Attention meat shoppers... (Page 2 of 2)

I knew they were doing this with those prepackaged salads, (inflating the bag with nitrogen and carbon dioxide to keep the greens from wilting) but I didn't know they'd moved on to meat. In the future, this sort of thing is going to be done at the genetic level. In order to grow a good strawberry, for instance, you used to need plenty of sun, water, and--above all--healthy soil. Nowadays the soil is so utterly depleted all it does is keep the plants from falling over. The nutrients that used to come from the minerals, microorganisms, fungi, decaying biological matter, and other natural components of soil have been replaced by a few chemical fertilizers. The nutritional quality and taste of whatever is grown in this dead, chemical-soaked soil is compromised. But genetic engineers may be able to take a strawberry that is grown in such conditions and give it the appearance of healthy, delicious food. The other options (using healthy soil, or even a wider variety of fertilizers) are expensive and would negatively impact the bottom line of the corporate farms. For maximum profit, they need a product that can be grown quickly with minimal nutrient requirements, and it has to look good to the consumer. It doesn't matter whether the food is good for you, or whether it even tastes that great. As long as the new strawberry looks and tastes "strawberryish", it'll sell. The funny thing is that these genetically engineered items are going to probably end up tasting like the artificial flavors people expect them to taste like, such as those contained in "grape" Kool-Aid, "strawberry" Pop-Tarts, "watermelon" Jolly Ranchers, and others. The new strawberry will be huge, bright red, very sweet, Pop-Tart-esque, cheap to produce, and nutritionally worthless. That's just one plant-based example. I can't even imagine what kinds of living monstrosities will be produced by genetic engineers trying to create cheap, non-spoiling, bright red meat.

Just as an aside, it's not difficult to stop consuming addictive substances.  What is very, very difficult is getting oneself into the proper mindset to facilitate quitting.  I know this from my own personal experience, and I was a heavy smoker.  If one doesn't really want to stop something, it will be impossible for them to stop and vice versa.  Belief and state of mind are everything.