• whyalone@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    Same situation as what happened to the horses when cars were invented and then they became obsolete.

    • Shizrak@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      So drastic population decline, then?

      I just worry that if humanity no longer has a use for cattle, they would likely be seen as a nuisance and driven to extinction.

      • whyalone@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        I am pretty sure cattle will still be exploited indefinitely if not for their meat, then for their milk, so much cheese culture is built around it that I cannot see it stopped in the near future. Let’s see how that lab meat will turn out to be

        • Pilgrim@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I think there could be a game changer. If I remember right, they already found a way to reproduce cheese and other dairy products in the lab, which can’t be distinguished from the original. The only problem is that it’s such an act to start it in Europe under the European Parlament. I think it was “precision fermantation”

          For example, companies like Perfect Day are pioneering this technology, using fermentation to produce milk proteins without cows. By feeding sugars to microflora, these organisms create the same proteins found in cow’s milk, which can then be used to make products like ice cream, cheese, and yogurt. This process reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 97% compared to traditional dairy farming, offering both environmental and ethical benefits​(InsideHook)​(ScienceDaily). https://www.insidehook.com/food/precision-fermentation-milk-dairy https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240801121845.htm

      • Landsharkgun@midwest.social
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        1 month ago

        Given that the people who care about not doing factory farming are generally also quite in favor of wildlife preservation, by the time you have the one you will probably have the other. There’s already animal rescues that take in farm animals.