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United States

Florida Bans Lab-Grown Meat 191

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill this week banning and criminalizing the manufacture and sale of lab-grown meat in the state. From a report: The legislation joins similar efforts from three other states -- Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee -- that have also looked to stop the sale of lab-grown meat, which is believed to still be years away from commercial viability. "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. "We will save our beef."

Lab-grown meat, also known as cultivated meat, has attracted considerable attention in recent years as startups have raised millions of dollars to improve the technology meant to create a climate-friendly alternative to traditional meat sources. Cultivated meat is usually grown in a metal vessel from a sample of animal cells. They multiply in a container called a bioreactor while being fed with water, amino acids, vitamins and lipids -- a process that can be difficult to do at scales large enough to create enough food for commercial sale. Still, some companies have made strides, with two California startups receiving approval from U.S. regulators last year to sell lab-grown chicken. Those companies said Florida's bill stifles innovation in a space that is becoming competitive globally.
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Florida Bans Lab-Grown Meat

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  • by ardmhacha ( 192482 ) on Friday May 03, 2024 @03:14PM (#64445652)

    Ron DeSantis is positioning himself for a Presidential run in 2028. All his political moves should be viewed with that in mind.

    He has no idea whether lab-grown meat is good or bad but he knows this will appeal to a certain section of the Republican base.

    • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Friday May 03, 2024 @03:28PM (#64445700)

      Ron DeSantis is positioning himself for a Presidential run in 2028. All his political moves should be viewed with that in mind. He has no idea whether lab-grown meat is good or bad but he knows this will appeal to a certain section of the Republican base.

      Ya, but in many ways, and ironically here, Ron himself is all hat, no cattle. :-)

    • by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Friday May 03, 2024 @04:46PM (#64445976)
      I don't know who modded this offtopic, this bill sounds 100% like "let's make up an issue to win so we can be winners."
    • by Niten ( 201835 )

      he knows this will appeal to a certain section of the Republican base.

      You might call it... red meat for his potential voters

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      Nah, Ron had his chance, he'll never get the hype cycle he had this cycle as he's had 6 years of being in the press around Florida. His campaign fizzled out not just because of Trump but because DeSantis is really just a goober and that was obvious once he got on a national stage.

      In 2028 he will have been a private citizen for 2 years unless he runs for the House again as both FL Senate seats are Republican and neither of them are going to retire soon. Ron's stuck, he can't run to the right of Trump and r

    • Here in the land of the free, we don't like people to have choices. So, here is yet another law taking a choice away from the consumer, and dressing it up as some noble fight against an evil government.

      This is just protectionism for the rich and powerful meat industry. They can stay comfortable in their cartel without fear of a new tech disrupting their business model now, and we have to go without an option that we might prefer, once it materializes.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Kisai ( 213879 )

      The writing is on the wall for Beef, Pork and Chicken

      Beef, primarily because of the extensive waste of land and Greenhouse gas emissions. Pork and Chicken aren't far behind, but will likely be phased out longer since "bacon" and "chicken" are basically the only food children and adults with taste palettes of children will eat.

      Fish is unlikely to ever become a lab-grown meat, because it's literately more cost effective to build an aquarium and farm the fish, what will likely happen is "fish farms" will be pr

      • ...There is no way for lab beef/pork/chicken to tastes like the animal flesh unless it's grown from cells of that animal...

        That's the whole point of lab-grown meat: real meat grown from cells, as opposed to the plant-based substitutes now on the market. If the cost can be brought down, I can see it succeeding even in its present form, which because it has no bones is like ground beef.

    • He can't run for governor again in 2026 because of constitutionally mandated term limits that he would need the voters to sign off on at 66% to repeal. So he's going to not be in any political office in 2026.

      He pissed off and shit on a ton of his own people when he was trying to secure the nomination for this year. In particular he had 300 million dollars in federal funding that he blocked in order to punish people who voted against allowing him to run while remaining governor.

      DeSantis is a scary ass
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      Ron, a fellow Republican wants to know: Why not let consumers make up their own minds? Back in the Goldwater-Reagan days, before conspiracy theorists and the abortion Taliban, we used to let the free market decide such things.

  • oh, he said this "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"
    • In fact though, the bill was promoted mainly by the cattle industry, not as a reaction to some mythical culture wars.

    • The "global elite" are doing quite well with the food system as it is.

      When a change comes along to disrupt entrenched interests, you can bet those interests will try to pin it on shadowy "global elites" as a scare tactic.

      If the guys who've bought all the agricultural industry and land aren't global elites, I don't know who is. Funny those are the same guys trying to scare everyone away from artificial meat.

  • Free Market (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ArchieBunker ( 132337 ) on Friday May 03, 2024 @03:22PM (#64445678)

    Why does DeSantis hate the free market? If lab grown meat is so disgusting then consumers won't buy it and the problem takes care of itself.

