To the editor:
The Italians have just banned artificial meats. Apparently, only Singapore and the U.S. allow their sale, but most interesting to me is that the Italians are most concerned with the deleterious effect the consumption of such products will have on farmers and the products from Italian agriculture. The two largest farmers groups lobbied successfully, with others, to ban the artificial hamburgers and other lab-grown meats which have been sold in the U.S. for years.
Italian consumers and producers are worried that prosciutto may go away if it can be grown in a lab or assembled from non-natural sources. In other words, the argument is that even if we can do it, we really don’t want it or need it, since sometimes natural is better than artificial; scientific advances should not automatically be accepted.
There have been accusations from those opposed to the new ban that this will lead to continuing increases of global warming from agricultural farming, as well as the continued killing of animals just for human consumption. Obviously they are right based upon the science and our current practices, but the Italians are telling us that sometimes scientific advances, when balanced against all the consequences, can come up short.
Perhaps this philosophy could be an impetus for better farming practices and more wholesome natural products, but I believe that the philosophy is that if it ain’t broke, why try to fix something that has been accepted from time immemorial. I am not sure that the science or culture of animal farming cannot be altered to try to reduce the environmental issues, although I can understand those who cannot abide the killing of animals for moral reasons.
That said, my Italian friends’ discussions of the issue ultimately seems to turn on how good a chianina steak tastes, or how it is inconceivable not to have prosciutto or wild boar. Maybe we humans are too selfish or shortsighted to look past our next meals to the future of the planet, or the killing of sentient beings to feed ourselves. At least for now, those Hobbesian choices will not be an issue in the trattorias and markets of Italy.
Stephen Cohen
South Egremont
