The cultured wars: Why lab-grown meat is inspiring bipartisan hate

Ron DeSantis wants to “protect meat.” This is something the governor of Florida — a Republican who was previously, and perhaps fittingly, dubbed “Meatball Ron” by former president Donald Trump — has made clear for months, first while railing against ESG frameworks and a California law that requires farmers to provide more room for breeding pigs, and then eventually in his sustained campaign to ban lab-grown meat, which ultimately succeeded last week. “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 release on May 1 after signing SB 1084, legislation that prohibits the sale of lab-grown meat in the state of Florida.“Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.” Florida isn’t alone. Arizona, Tennessee and Alabama are all similarly considering legislation that would “prohibit the manufacture, sale or distribution of food products made from cultured animal cells.” While it’s worth noting that these bills were all introduced by Republicans, lab-grown meat has recently inspired both skepticism and serious calls for prohibition on both sides of the political aisle. He continued: “As a member of @SenateAgDems and as some dude who would never serve that slop to my kids, I stand with our American ranchers and farmers.” Fetterman’s statement actually encapsulates two of the most common motivations politicians cite when it comes to entertaining the idea of banning lab-grown meat: the idea that its introduction to the mass-market would damage farmers’ livelihoods, and the perception that lab-grown meat is hyper-processed “slop” that shouldn’t be offered to their constituents.