Of course corners could be cut and we could have the fish farming situation where most of the fish is farmed instead of wild and the farmed fish are somewhat less healthy to eat.

I also do not think PETA intentionally structured the prize to be meaningless, I just think that they have no clue about business.

        Dave G said:

I don’t think it’s that at all but it’s just the fact that PETA does not like animals being harmed.

They want a substitute for meat that involves killing animals so that in theory slaughtering of meat animals would not be necessary. They’re starting to realize people will not give up meat so they want a different option.

Which in and of itself is the most stunning part of this story: an organization of doctrinaire, flaming ****s has a sudden attack of rationality and looks to meeting their objective in a way that minimizes the impact on everyone else.

Can you ever imagine Greenpeace saying: “We have looked at nuclear and realize it is the best tool to stop global warming, but there are legitimate concerns on various issues. Consequently we will be funding a million dollar price for the design of the first ‘Green Nuclear Reactor’ that addresses these issues”?

I thought not.

Humans can get by very well on vegetable protein with one important exception: Infants need a regular supply of a certain protein for proper brain development which is only found in red meat. I’m told the difference in IQ terms is quite pronounced if very young children miss out on this protein during this critical developmental stage.

I’m not sure that normal grazing techniques will allow us to raise enough meat for the global demand which is likely to develop with the development of China, India, and the rest of the third world. Cultured meat will allow us to grow meat anywhere for whoever wants some.

A few months ago I ate some quite tasty oxymorons, ie: ‘meatless meatballs’. I was told they were meatless after I’d eaten them & had said they were quite good.

If vegetable protein can be turned into something that tastes like meat, thats good enough for sausage & ground meat, & will likely be cheaper than this meat culture. Duplicating the texture of a steak or chicken leg would be harder.

If you ignore arguments about eating animals being unethical, & just look at how to feed humanity at minimum cost & environmental impact, there will still be lots of meat being eaten. There is a lot of land that is from poor to useless for growing crops, but which is fair to good for grazing cattle. We could raise cattle on such land & send them directly to slaughter, skipping the feedlot where they are fed stuff that humans could eat.

Maybe we could also get some use out of the arctic tundra with reindeer herds (Yum, Roast Rudolph)

I’ve heard this stuff before about “We can make a pizza however we want” or “we can put whatever we want on a pizza” – you get this from the alternative pizza crowd in places like California and apparently Auckland as well.

My own take on it is that yes, you can make your pizza however you want and if you want to say “We make our pizza here without cheese and with barbecue sauce instead of tomato sauce and we put fruit on it” – then I’m going to say that’s your right but that is NOT A PIZZA. I mean you could just as easily say “Here we make out pizza with a hole in the center and it’s made out of rubber and instead of eating it we put it on the rims of our cars and fill it with air and drive on it!” Again, that is your right to do, but to me, that is NOT A PIZZA, it’s a tire. Just as much as the afore mentioned concoction is not a pizza. I could also say “Here we make our pizza without a crust or sauce or cheese on it, but instead we take lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers and chop them up and serve them cold with vinegar and oil on top.” – Again, you can call that pizza if you want but it’s NOT A PIZZA, it’s a feakin salad.

As a native New Yorker, I take my Pizza very seriously!

I was only in New Zealand for three days, but my impression (even if it may have not been representative) was that it was a place that pushed the concept of “alternative pizza” a bit too far!