Technology and meat production

Dear Sir,

While applauding the sentiments in the leading letter of last week's Chronicle on meat served in schools not being carbon neutral, the issue is not quite as straightforward as the writers suggest.

Like cars, technology is altering the science so strict views on being anti-meat for environmental reasons might no longer be strictly accurate.

In the future, most, if not all meat, will never have been near an animal, except for the cells from which it originated.

The idea is that cells from living animals are cultured in near identical conditions to that in their bodies in sufficient quantities for it to be sold at our local butcher or supermarket.

The origin of the product is an animal and it should taste just as it would have done if it had lived its life outdoors, but it might have been produced in the local industrial estate.

The only losers seem to be farmers - though at least they can live more contented lives, knowing they are not contributing to climate change.

Yours faithfully,

(DR) PETER HIRST

Middlewich.