The International Herald Tribune and the New York Times, Monday, April 21, both have stories about in vitro meat. The IHT story is brief, and headed, "Fake meat divides animal rights group; ." (P 6)
It reports:
"People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to pay a million dollars for fake meat. The group was to announce Monday that it would sponsor a $1 million prize to the 'first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.'
"For several years, scientists have worked to develop technologies to grow tissue cultures that could be consumed like meat without the expense of land and feed and the disease potential of real meat.
"Lisa Lange, a vice president of the organization, said, 'As the largest animal rights organization in the world, it's our job to introduce the philosophy and hammer it home that animals are not ours to eat.'"
The New York Times is a lengthier version of the same story, written by John Schwartz. It focuses more on the internal battle within PETA, as exemplified by Lisa Lange's quote above, contrasted with Ingrid Newkirk's full, even monetary, support for in vitro meat. It is headed, "PETA's Latest Tactic: $1 Million for Fake Meat."
Both the International Herald Tribune and New York Times have the longer version of the story on their websites at
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/21/america/21meat.php and
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/21meat.html?hp respectively.
You can respond with a letter to letters@iht.com or to letters@nytimes. com
Whether you think the idea of meat grown in test tubes is disgusting, or you think it isn't nearly as disgusting as slices of killed animals' bodies, the story opens the door for letters discussing the horrors of factory farming. As Tuesday April 22 is Earth Day, comments on factory farming's impact on the environment are particularly topical.
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read advance reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals" and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video