The problem with this isn't with PETA or even meat (I'm a decade-long no-meater), but with the stupid and shortsighted arrogance of people in general, the economic interests in established industry, and the person who wrote this piece in particular.

It is WELL documented that the beef, pork, and poultry industries contribute MASSIVELY more to global warming than automobiles do, not to mention the obvious moral and ethical implications of factory farms and the systematic degradation of water quality, air quality, and habitat, all so the low-integrity American can get a $2 hamburger.

PETA may not have the answers, but it speaks to the problem that it is left up to such groups to bring attention to these matters and even pony up cash for some realistic, long-term solutions and not just more of the same "hydrogen car" publicity stunts. It might not be the best or most efficient or, heaven forbid, most traditional way to foster scientific and societal change, but it is something beyond the macho arrogance of wondering what the real problem is with today's food system anyway.

If I were a member of Al-Qaeda I'd forgo the hunt for dirty bomb material and bring as much Foot and Mouth to the US as possible. There is such a massive dependence on mono-cultural, mass-production food systems that any widespread contamination of poultry or especially beef would not only kill tens of thousands but also cripple the entire country, since, according to this article, needing "to sell your product in order to win" rather than just talk about it and make promises of "10 years from now" is the wrong way to make progress. The US has become so slow and antiquated that by the time something was actually done to change food systems they country would be decimated.

The environmental and social quandaries of the world, and the US in particular, aren't going to be solved by your grandparents' business models and scientific status quo. The reason PETA is saying that the prize is for something that actually WORKS and is put into the marketplace is that there here has been SO MUCH BULLSHIT from industry and government on making progress (how long can a hydrogen fuel cell car be "10 years away"??) in so many areas that to simply throw money at people to fiddle around in the lab on pet projects that ultimately have very little real application in the world.

I am well aware that technological progress is almost always preceded by years if not decades of trial and error, but the reason the US industries aren't making any advances is because there is no incentive to, as those controlling government and industry are getting paid today, the way things are, and actually investing and working on new technology is only going to lead to more infrastructure costs and less short-term revenues.

And since when has science and R&D been EXCLUSIVELY about the short-term $ payoff? When the airplane and the telephone and virtually every other great technological revolution of the past century were invented, not only was there no market and no infrastructure to make money off of them, a good number of people were scared shitless of their "magical" powers. The Wrights and Bell and Edison and all the others had obvious financial interests, but, at whatever minute level, they were inventors and creators hoping to improve the world as well, not absurdly focused on $$$$$.

All that money isn't going to do anyone any good when we're paying $4 per gallon for water, which IS coming - visit virtually any state in the Midwest during the summer and check out all of the signs at parks and waterways warning against swimming because of the water's toxicity.

So we're supposed to believe this PETA award is stupid just because it doesn't follow the model of the Orteig Prize of 1927? Did John McCain's spirit write this f/king article or what? "When I was a boy, you didna hafta actually do nothin' to get the money, you just hads ta says you was gunna do it and then ya could spend all the moneys on new lab quipment that woulda makeya moneys from Tyson, who were a lookin fer a bigger chikn that dinna need no water..."

I was ready to blast this Slate piece but after reading your post - ejherb - you said it better then I could.

Excellent!

None of which changes the fact that the prize is completely pointless, and provides no real incentive for anything, for the reasons set forth in the article.

The prize, as is, won't create incentive. IF, it gets big-bio and big-food thinking more about the possibility and investing in syn-meat R&D, then it will have been effective; otherwise it is just shuck and jive, because no small-time scientific/entrepreneurial consortium will possibly be be able to achieve all the requirements of the reward.

-----It is WELL documented that the beef, pork, and poultry industries contribute MASSIVELY more to global warming than automobiles do,

Could you share with us your proof on this statement? While you are at it, could you conclusively, prove that global warming is any more than a theory, albeit the theory de jour?

-----not to mention the obvious moral and ethical implications of factory farms and the systematic degradation of water quality, air quality, and habitat, all so the low-integrity American can get a $2 hamburger.

