If you hate the thought of animals getting slaughtered but freaking love the taste of meatballs (we’ve been there), you and the cows may be in luck.
Memphis Meats, a San Francisco startup devoted to creating lab-grown meat from animal cells, released a video on Tuesday showing the “world’s first cultured meatball” getting fried up in a pan.
Lab-grown meats might mean more than just a reduction in animal cruelty. Memphis Meats chief executive Uma Valeti said in the video above that his company’s process also produces 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional agriculture.
“The meat industry knows their products aren’t sustainable,” Valeti told the Wall Street Journal. "We believe that in 20 years, a majority of meat sold in stores will be cultured.”
Right now, the biggest issue is cost -- it now costs around $18,000 to produce a pound of Memphis Meats beef, which isn’t exactly affordable. Other test-tube meat researchers have found ways to create more affordable products -- Netherlands scientist Mark Post told HuffPost Live last year that he’d manage to get his lab-grown beef down to costs of $11 per burger patty.
And what about the taste? The taste tester in the video said the final product was “good” and “tastes like a meatball.” Sure, she is appearing in a video created by Memphis Meats, but we have still have hope.
Since commercial lab-grown meatballs may be a ways away, here are some veggie meatball recipes that might satisfy you in the meantime:
