products, tools and traditions. The In Vitro Meat Cookbook aims to move beyond in-vitro meat as an inferior fake-meat replacement or horseless carriage, to explore its creative prospects and visualize what in-vitro meat products might be on our plate one day.

The recipes are organized in four chapters. Each of them focuses on a meat-related issue that may be addressed with in-vitro meat: 1) Growing meat sustainably 2) Preventing food shortages 3) Avoiding harm to animals and 4) New food cultures and dining experiences. Furthermore, the book contains essays, interviews, graphs and features that provide background information on this technology, its history, promises, potential pitfalls and moral implications.

Because in vitro meat is still in an early phase of development, this is a cookbook from which you cannot cook, just yet. The number of stars with each recipe indicates its technological feasibility. One star means that the dish is far from being realized, while five stars means it might soon go into production.

Our dishes have been created by a team of chefs, designers and artists to explore the potential of in-vitro meat. Recipes range from knitted meat to meat fruit and meat ice cream. While some dishes are innovative and delicious, others are uncanny and macabre. Our aim is not to promote lab-grown meat, nor to predict the future, but rather to visualize a wide range of possible new dishes and food cultures to help us decide what future we actually want.

試管製肉食譜 - 簡介

柯特·馮·曼斯伍特 著

肉食愛好者及素食主義者，您們好！我們需要來看聊聊有關肉的未來。到2050年，地球人口預計將達到90億，我們將無法像今天這樣生產及消費肉類。氣候變化、能量使用、動物疾病以及全球糧食短缺，這些不過是部份我們需要面對的問題，我們還沒說到在農場工廠裡的動物福利問題。

我們是否很快就會被限制只能吃米、豆和海藻漢堡呢？或且還有昆蟲？有些硏究人員預計在試管實驗中製造「肉類」，從生物反應器中以干細胞生長而成的人造食用肉，可以取代傳統肉類而成為更持續持久以及動物友善的食用肉類。在2013年全球第一塊由實驗室生產的漢堡排被煮熟了，然而許多人還是覺得食用由實驗室生產的肉類很不吸引。是的。因為在決定要不要吃試管製肉之前，我們需要探索它可能帶給我們的新種飲食文化。

儘管很容易便以為我們可以模仿及製造已有的食物，例如漢堡、香腸和牛排等，但其實試管實驗製肉都有給人們帶來新的食品、工具和傳統的可能性。《試管製肉食譜》旨在超越以劣質假肉取代已有肉類的想法，無馬運輸的用途，繼而去探索在未來試管製肉會以什麼形式或創意出現在我們的餐桌上。

食譜分為四章，每一章的重點均放在一個致力以試管製肉去解決與肉類相關的命題：1) 肉類持續生產的持久性 2) 防止食物短人缺 3) 避免對動物造成傷害 4) 新種飲食文化與餐桌經驗。除此以外，此食譜還包含文章、訪談、圖表以及專題硏究，內容涉指有關技術的背景資料、歷史、承諾、潛在陷阱和道德含義等資訊。

由於試管製肉仍然處於早期發展中，這是一本尚未能使用的烹調食譜。每道食譜中的星星符號代表其技術的可行性。一顆星代表這道菜可能實現的機會極低，而五顆星即是代表它很快會進入生產線。

我們的菜餚是由一群設計師、廚師和藝術家共同研發，旨在探索試管製肉的潛力。食譜範圍從針織肉到肉類水果、肉類冰淇淋都有。有些菜式創新又可口，但有些卻令人難以置信。我們並非在宣揚實驗室生產的肉類，也不是在預視未來，我們是在把新種飲食文化和新菜餚的可能性視覺化給大家看，期望可以透過這幫助大眾決定一個我們真正想要的未來。

Bistro In Vitro (1:03)

• WHAT THE CHEFS SAY
• Richard McGeown (5:45)
• Erik van Loo (4:05)
• Jonathan Karpathios (5:11)
• Simone Zanoni (6:03)

• WHAT THE CRITICS SAY
• Cor van der Weele (4:29)
• Raj Patel (9:39)
• Mac van Dinther (7:47)
• Mark Post (2:55)

* By Next Nature Network & Submarine Channel
* 由Next Nature Network與Submarine頻道製作

Duration: 46:57

We are a network of makers, thinkers, educators and supporters. With members in 44 countries, we are the international network for anyone interested in the debate on our future – in which biology and technology are fusing. Our headquarters is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, planet Earth, the Universe.

我們是一個由創客、思想家、教育人士以及支持者組成的國際網絡，成員來自四十四個國家，旨在通過結合生物學與科技銳以探究及討論人類的未來。我們們的總部位於宇宙中地球上荷蘭的阿姆斯特丹。