Moving this discussion here as its clogging the Scarlet & Violet thread:
Considering the Pokemon world has the technology to reconstruct living beings from DNA extracted from fossils that are millions of years old, having a synthetic meat industry is hardly a stretch.
Huh, good point. Lab grown meat is a thing (given the more catchy name "
cultured meat"), and since its being grown in a controlled environment its supposed to be more healthy (and can be made healthier) and have less environmental impact than farming (though these claims are still up in theory).
Want beef? Well just get a few choice cells from Tauros/Miltank, do the preparation for the replication process (such as putting it in a container), send it into the replicators, and tada: the inside of the container is full of Tauros/Miltank meat. Prep it, cook it, cut it up, package it, and it'll be on store shelves by the morning.
That said, there will still probably be instances where the Pokemon themselves are eaten. Notably Slowpoke shedding their tails and the crustacean Pokemon which can lose their claws as they can regrow back. And in my headcannon, a Pokemon never really gets "weaker" as it ages. So say on a farm an elderly Miltank or Tauros is ready to pass, though parts of the body such as the bones and organs have worn themselves down, the meat and muscle is overall fine so those Pokemon can have their spirit sent off to a peaceful rest and their bodies than processed likely as premium meat. This ain't the lab stuff, this is the actual Pokemon.
Though there is another side of this: the Pokemon POV. As mentioned, Pokemon eat other Pokemon. We're thinking its barbaric because Pokemon have shown to be capable of human emotion and certain level of intelligence. But let's note those are tamed Pokemon, Pokemon who are pets & work partners (or employees in some cases). Despite Pokemon have the ability to be more human-like, a Pokemon (especially wild) still acts upon instinct and raw feeling, intelligence used for basic survival. Pokemon likely do not see it as "taboo" to eat other Pokemon, it's the law of the wild.
Considering the Pokemon World does have an overseeing god, I can't imagine it didn't make plans for this (being it would have been the one to guide such a cycle). My guess is that any Pokemon which is eaten, by Pokemon or human, gets a "reincarnation free card" and its spirit is sent right back to be reborn (maybe even selected in a Pokemon that is less likely to be eaten, or who knows maybe it'll be reborn as a human). It's why Sinnoh Myths includes that myth which concerns eating a Pokemon: it's a (albeit dark) ritual meant to ease both the soul of the eaten and eater.
So, with that said, maybe there are farms that, after they get to a certain "ripe" age, the Pokemon are treated to a ritual where the chosen spend the last day of their lives in luxury before a Ghost-type takes their spirit to the afterlife and the now soulless body is sent to be processed. The Pokemon know they're just going to be reincarnated (won't have its memories but for these Pokemon that's not a huge deal) so feels no need to fight back. And if there was any farm Pokemon which didn't want to restart life... they aren't. They're either kept as a guardian/pet/worker or maybe go with off into a world with a trainer.
(I do plan on going back to other posts, just want to post this her so I can link it to the post I'm making there)