Numb. 1001 Some Ware, Oh, For The Rainbow, Unicorns

THE GUARDIAN

Cultured meat, produced in bioreactors without the slaughter of an animal, has been approved for sale by a regulatory authority for the first time. (More)

Let us pretend things are getting better.

Let us pretend we'll be fine.

Let us ignore all of our history.

Let us pretend water is wine.

Let us pretend we're vanquishing evil

or it's, at least, on the wane.

Let's just ignore how all of our progress

exacerbates our everyday pain.

Yes, let's rejoice how this new technique

will eliminate animal suffering,

how meat grown in vats, without killing anything,

will enable environmental recovery.

With lab-grown meat we won't be what we eat,

not chicks, not lambs, calves nor piglets.

None of our dishes will come from dead fishes.

This progression is surely prodigious.

For special treats we may even eat meat

from cells that come from ourselves

which, while nutritious and, doubtless, delicious,

will prove, down deep, we are still cannibals.