What can I do to help?
Before you start reading this, check if you posses the following:
- You are the type of activist that inspires to always do what would save the greatest amount of animals in the least amount of time. You're always looking to be as effective as possible with your activism.
- You understand that time is a zero-sum game.
- You see your life or wish to see it as a resource of bettering and improving others.
- You understand that nonhuman animals who are exploited by humans are the most innocent beings on this planet, who suffer in the most horrific ways imaginable, and ironically - the most helpless. Therefore, they are the ones who need our help the most and should be the first to come into consideration and the first to fight for.
Also, make sure you went through the site and read most of its content, in order to get an impression of the problem we are dealing with and the importance of solving it.
Okay, I am a vegan activist and agree that cultured meat sounds like a good idea, but what do you expect me to do about it?
There are two main things that you can do to help:
- Get sponsors. Like any research, in order to engineer cultured meat and take it forward, the labs need a lot of money. We're not talking about a grand here or there. We're talking about numbers of six digits. Getting that kind of money needs planning, marketing skills and a creative mind. If you would like to brainstorm this idea a bit more, contact us.
- Join the research. It's that simple, yet an idea that holds within a lot of complications and struggles in terms of the personal life of an activist and the change within it. The following was written to help solve those complications, and give out primary help for those of you who are considering it.
What do you mean join the research?
What the research is starving for right now more than anything in order to progress and succeed is new researchers. Scientists with the knowledge, the smarts and the drive to take it forward and engineer a better, more affordable product.
But I'm not a scientist and I don't have anything to offer to this research.
Neither was any scientist before he or she became one. In order to be helpful to promote and benefit the research, what Cultured Vegans do is go study the field, and in simple words what that means is - apply for college or a university to get your degree and major in science, and then - join us.
What?! You expect me to change my life completely and go on a path that I would never choose if it was up to me...
We know. None of the Cultured Vegans that we know of who are currently involved in this field from across the globe (not that there are that many, which is exactly why the animals need you to join) ever dreamt or planned for themselves to participate in something like this, or apply for academic science studies. But you must remember - if you care about the animals so much, (we have no doubt that you do), and if you wish to see your life as a resource of bettering the world - this is your chance to make the greatest possible change ever. That is exactly what giving is all about - doing something solely for the sake of the other being, without taking the time to question whether or how it will benefit you. Since as a vegan you must be aware of the fact that the animal holocaust is the most extreme genocide that had ever occurred on this planet by any means, big steps must be taken in order to stop it, respectively. What's a small change in your life when compared to putting a stop to the animal holocaust?
I've heard that cultured meat might never be cheaper than that of a cow.
That is a theory that is going around out there, but not anything you hear is something to be reckoned with. Professor Mark Postt, a researcher from a lab in Holland, says to that: "It is not true to look at it that way. The first computer was developed in the fifties, cost two million dollars to build, took a whole floor and demanded ongoing operation staff of fifty people, and see where computers are today". "Agricultural meat prices will rise anyway in the future, because of the rise in soil, water and food prices" says Peter V., technologist and quality controller for the meat industry for 23 years. Dr. Henk Haagsman, Biochemist from Utrecht University in Holland promises: "Most of the problems in producing artificial meat will be resolved in the coming years".
Cultured meat does sound like a good idea, but I don't believe it can make such drastic change in the world.
Our goal is not to mislead you and tell you lies. We are not trying to profit from something or get your credit card number. We are all sailing in the same boat together, hoping it would take us to a vegan world. It is completely legitimate to have your doubts. No one can tell for sure what will come out of this in fifty years from now. But one thing is certain: the current forms of activism: direct actions, awareness raising, protests, convincing, pamphlets... Who are we kidding? We have lost. The animals have lost; we must face the harsh reality of it: the world will not turn into a compassionate vegan world because of thousands of vegan activists (which are a speckle) with a good will and crazy drive. The animal rights movement has everything going against it: too little activists with a ridiculously low growth rate compared to that of the human population. Our enemy is a monstrous genetic enemy - human interest. No matter how much money we will ever raise for the animals - fast food chains will always have more to crush our messages. It is just a battle meant to fail. Yes, those are some harsh words, but if we truly want to help - we must look at the reality not in a comfortable way, but in a true way. Dr. Phil is known for saying: "You can't change what you don't acknowledge." And that is sadly true in this case. If you are being asked a multiple choice question in a test to which you don't know the answer - what's the first rational thing to do? Scratch out what's wrong for sure. So even if we take the pessimistic scenario - that cultured meat will not make a drastic change in the world - it will make some change for the betterment of the animals. Let's say it will not bring a full end to factory farming. Let's say it will cut it off by only 10% - with cultured meat, still its worst case scenario is better than what the animal rights movement will ever dare dream of. No true objective vegan believes the movement can accomplish even that. So yes - nothing promises a world of care bears once cultured meat is out, but you can't fight the fact that it's still a way more effective solution to the animal holocaust than the alternatives.
I think that cultured meat is important, but if I join the project I will not have time left to protest for animal rights.
