Florida bans lab-grown meat

 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday banning the sale of lab-grown meat in the state. The legislation is a clear handout to the state’s cattle industry: the state’s commissioner of agriculture said it was about protecting “our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture.” But DeSantis’ statements make it clear that, like many of his other pet causes, the lab-grown meat ban is a culture war issue.

“Today, 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 in a statement the day the bill was signed. A press release declared Florida was “taking action to stop the World Economic Forum’s goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects,” hinting at a fringe conspiracy theory that has taken hold among some on the right.

In reality, lab-grown, or “cultivated,” meat isn’t even available to most consumers yet. Unlike meat alternatives, cultivated meat is made from animal cells. The Food and Drug Administration has only approved lab-grown meat from two companies — Upside Food and Good Meat — neither of which sell their products in stores...more