    • Why does DeSantis hate the free market? If lab grown meat is so disgusting then consumers won't buy it and the problem takes care of itself.

      The second part is obviously true, but you can't confuse him with facts and logic. Guessing he loves business, property and sales taxes more -- noting that FL doesn't have personal income taxes. According to Cattle in Florida [floridabeef.org] there are a *bunch* of ranchers in Florida, presumably on a lot of land.

      Today, there are more than 886 thousand head of cattle and 15,000 beef producers throughout Florida. Currently, Florida ranks 13th in overall cattle numbers nationwide. The three top ranking counties for cattle are Okeechobee, Highlands, and Osceola counties. Cash receipts from cattle and calf sales totaled over $546 Million.

    • Republicans haven't been pro free-market or fiscal conservatives for decades now. They've realized they can get more votes from uneducated (and usually poor) people with scare tactics. You don't have to prove you are right to get those votes, because your voter is not discerning.

    • That the right wing are in favor of small government. Nothing could be further from the truth.

      The core value of the right wing is obedience. You obey people above you because they're better than you and in exchange for that people below you obey you. It's all about obedience. This goes all the way back to the origins of the right wing when they were monarchists sitting in the literal right wing of the French assembly.

      Once you understand that everything the right wing does makes sense. Especially how
    • Why does DeSantis hate the free market? If lab grown meat is so disgusting then consumers won't buy it and the problem takes care of itself.

      Because no one actually cares about markets.

      The left cares about creating equality. You think Communist revolutionaries (the ideological ones, not the power grabbers) cared about economic theory? They thought they were having a revolution in favour of equality (spoiler alert: didn't work out so well). The anti-free market stuff was because markets allowed a lot of power to accumulate with the rich, but the modern left as figured out that it's far better to work with and regulate free markets than to try and

  • DeSantis said. "We will save our beef."

    We will save our ranchers -- and the supporting industries.

    I don't know much about the beef industry in Florida, but Cattle in Florida [floridabeef.org] notes:

    Today, there are more than 886 thousand head of cattle and 15,000 beef producers throughout Florida. Currently, Florida ranks 13th in overall cattle numbers nationwide. The three top ranking counties for cattle are Okeechobee, Highlands, and Osceola counties. Cash receipts from cattle and calf sales totaled over $546 Million.

    • In the end, it all comes down to the corn lobby. Quick Gewgle Foo shows 40 percent of US corn is used as cattle feed. Ethanol MOVE OVER!
      • In the end, it all comes down to the corn lobby. Quick Gewgle Foo shows 40 percent of US corn is used as cattle feed. Ethanol MOVE OVER!

        Mythbusters: Plausible.

    • by rahmrh ( 939610 )

      That would mean Florida produces around 3-4% of the US beef and has 7% or so of the US population. Not even enough beef to come close to feeding their own population, so they must be a net importer of beef. And assuming that the Florida beef mostly uses corn from outside the state, even more of the money for beef leaves the state.

    • We will save our ranchers -- and the supporting industries.

      From what? You think Lab grown meat which is expected to have an absolute minimum at scale price of *checks notes* $10-20 / lb is going to be a threat to your ranchers currently selling meat wholesale at $3 / lb?

    • California has over 5 million head of cattle. We have real cowboys over here, not like those eastern wannabes.

  • ugh (Score:2, Insightful)

    by nomadic ( 141991 )

    Ah yes the global elites, not like Harvard- and Yale-educated governor of a state. He's just plain simple folks.

    I am so sick of these dumbass conservative conspiracy theories.

  • by Talon0ne ( 10115958 ) on Friday May 03, 2024 @03:44PM (#64445774)

    I ate a 'Beyond Burger' once and man oh man was I sick. Never again will I eat anything like that. Remember Olean chips with the warning on the bag about 'anal oil leakage'? I remember.

    • I'm a vegetarian and I don't mess with these highly processed meat alternatives. I can do the ones that are made from beans, tofu and veggies. But, Beyond and Impossible are nearly indigestible.
      • As a non-vegetarian, who eats some meals without meat, the idea of vegetarian meat-like stuff seems weird. I'd far rather have a bowl of lentils than a burger made from lentils trying to be meat. A LOT of fake meat really tastes bad. The old style Garden Burger was just fine, tasted ok, no need to go beyond that. The early fake meat hotdogs were abominations that gave an aftertaste that lasted for many hours. Are there vegetarians that want to taste meat? What's wrong with traditional meat less diets?

    • Beyond Burger isn't very good. Or healthy. Impossible Burger tastes better. But Impossible burger isn't healthy either. But neither are covered by this ban, because Beyond and Impossible meats are not meat. The ban is on lab grown meat, not vegetable matter trying to taste like meat. The lab grown meat will likely taste better but it's much harder to make.