If you have already read the sections about The Selfish Gene and Human Consumption on this website then you must understand that we are trying to win a fight in which all the odds are extremely against us. Humans are too selfish, too many, too cruel and too strong to turn vegan. Yes, protesting can succeed here and there, but as mentioned on this website, we must think globally and for the long term, since we are dealing with a global and continuous problem. With that being said, the chances of cultured meat to free the animals are much greater than the chances of turning the whole world vegan with moral arguments. By recognizing that, we must also recognize that when offered a solution that is much more efficient, it should be respectively recognized by you as much more important and time worthy. If you wish to see yourself as a resource of betterment for the animals, this is, right now, the best way of that resource to be used. And that is - by dedicating your life and time to what would free more animals in less time - cultured meat.
Let's say I join cultured meat research and it does succeed and takes over the world - the message of animal rights will not be heard and will fade away since that will not be the reason why people aren't consuming meat from factory farms anymore.
Yes, that is right, and it sounds terrible but that's actually an advantage. The research is a bypass of moral arguments and convincing. Anyone who has ever tried in their lives to make someone stop eating meat has heard one or all of the following: "It's not healthy", "What about the food chain?", "Animals kill each other too", etc. We all know that people don't eat meat because it's healthy, because of some irrelevant jungle law or because they see lions as their role models. People eat meat because it tastes good; because it serves their interest, and sounding these false arguments is their subconscious way of rationalizing to themselves how and why eating meat is okay and does not make you a bad person. With that being said: people don't want to change. People want to justify the unjustified. Explaining animal rights to a person who doesn't want to change is like teaching a man born blind the difference between red and yellow - they do not have the (moral) tools and drive to embrace and accept animal rights and its implications on themselves. Finding a solution to animal suffering that does not contradict human interests is something to strive for, since at the end of the day, animals couldn't care less why their suffering has ended. They just want it gone. Hence, avoiding any moral conflicts should not and does not contradict our goal as animal liberating activists, and that goal is: stopping animal suffering at the end of the day. Wishing to make the world a place where animal rights is something that's recognized and accepted is nice, but not willing to give it up when offered a simpler faster solution to the problem is a fixation that we must shake ourselves from. It is turning the means into the goal, and it is being done at the expense of the animals.
If I'll apply to study something I don't like in the first place, psychologically I wouldn't be able to invest myself into it and I will fail my classes.
We're not saying this is an ideal scenario. Yes, it might be somewhat difficult. But that does not mean you should give this idea all up. Moreover - most of the Cultured Vegans who are somewhere in their first degree studies right now wouldn't have chosen their major to be what it needs to be for the research if it was up to them. If there were millions of people wanting to join the research and free the animals and we would have to pick let's say ten of them, then yes, we would pick those who will enjoy their studies as well, for the undeniable psychological effectiveness that goes along with it. But unfortunately for the animals, that is not the case. Right now the research and it bringing the end of factory farming closer hangs on a string, and its fate and success depends on each and every drop of new blood that goes into it. Maybe you are not the smartest, not the most organized, maybe you hated school or have difficulties concentrating in class - animals need you to find a way to fight through those obstacles. We're sure that you will not be the first student to beat odds that were against them.
I do not have money to pay for academic education.
That is unfortunate. In that case, you can consider one of two paths: you can earn that money and save it for school, or choose a "lighter" institution to apply to, one that will allow you to combine work with your studies. The investment of the money you will pay for your studies is no different and as a matter of fact identical to an investment of donating money to an animal rights organization - it will go to support animal liberating activism.
Where do I begin? What do I do?
First things first - to be helpful, you must know your craft. That means wherever you are on the globe, find yourself a quality known academic institution to apply for science studies. You can contact New Harvest for recommendations or further questions about that.
What kind of science studies?
In the long run, you will need to posses the skills and knowledge of a tissue-engineer. Anything you think will give you a smooth start in the area will do for your first degree. That means anything in the field - Biology, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Bio-engineering, Bioinformatics, Biophysics, Micro and Molecular Biology, Material chemistry, etc. Of course these are all spontaneous examples, and if you decide to apply for science studies what we would suggest you to do is to go to the institutional consultant, explain to them your plan of joining this research and let them tell you what studies their institution offers that would be the most suitable for your goal, skills and grades.
Biology? Doesn't that involve animal testing?
Of course that as vegans and as animal rights believers - mind, body and spirit, we 100% oppose to animal testing. So that is something you need to make sure you can avoid in your studies wherever you plan on going. A large number of the academic institutions today do not obligate their students to test on animals, and in some countries there are even laws protecting the students (but not the animals, ironically) from being forced to experiment on animals in order to achieve their degree if they wish to avoid it for conscience reasons.
I already have a first degree in one of the upper mentioned fields or related / What's next after I get my first degree?
That would be time for your masters and major. Apply for a second degree. This case is a bit more sensitive - you would want to apply to the most specific, exact, and closely related subject. That would be Tissue engineering. Of course same goes here: you are welcome to consult with the institution's consultant. Explain what your plans are and let them tell you about the different options in the field and what's recommended for you. Moreover - you can contact cultured meat consortium - a group of scientists already in the field, and consult with them.
I did not find an answer for what I wanted to know
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