For a few years now, we’ve been following the story of clean
meat. This move toward cellular agriculture, where meat is grown outside
animals in a sterile facility, holds loads of promise for farmed animals and
our planet. It would mean that meat could be produced without animal abuse or
slaughter, sparing the lives of billions of animals each year. Its production
would also require a tiny fraction of the resources currently used by the meat
industry.
Scientists are now hopeful that clean fish could also become
a reality, and much sooner than you might imagine. In fact, Finless Foods, a
clean fish startup, just raised $3.5
million in funding, which it says will bring it to the end of the initial
research and development phase.
Check this out from Finless Foods CEO Mike Selden:
The opportunity this money gives us to perfect our science and create delicious, safe, and healthy food is genuinely exciting to our entire team. We’ve already dramatically lowered cost and secured precious cellular material that will push us into rapid commercialization within years, not decades.
Selden predicts that Finless Foods will begin selling clean
fish items, such as high-quality bluefin tuna, to restaurants to build buzz.
Additionally, the company is working on cheap albacore and skipjack tuna that
it hopes will eventually be sold on supermarket shelves.
Clean fish, when brought to fruition, will be a game changer
for fish and other marine animals, who suffer unimaginably due to commercial
fishing and fish farming. Mercy For Animals recently released
groundbreaking undercover footage captured off the California coast exposing
the horrors of commercial fishing—countless sea animals ensnared in driftnets and
left to suffocate.
Just watch.
Additionally, fish farms are nothing more than factory farms
for fish. Animals such as salmon are packed into filthy pools and forced to
swim in their own waste. Disease runs rampant. In 2016 salmon farms experienced
an outbreak of sea lice that stretched from
Scandinavia to Chile. As a result, nearly half of Scotland’s salmon farms were
infested with the parasite, which feeds on blood, skin, and slime.
Despite fishes’ capacity to feel pain, the seafood
industry treats these innocent beings as mere objects.
Thankfully, you don’t need to wait for clean fish to become
a reality before leaving fish off your plate. With all the incredible
sea-inspired plant-based
products and recipes, it’s never been easier to get the same taste without
the torture.
For more information on plant-based eating, visit ChooseVeg.com.