In Tennessee, Arizona, and Alabama, similar initiatives are underway.
In the United States, lab-grown or “cultivated” beef was first approved for eating in 2022.
An animal’s cells are removed in order to produce cultured meat, and the animal’s cells are then given proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Genetically, the final result is identical to meat that is produced conventionally.
For years, the World Economic Forum, a global non-governmental organization based in Switzerland, has promoted lab-grown beef as a cost-effective and ecologically responsible means of feeding the world’s expanding population. Additionally, it has marketed insect farming as a “reliable and substitute source of protein.”A campaign has been started by proponents of edible insects to get the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include mealworms, protein powder from crickets, and other insect products in their list of safe ingredients.
These unusual dietary sources are now being used as ammunition in the US culture warfare. Two years ago, Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene made news when she implied that the government was keeping an eye on whether Americans were consuming imitation meat cultured in a petri dish.
Mr. DeSantis declared he was “fighting against an ideology that ultimately wants to eliminate meat production in the US and around the globe” at a ceremony on Wednesday to announce the new law.
“We have made it very evident in the state of Florida where we stand on agriculture. We support cattle ranchers,” he declared.
Wilton Simpson, Florida’s agricultural commissioner, praised the law, calling it a “tremendous step in the right direction”.
“Florida is taking a tremendous step in the right direction by signing first-in-the-nation legislation banning lab-grown meat,” Mr. Simpson stated.
However, the action also received support from Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania and an unlikely ally of Mr. DeSantis. Mr. Fetterman wrote on X that he “pains me deeply” to agree with Mr. DeSantis, “but I co-sign this”.
The company Good Meat, which claims to be the first in the world to market lab-grown meat, posted on X that it was “disappointed” with the new Florida law.
“In a state that purportedly prides itself on being a land of freedom and individual liberty, its government is now telling consumers what meat they can or cannot purchase,” it stated.