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What is TVP?

Textured Vegetable Protein or TVP is a high protein, high fibre, defatted soy flour meat substitute. Recently Sanitarium has introduced an already hydrated, ready to cook version which is quick, easy and delicious to add to any recipe requiring the texture of ground or minced meat. Previously TVP had only been available as a dehydrated product, needing to be reconstituted in water or in the actual cooking process. It is available in a variety of textures and flavours, as well as unflavoured, and varies in shape and size. TVP soaks up the flavour of chili, spices, tomatoes and beans, offering the texture of meat without the saturated fat. TVP is a good source of high quality protein and is often fortified with vitamin B12. If you can’t find it in your local supermarket try the health food store, they usually stock the dehydrated version which I like to buy because you get so much for your money and it stores in the cupboard for months.

See also:
TVP on Wikipedia
Buy TVP here

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IN VITRO MEAT

In an article in 1932 Winston Churchill argued:
“ Fifty years hence we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.”

This may not be so far fetched. The space race has spawned many innovations we now take for granted and the need for food on space stations will be just one huge incentive for research already underway into in vitro meat. In vitro meat, or laboratory grown meat, is animal flesh that has never been part of a complete living animal. Theoretically, according to New Harvest, “a single animal cell could be used to produce enough meat to feed the global population for a year.”

No meat has yet been produced for human consumption but lab workers are said to have made in vitro fish which they crumbed and fried but were unable to eat due to food health laws!

It seems there would be truth in the disclaimer – no animal was harmed in the making of this global feast – except perhaps for that one animal that gave up its original cell!

We would see the end of animal farming, there would be huge savings in crop production for animal feed, with attendant savings in irrigation but there would be an impassioned outcry from the farmers. There would be an end to factory farming, live transport, all the indignities heaped upon livestock in the name of feeding the world.

This will probably be a long time coming. While we are waiting let’s give animal products a miss.

New Harvest is an organization founded in 2004 to support the development of meat substitutes, with the long-term goal of delivering economically competitive alternatives to conventional meat production. Check out their website and others listed here for more information.

• Future Food
• The New York Times article
• In Vitro Meat by Gregor Wolbring May 15, 2007
• University of Maryland News Desk
• Article in Sydney Morning Herald
• Article in Satya

Even more in vitro meat thoughts

“In a paper in the June 2005 Tissue Engineering a team of scientists, including University of Maryland doctoral student Jason Matheny, propose two new techniques of tissue engineering that may one day lead to affordable production of in vitro – lab grown – meat for human consumption. It is the first peer-reviewed discussion of the prospects for industrial production of cultured meat.”
Science & Technology July 6, 2005

This paper puts forward a lot of points FOR in vitro meat, which are very valid.

• The nutrients could be controlled, replacing fatty acid Omega 6, which causes cholesterol and other health problems, with the healthy fat Omega 3.
• in vitro meat production would eliminate large scale raising of livestock which causes pollution of waterways and land due to runoff of waste products.
• Elimination of the drugs that are used in animal raising
• The idea is to create an edible product that tastes like beef, lamb, pork, poultry or fish with the nutrients and texture of those meats.
• A single muscle cell from an animal can be isolated and divided into thousands of new muscle cells.
• NASA experiments are researching food products for long-term space travel where storage is a problem.

For large scale production Matheny describes are two techniques being developed:

• To grow cells in flat sheets on thin membranes which would be grown, stretched and then removed from the membranes to be stacked on top of one another to increase thickness.
• To grow cells on three-dimensional beads that would stretch with small changes in temperature. Once matured these could be harvested and turned into processed meat like nuggets or hamburger.
• Cells from different kinds of tissue, such as muscle and fat, would be required to give the meat a palatable taste and texture.

Mattheny says “…cultured meat could appeal to people concerned about food safety, the environment, and animal welfare…” This paper even suggests that “meat makers may one day sit next to bread makers on the kitchen counter.”

As put forward in this article, in vitro meat sounds very feasible. Indeed if it can truly feed the world as has been claimed, at the same time saving the environment, it will be as world changing as the industrial revolution. Acceptability by the meat eaters of the world will be essential.

For vegetarians and vegans, in vitro meat remains an animal product. For those with environmental concerns it will need to be shown that production of in vitro meat doesn’t add to the pollution of the land and sea, doesn’t produce a whole new range of laboratory animals, and does end live transport and inhumane treatment of animals.

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