Would it be more energy efficient to grow meat in a factory than in the fields? What are the energy requirements for a pound of lab meat vs a pound of pig meat?
More importantly, what would happen if it turned out cheaper and tasted the same? How many industries depend on eating meat? What would happen to all the pigs if nobody wanted to eat them?
As for all the animals, their populations would obviously get scaled back. The transition would not happen overnight, there would be plenty of time. Though you may have a point- domestic pigs would likely become pets and little else. However, chickens still lay eggs, cows still make milk, and sheep and goats still produce milk and wool.
I don't want anyone to think I'm spreading FUD, I'm genuinely interested and concerned. Who knows what the nutritional consequences would be? We've only just started to realize that there might be some detrimental effects due to consuming the products of a corn-soy (duo-)monoculture farms, all in the name of efficiency, what of lab-meat? Plus, I'm just creeped out by it.
I do think it's valuable work, and largely inevitable, and wouldn't suggest for a moment that we (humans) not fund this kind of research.
Additionally, the yearlong production of milk in animals requires contant pregnancies, so will still cause many animals to killed. For instance, goat milk products kill far more male goats than any demands for the meat.
There are multiple types of vegetarians. Ones who dislike the moral part of meat will not have an issue with the new meat. There are energy consumption vegetarians. If this new meat is considerably close to the energy requirements for a vegetarian diet, they may go for it. The health vegetarians who are afraid of adulterated food may go for this meat now, but the ones who are afraid of the general higher cancer risk from red- meat based diets, etc, will likely not be persuaded to change.
In a similar vein, would someone who identifies as Jewish or a Muslim eat test tube bacon? Well, some already eat real pork and don't get worked up about it. It just depends on how you interpret and practice your beliefs. And we've all got different beliefs that make us do different things.
Initially, it probably will be quite expensive, but it is most certainly _potentially_ cheaper than real meat due to tech advances and economies of scale.
As for farm animals, they will be just bred less. Nobody will mass slaughter them just because there is a cheaper source of meat.
Linked from the New Scientist article.
* I believe it is 6 months away from the start of testing legal approval * it will not taste the exact same due to the different ways its grown, at least at first. It will be more easily customized to fit peoples requirements, however. * the meat industry will not collapse in a day. Animal requirements won't change overnight. The industry will adjust slowly unless they get lobbyists to ban this technology (which they will attempt to do, of course) * due to the innefficient way animals grow, lab-grown meat has the potential to be more efficient, but won't be at first