Florida became the first state to outlaw lab-grown meat last week. It was basically a handout to the agri business mixed with a bit of conspiracy theory peddling.

State Rep. Dean Black, a Republican cattle rancher, said, “Cultured meat is made by man. Real meat is made by God himself.” Meanwhile, the state’s commissioner of agriculture said it was about protecting “our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture.” And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke of “elites” who are trying to force “the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects.”

But while it’s easy to dismiss this as Florida doing Florida things, this decision could be a turning point for the future of cultured meat. Cultured meat isn’t even on the shelves yet, and several other states are already working on similar bans.

Sustainable, cruelty-free meat

Cultured meat, also known as lab-grown meat or in-vitro meat, is a form of animal protein produced through the cultivation of animal cells in a controlled environment. It’s not like existing meat replacements made from plants. It’s actual muscle cells without the need to raise and slaughter animals.

This process begins with extracting muscle cells from a living animal, which are then nourished and allowed to proliferate in a bioreactor. This apparatus provides the optimal conditions for cell growth. The cells multiply and differentiate into muscle tissues, forming meat that is biologically identical to what might be obtained from an animal. This method can produce various types of meat, including beef, chicken, and fish, depending on the cells used and the conditions set.

The appeal of this type of meat is very straightforward. You can make it anywhere. Environmentally, it offers a sustainable alternative to traditional animal farming, significantly reducing the ecological footprint by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water consumption. Ethically, it eliminates animal suffering associated with conventional meat production, presenting a more humane approach to meat consumption. Furthermore, cultured meat can enhance food security by providing a consistent supply of protein that is less susceptible to diseases, climate change, and resource limitations that affect traditional agriculture.

As global demand for meat continues to grow, cultured meat could play a crucial role in meeting this demand sustainably and ethically.

As of now, Singapore is the only country that sells cultured meat commercially. However, there are over 150 companies working on creating lab-grown meat, and two of them (Upside and Good Meat) earned USDA approval for cultivated chicken. However, there’s no company that actually sells cultured meat in the US at the moment.

This is about politics, not health

Republican state Rep. Danny Alvarez, the sponsor behind Florida’s new ban, claimed the novel technology’s “unknowns are so great.” However, a multiyear review from the FDA and the USDA (on the two above-mentioned companies) found that cultured meat is safe to eat.

If anything, Florida’s decision to ban a product that doesn’t yet exist is based on protecting big agricultural companies and pandering to a subset of voters. It has very little to do with any health issues.

Last year, another Florida state Rep. Tyler Sirois (also a Republican) introduced a similar bill. But Sirois was more straightforward, emphasizing the need to protect farming and cattle, which are “incredibly important industries to Florida.” He also called lab-grown meat an “affront to nature and creation.”

DeSantis seemed more interested in a conspiracy theory linked with pro-meat lobby groups — that “global elites” want to make everyone eat bugs or lab grown meat.

“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 media statement the day the bill was signed.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The big, powerful lobby groups are on the other side.

The meat war

Lab-grown meat is not without its problems or challenges. It’s not clear if the environmental claims are entirely true, for instance. But the lobbying and the push come from existing agricultural companies, not disruptive start-ups. Earlier this year, lawmakers in Arizona proposed introducing a similar ban, with one of the sponsors being, once again, a rancher. Earlier this year, Italy also banned cultured meat in a nod to the farmers’ lobby.

The meat industry is already freaking out over existing plant-based products. Over the past decade, as meat replacements have become more and more popular, lawmakers have consistently restricted how these products can be labeled and sold. Studies have shown that the agriculture lobby is actively working against green solutions in order to protect its own product.

Some bills have restricted words like “burger” or “milk”, forcing sale of plant-based products under confusing names like “Almond Beverage” or “Vegetable Disk”. Several lawsuits have pushed against such legislation and in 2022, a federal judge ruled Arkansas’s labeling law unconstitutional. But it’s much easier to put forward new bills than fight them in court. Meanwhile, meat products often include terms like “ethically raised” or “sustainable” which have no legal meaning and are misleading consumers.

Efforts to ban cultured meat seem to be part of the same effort. The goal is to help protect the agricultural status quo while pushing conspiracy theories that are popular with some voters. Even though cultured meat companies don’t even have a product yet, they’re already facing many regulatory hurdles or straight up bans.

Food production accounts for over a quarter (26%) of global greenhouse gas emissions according to some estimates, and up to a third according to others. Meat production accounts for 60% of these emissions, despite producing a relatively small fraction of the world’s calories and protein. Ironically, these emissions (and the global heating they are causing) are also making life much harder for farmers, as droughts and extreme weather events are becoming more common.

Cultured meat won’t become mainstream anytime soon and it definitely won’t be a panacea for these issues. But it can be one piece of the puzzle that helps us to finally make agriculture more sustainable.