Maybe the real future of factory meat is figuring out how to grow animals that don't have an appreciable amount of brain aside from the minimal bits required to sustain life. Could certainly alleviate the moral concerns a bit, even if it doesn't really solve the efficiency problem.
This is a great idea I've never encountered before. And it could be very low-tech: just breed selectively.
I suspect the flaw is that substantial brain functioning is hard or impossible to get rid of without damaging the animal's meat output. For one thing, good hygiene has got to be cognitively demanding, especially given the tight quarters we raise farm animals in. Poor coordination could lead to broken bones and infections. Stupider animals might even be more prone to fighting, which would be no good at all.
As a meat lover who cares little for the welfare of animals, you're completely right. It's the only rational solution, especially in the medium term. But nobody wants to hear that sustainable solutions will actually make for worse quality of life (this applies to a lesser extent to renewables as well, where people assume that we can maintain the same uptime standards we enjoy with fossil fuels at a similar cost level.
But at least in that case we're talking maybe 1.5-2x the cost, rather than dozens or hundreds as with lab-grown meat!).
No thanks. I really enjoy eating meat and can source it from environmentally responsible sources in addition to raising my own pigs for meat. The "Lets stop eating meat" is a hollow path forward. How about instead we eat more meat that is raised in ways that increase the fertility of the land and capture more carbon? it's totally viable if you are willing to spend more...
