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Around 46 million Americans live in states that have introduced bills to ban cultivated meat, the latest escalation in a surprising culture war.
Unless Florida governor Ron DeSantis has an unexpected change of heart, it will soon be a crime to sell or make cultivated meat in the Sunshine State. A bill passed by the Florida House and Senate is now awaiting the signature of DeSantis, who has already indicated his opposition to what he calls “fake meat.” If he does sign the bill into law, anyone who sells, makes, or distributes cultivated meat in Florida may be subject to a fine of up to $500 and 60 days in prison.
“Beating somebody up and selling cultivated meat are the same in the eyes of the law in Florida,” says Justin Kolbeck, CEO of cultivated seafood startup Wildtype, who has been trying to persuade legislators to ease up on a number of proposed bans. As well as the Florida bill, there is also proposed legislation to ban cultivated meat in Alabama, Arizona, Kentucky, and Tennessee. If all of those bills pass—an admittedly unlikely prospect—then some 46 million Americans will be cut off from accessing a form of meat that many hope will be significantly kinder to the planet and animals.
The wave of proposed legislation, including very strict labeling laws, may come as a surprise given that cultivated meat isn’t on sale anywhere in the US at the moment. Floridians were already very unlikely to get their hands on a cultivated chicken cutlet, but the proposed ban shuts off that option altogether. “It is really significant. And to prohibit a food before it’s on the market for that whole population, before they’ve had a chance to try it and see if they want to buy it, feels absurd,” says Jessica Almy, senior vice president of policy at the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that lobbies for alternatives to animal protein.
I laughed pretty hard out loud at this. 😁
Just trying to give an insi, winsi bit of the benefit of the doubt. I mean, I would like to actually be wrong regarding my presumptions. Being wrong would be a good things when it comes to stuff like this. Haha.
I should have seen your nickname before posting hehehe…
Glad you realized I was just kidding as well
Persistently and ever, always nursing the embers of hope, no matter what. It’s a terrible curse that even my most nihilistic moments cannot seem to quash. And I’m probably a smidge mad as a result.
But hey, a whole hell of a lot has changed in my lifetime, for which I’m ever grateful.
Remember, even today’s generation of politicians won’t live forever. Rebellious subgroups of each generation rise.
Who knows, maybe humanity won’t decimate itself and this planet.
The question is simply a matter of how long our race will survive when they finally realize they have to do things different or death is imminent. Everything still feels too far away for most. I’m only for the first time hearing right wing folks believing in human caused global warming. It’ll be too late by the time anything is seriously done.
I only hope that science can make up for our failings and save us from ourselves.
See? There’s that hope again. 🤪
Love it… Can I be your friend?
Absolutely! Presuming, of course, that the sharing of lab grown hamburger patties is a part of that. 😁
I’m an award winning BBQer (or was a few years ago)… Can’t wait to get my hands on some of these products and see how they stand up against the nature grown stuff ;-)
Exactly. Although… the meat industry is a bit far from “nature grown stuff” these days.
I’m genuinely interested in these forms of meat. Perhaps it’s just because I’ve been envisioning this for decades thanks to science fiction.
Indeed, we had to look for special providers for the competitions and it got harder every year!