第2215期:Why is lab-grown meat expensive?

Imagine a future where we can tuck into meat, but no animals have been sacrificed in the process. 16% of the UK population enjoy a meat-free diet, according to statistics website Finder.com. It seems there is an appeal in lab-grown meat as an alternative to traditional meat consumption. But, despite years of anticipation, this futuristic food is still not on our plates. Why?

想象一下，未来我们可以吃肉，但在此过程中不会牺牲任何动物。 根据统计网站 Finder.com 的数据，16% 的英国人口享受无肉饮食。 实验室培育的肉类作为传统肉类消费的替代品似乎很有吸引力。 但是，尽管人们期待了多年，这种未来派食物仍然没有出现在我们的餐桌上。 为什么？

One of the biggest reasons is cost. The first ever lab-grown hamburger was unveiled in 2013 by Dutch scientist Mark Post. It was created from beef cells and cost more than $300,000. Lab-grown meat production stretches from thousands to hundreds of thousands of US dollars per ounce – that's the weight of about two chicken nuggets. This expense is partly due to the cost of raw materials that 'feed' the cells – a combination of sugar, proteins and other nutrients are added to the cells.

最大的原因之一是成本。 荷兰科学家马克·波斯特 (Mark Post) 于 2013 年推出了第一个实验室培育的汉堡包。 它是用牛肉细胞制成的，成本超过 30 万美元。 实验室培育的肉类产量从每盎司数千美元到数十万美元不等——大约相当于两个鸡块的重量。 这笔费用部分归因于“喂养”细胞的原材料成本——添加到细胞中的糖、蛋白质和其他营养物质的组合。

In 2023, US-based company Upside Foods received approval from the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to start selling lab-grown meat. In order to do this, the company has had to take on significant economic losses so that they can price it fairly compared to traditional meat. An investor in Upside Food, Lisa Feria, told Forbes magazine "Profitability is very much years off because the biggest challenge ahead of them is can we make it at millions of tons a year and ultimately remotely compete with conventional meat".

2023 年，美国公司 Upside Foods 获得美国农业部和食品药品管理局的批准，开始销售实验室培育的肉类。 为了做到这一点，该公司不得不承担巨大的经济损失，以便与传统肉类相比能够公平定价。 Upside Food 的投资者丽莎·费里亚 (Lisa Feria) 告诉《福布斯》杂志，“盈利还需要很多年的时间，因为他们面临的最大挑战是我们能否每年生产数百万吨，并最终与传统肉类进行远程竞争”。

There are also environmental costs. A 2023 study by the University of California found that the process of producing lab-grown meat could have a four to 25 times higher impact on global warming than beef, which is generally the highest-polluting meat. This is mostly because of the emissions needed to create 'feed'.

还有环境成本。 加州大学 2023 年的一项研究发现，实验室培育肉类的生产过程对全球变暖的影响可能比牛肉高 4 到 25 倍，而牛肉通常是污染最严重的肉类。 这主要是因为制造“饲料”所需的排放。

So, it seems unlikely that we'll be eating lab-grown meat just yet, and we possibly never will. 

因此，我们似乎还不太可能吃实验室培育的肉，而且可能永远不会。 

词汇表

tuck into 尽情吃
meat-free 无肉的
diet （日常）饮食
lab-grown 实验室培育的
traditional 传统的
consumption 食用，消耗
plate 餐盘
hamburger 汉堡包
beef cell 牛肉细胞
production 生产
ounce （重量单位）盎司；1盎司约等于28克
chicken nugget 炸鸡肉
raw material 原材料
feed 给…提供养分
conventional 普通的
highest-polluting 最毁坏环境的