Despite the Green Light, There Is Still Pushback on Lab-Grown Meat
Advocates say lab-grown meat is good for the environment but lawmakers are still pushing back against the cell-cultured product.
Transcript
Lab-grown meat has yet to be a staple on tables around the world but the outcry continues over the cell-cultivated product.
In early May, Governor Ron Desantis of Florida and Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama, both Republicans, signed bills banning the manufacture, sale, or distribution of food products made from cultured animal cells.
The Arizona House did vote to require more specific labeling of cell-cultivated meat and seafood but the measure failed to pass the Senate before the session ended.
At the federal level, a bipartisan measure to ban the use of lab-grown meat in school lunch programs across the nation was turned back. However, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, signed a bill at the end of the 2024 legislative session that did just that.
In June of last year, USDA gave a green light to the production of chicken produced from poultry cells. The pitch by the two California companies making the cultured meat is that no harm comes to animals and there is a reduction in the impact on the environment from grazing, growing feed or animal waste. The cell-grown chicken product has yet to reach supermarket shelves in this country but it made brief appearances at two high end restaurants in the U.S. and a grocery store in Singapore.
According to the Agricultural Law Center, 16 U.S. states have passed various pieces of legislation addressing the use of the term “meat” but not all of them have been signed into law.
Late last year, Italy banned the sale of cell-cultured meat and France is also considering legislation on an all out ban.
For Market to Market, I’m David Miller.
contact: miller@iowapbs.org