Cultured meat: An ethical alternative to industrial animal farming

Abstract

Each year, more than 60 billion sentient animals1 are reared in industrial conditions in order to produce meat. This global enterprise is currently the planet’s main source of human pandemic diseases2–5 and likely among its greatest concentrations of human-inflicted su ering.6–8 Curbing this ongoing moral catastrophe should thus be of high concern for people aiming to e ectively help as many sentient beings as possible.6,9–12 Moreover, animal agriculture contributes to climate change and makes ine icient use of a significant portion of our available resources.13