Something makes me think you live in a city and the closest you get to cattle is when you buy hamburger in the supermarket. Not all cattle, or even the majority of them, are raised in "factory farms." Not all large feedlot operations are the environmental disasters you describe.

I am not sure what all this has to do with the integrity of Americans. I have lived on three different continents and in everyone of them, I have eaten - and see other people eating - meat. I have never seen anyone question the origins of their steaks...

I'd like to see the comparison between your typical steak carbon footprint and your typical tofus carbon footprint.

Then I'd like to see it broken down based on the state you purchase in (for instance, my steaks have a much smaller carbon footprint because I live in Texas and, on average, the steaks we buy at HEB come from Texas or other nearby states, but I don't know where the nearest tofu processing plant is).

There's probably a much better carbon argument to be an omnivorous locavore than a regular vegetarian or vegan. Those Amy's frozen dinners weren't exactly slaughtered the next block over.

When the airplane and the telephone and virtually every other great technological revolution of the past century were invented, not only was there no market and no infrastructure to make money off of them... The Wrights and Bell and Edison and all the others had obvious financial interests, but, at whatever minute level, they were inventors and creators hoping to improve the world as well, not absurdly focused on $$$$$.

Um, Edison didn't invent the lightbulb. The lightbulb already existed. He changed up the mechanics a little bit. That's a short-term payoff with an existing infrastructure, even if it wasn't as monolithic as the meat industry of today. The Wrights also built on the ideas of others. All major invention is short-term, bit-by-bit, and with the end goal of making money.

The fact is, the PETA prize doesn't make a difference one way or another in the speed or zeal with which inventors work to create market-ready lab meat. It's completely inconsequential. It accomplishes nothing other than putting PETA in the headlines for something other than adopting animals from shelters so they can euthanize them.

I'd like to see the comparison between your typical steak carbon footprint and your typical tofus carbon footprint.

Then I'd like to see it broken down based on the state you purchase in (for instance, my steaks have a much smaller carbon footprint because I live in Texas and, on average, the steaks we buy at HEB come from Texas or other nearby states, but I don't know where the nearest tofu processing plant is).

There's probably a much better carbon argument to be an omnivorous locavore than a regular vegetarian or vegan. Those Amy's frozen dinners weren't exactly slaughtered the next block over.

Okay omnipotent being...

If you want some proof of the meat industry's impact on climate change, you can read this article or, if you prefer, read the entire UN report.

It sounds like you're one of those skeptics on human-induced climate change... You don't have to believe me, just ask the scientific community, which is virtually at a consensus on the issue. And if you don't trust or believe science, then don't go to the doctor or buy any stock in research firms or buy eye-glasses, et cetera. Put your life and your money where your mouth is!

Did I say Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb?

And no, I do not live in a city. And no, I don't eat tofu, either. I grow as much of my own food as I can, and what I don't grow I buy from local producers. I'm well aware of the transportation issue in not only food and material goods, which is why when it comes to things like socks and underpants that are hard to find domestic made, I at least buy them from a local, independently owned outdoors store.

And that is what it has to do with the integrity of Americans. Although a good portion of people on the internet [ahem] run their mouths about USA this and America that only to jump in their car and drive the quarter mile to Target and buy the cheapest items rather than the BEST items and end up having virtually everything in their lives made in SE Asia, I am not one of those people. I DO put my money where my mouth is. Funny how all the "patriots" shop at Wal-Mart and Target to fill foreign coffers rather than American ones only to turn around an bitch about job losses in the US and a slumping economy. Something tells me you shop at big box stores and look at the price tag rather than the country of origin, but that is beside the point - I'm not going to get into some internet cat fight, but I'm more than happy to debate facts.

As I said, PETA's approach might not be the best or most efficient or most traditional, but it is an approach - beyond sitting around talk talk talk talking and wasting billions of dollars on re-branding the same old product. The US used to be the land of invention and ideas, now they can't get past the factory farm and the internal combustion engine to think "outside the box" and take a new approach.

Also, you might want to ask for some documentation on the meat next time you order a burger or steak. A lot more of the meat sold in the US than people think comes from farms outside of the US, from Canada and Brazil in particular.