MEAT THE FUTURE

Amsterdam, 14 November 2040. A luxury table full of small pieces of meat is set. A part of you, a part of me and a piece of my best friend. Tonight we eat human flesh.

Will these humanflesh-dinners become reality in the future? If we believe Koert van Mensvoort it is not impossible. In collaboration with researchers and designers he wrote the world's first cultured meat cookbook. This book makes the potential impact of cultured meat tangible. Cultured meat offers an alternative to the current meat production, it is a lot more durable. Last year the first cultured meat hamburger was launched. In the future there will be experiments with cultured meat and thus a number of ethical issues are born.

As we grow meat from a cow can, then we can do this also from other (extinct) animals and even humans. As long as the stem cells are preserved, anything is possible. Will we eat the meat of Dodo's in the future? Are popstars able to sell their stem cells and, so a Lady-Gaga-Burger can be sold in a happy meal? Or shall I literally eat the body of my husband on a romantic dinner?

This are unanswered questions, ask to dwell on. Because I do not want to live in an age where technology takes over from nature. I agree that there must be a solution to the current meat production there. But I am convinced that we can find solutions that are ethical much safer.