To the Editor,
There are few things Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan could support that would do more to reduce suffering in this world than federal funding for cultured-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughter. This revolutionary technology will help usher in a more compassionate future.
We kill over a trillion aquatic and land animals every year for food. The amount of suffering this represents is impossible to comprehend. While the field of cellular agriculture has made significant strides, more open-access research is needed to reach price parity and develop whole-cut meats. I hope Congress will back this important effort.
Jon Hochschartner
Granby, Conn.
[A note to readers: Mr. Hochschartner has been single-mindedly writing to us about cultured meat for some time—so much so that we became suspicious. We wrote to him, “at some point we would be grateful if you would a) write about something else—because you do write well—or, b) assure us that you do not have any significant holdings in any corporate entities which stand to make a profit from the cultured meat industry.” He replied, “I have no holdings at all in the cultured meat industry. I’m just an animal rights activist who believes cellular agriculture stands the best chance of relieving nonhuman suffering.” — The Ed.]
Jon,
When one considers the unimaginably vast sums which Shaheen and Hassan routinely shovel into the furnaces of the weapons industry, and compares it to the the paltry sums Congress might allocate for your proposal, the mind simply boggles.
The Editor