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Better Pork Featured Articles

Better Pork magazine is published bimonthly. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Lab-grown meat - Earth's saviour or unnatural?

Monday, August 4, 2014

Cultured meat, in vitro meat, test-tube meat – the stuff goes by many names. Some see it as the only feasible option for an overpopulated Earth. Others turn up their noses at the concept, calling it "unnatural."

Two Dutch researchers, Cor van der Weele and Johannes Tramper, hope to bridge the divide. In a paper published in the June issue of Trends in Biotechnology, they envision a future in which "pigs in backyards or on animal-friendly (urban) farms would serve as the living donors of muscle stem cells through biopsies. These pigs live happy lives as companion animals while their cells are cultured in local meat factories."

The pigs would suffer only the occasional prick of a needle, and consumers would be able to see and touch the living pig that produced their meat. This, van der Weele and Tramper believe, would "reverse feelings of alienation."

The paper cites research estimating that cultured meat could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, land use and water use by 90 per cent compared with standard European beef production. At this point, production of the "cultured-meat slurry" (yum!) is too costly to make it a real market contender. BP

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Anthrax confirmed in Sask. livestock

Friday, May 23, 2025

Saskatchewan Agriculture has confirmed anthrax in a cattle herd. Lab results on May 13 validated that anthrax caused deaths in livestock in the RM of Paynton No. 470. The bacteria Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax. These bacteria can survive in soil as spores for decades. The... Read this article online

PBFC Returns with Renewed Confidence

Friday, May 23, 2025

The Picture Butte Feeder Co-op (PBFC) has officially resumed full operational activities after months of uncertainty. Operations were suspended earlier this year following a thorough investigation by Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation’s inspection and investigation section. The Feeder... Read this article online

Vintage tractor run looking for more participants

Friday, May 23, 2025

A vintage tractor club is looking for participants for its spring tractor run. The Humboldt Vintage Club’s spring event takes place on May 31. “Anyone who has a vintage tractor is welcome to join the parade,” Ralph Kiefer, a wheat and canola farmer, and event organizer, told... Read this article online

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