Not if we're talking about advances in textured vegetable protein. When I read "fake meat" I take it to mean that it's not animal derived. Otherwise it'd just be meat.
If you can afford it, you can also only buy meat from non-intensive farming. Or stop eating meat all together.
I just don't think it's morally right to wait for a solution that may not ever come, or not for a long time. I eat veggie fake-meat often, and sometimes it's great, but it's not close to real meat and I don't know that it'll ever be accepted by most of the population.
Is it still a common belief that we 'need meat'? I thought it was well established that humans in normal health do not _need_ meat to thrive - especially with our current technology and industry. We can easily meet all of our nutritional needs without any animal flesh.
I'd rather use the less-strong statement I need to make a point. It is still a common belief that not eating meat is in some way less healthy, because plants have lower-quality proteins.
ProTip: we don't need meat.
Cultured meat would be grown from animal cells without developing an entire, independently viable animal. This is what "vat-grown" meat would be.
Synthetic meat would be processed polymerized amino acids that are chemically and structurally similar to animal meat. This is the holy grail of meat substitutes for vegans. No living thing of any kind is killed, molested, or even inconvenienced in its manufacture (provided you don't look too closely at where the amino acids came from).
"Fake meat" would be imitation or synthetic. Cultured meat wouldn't exactly qualify as "real meat" to me, but it isn't quite "fake meat", either.
Hi, vegan here! I already get all this from plants.
> No living thing of any kind is killed, molested, or even inconvenienced in its manufacture (provided you don't look too closely at where the amino acids came from).
Where do they come from, then? There is already enough plant diversity to not need to manufacture cells this way. In fact, fermentation of foods brings us many nutritional gifts, and I do actually kill these organisms when I eat them, but I'm ok with killing some yeasts over cows (grey line, I know! :)
As such, they could come from full organic synthesis from ethane feedstock, or from cultured microorganisms, or from plant protein, or from animal protein. They could by produced as a by-product of some other industry. If the company producing the synthetic meat is not particularly cautious with respect to sources, the vegan pedigree of its product could be questioned.
From the HN conversations about Soylent and Soylent-like products, I have been made aware of religiously-motivated vegans that even feel vaguely guilty about having to kill plants for their food. Those and the vegans motivated by supposed health benefits would not give a fig about the "meatiness" of any synthetic meat, caring more about its nutritional qualities. Those motivated by ethics would likely only care insofar as the existence of a full-synthetic meat could help encourage others to give up animal-harvested meats. If you don't proselytize veganism, you wouldn't care (nor should you).
From my own shallow study of nutrition, the height of my bar for going vegan is the chicken egg. If anyone wants me to stop eating animal products, they must necessarily produce something of equal nutritional convenience to a chicken egg, at a lower price. By my "holy grail" statement, I meat that specifically for proselytizing ethical vegans (i.e. PETA members), as an "Aha! With this, the meat-eaters can no longer argue in favor of their destructive lifestyles based on nutrition or culinary experience!"
1. They look very similar! Both have a large egg/seed in the middle of the white/fruit. Look is important for a substitute, e.g. all of the faux meat products.
2. Nutritionally they're also very similar in terms of fat and protein.
Are there any other salient variables for classification which come to mind?
In my opinion, structured growth of 'muscle tissue' disconnected from any animal is still "fake meat". Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, it is either still science fiction or too expensive (otherwise I'd have heard about it from places that aren't scifi).
Once we solve the minor engineering issues, we're good.