Cultivated meat, more widely known to the public as “lab-grown meat,” is at an inflection point. Lab grown chicken and beef cultivated from cells in a petri dish remain unavailable to the average consumer, but the former has gained US Department of Agriculture approval. Two US restaurants in San Francisco and Washington DC have already served cultivated choice meat on their menus and more could follow as prices begin to fall. But new lab-grown meat bans gaining traction in mostly conservative-led states could threaten to impede the still-nascent industry’s momentum.
This week, Florida officially became the first state to make good on threats to ban cultivated meat. On Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation making it illegal to manufacture, sell, hold, or distribute lab-grown meat within the state. Those who run afoul of the new law could be charged with a misdemeanor crime. Similar legislation is currently under discussion in Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee. Violators of those bills, if they come to pass, could face jail time or fines.
“Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said during a press conference Wednesday. “We will save our beef.”
Why do Republican-led states want to ban lab-grown meat?
Republican lawmakers opposed to cultivated meat, broadly, have attempted to connect the industry to a larger supposed culture war. DeSantis, for his part, has previously described lab-grown meat as “part of a whole ideological agenda” and claims it would threaten ranchers. Others, like Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Wilton Simpson, who supports the law, have called lab-grown meat a “disgraceful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity.”
Lawmakers and cultivated meat critics have also questioned the safety of lab grown…
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