    • Not the same thing. Impossible burgers are just highly processed veggies.

      Lab grown meat is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing. It's real cow cells growing and dividing. There's just no cow brain connected to it said cow meat.

      • That does sound kind-a spooky, I suppose. I mean, that's what they do in StarTrek so maybe it's ok... but it does SOUND spooky.

    • That's made with soy stuff of any kind he's going to be sick as a dog for about 2 or 3 days. On the other hand he can eat tofu no problem same goes for edamame.

      Meanwhile we've both been eating beyond Burger is for months now. And you can buy a bag of sugar-free gummy bears that have a 30% chance of putting you on the toilet for months on end.

      A lot of people have problems with certain foods. It's not surprising there's some people who can't eat what's in beyond meats food or the impossible Burger.
  • "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. "We will save our beef."

    Come on, nobody with an above-room-temperature IQ takes this statement seriously. And we've already seen that DeSantis has zero appeal outside of Florida. So why not let them play their silly little games there? It's comedy gold!

    • It panders to his Qult base. Of course it all falls apart when you ask simple questions.

      Specifically who are the "global elite"? What goals do they have? How does eating lab grown meat accomplish these goals? If the "global elite" really wanted to interfere with the food supply then why not just buy up all the cattle ranches? Nobody would ever know. Instead it's a conspiracy theory based on one research paper that noted how farming insects has a smaller carbon footprint than farming cattle. The media repor

    • Come on, nobody with an above-room-temperature IQ takes this statement seriously.

      You shouldn't take DeSantis literally, but certainly should take him seriously.

      He is a Trump mini-me, but more competent at getting stuff done, and that is dangerous.

      And we've already seen that DeSantis has zero appeal outside of Florida.

      DeSantis would've won the Republican nomination if Trump was hit by a bus.

      There were some primary elections where he came in third to Trump and Haley, but polls showed that most of the Trump votes would've gone to DeSantis if Trump wasn't on the ballot. In 2028, Trump likely won't be on the ballot.

      So why not let them play their silly little games there? It's comedy gold!

      People laughed at Trump in 2016.

      • DeSantis is competent when backed up by a like minded legislature. He may end up like Trump though, so sure that literally everyone in the world loves him to death that he's unable to deal with the necessary back and forth negotiatoin skills needed for actual governing with a divided electorate.

      • See, here's the thing - as weird as this may sound (about Trump), I don't think DeSantis has Trump's oratorical ability or people skills. He's basically a follower, not a leader.

      • by cstacy ( 534252 )

        Trump votes would've gone to DeSantis if Trump wasn't on the ballot. In 2028, Trump likely won't be on the ballot.

        In 2028, Trump likely won't be on the planet.

  • They allow 'beef' pumped full for hormones , steroids , water and other chemicals to be sold. Guess they have to do something with all those unadopted children now abortions or banned or the state will have to pay to raise them.
  • If those quotes were attributed to some random politician I had never heard of, I would assume it was simply a satirical story.. but it's Ron DeSantis...

    I have no desire to eat lab grown meat and I'm sure most Americans are the same way. However if taste/texture improves so it's not distinguishable AND it's cheaper.. you can bet a significant portion of Americans will change their minds. Our society prefers cheap over quality.

    I'd probably never eat a lab grown steak... but lab grown ground beef or g
  • You've gotta feel bad for Desantis. He's the governor of Florida, a state with 22 million people, which would be the 16th largest economy if it were independent, but he still doesn't consider himself to be part of the "global elite." It must be a pretty small club.

    • by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
      He's trying to act like Trump but it's so incredible awkward that it just makes everyone cringe. He's about as soft as a roll Charmin.
      • If there is such a thing as the "global elite", then Trump is absolutely 100% one of the members of it. Maybe not a founding member, though he is old enough to be one.

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          He's a legacy. The only way you can be more "global elite" than a multi-billionaire New York real estate mogul denounced for profiteering by Eisenhower is to be that guy's playboy son.

  • They demand affirmation as as his campaign fleshes out expect similarly targeted legislation.

  • I thought Impossible Meat, Beyond Meat, and the other vegetable-based simulated meats were the ultimate in processed foods. They contain excessive amounts of salt plus chemical flavorings. However, lab-grown meat exceeds them all.

    Doctors warn us to avoid eating processed foods. Real meats from steers, pigs, lambs, chickens, et cetera are far less processed than meat simulations.

    My brother once asked: "If we are not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?"

  • Authoritarian meat? The whole thing sounds like an Impossible Nothingburger.

  • The left has been going on about GMO food for years, now the right is doing their version with lab grown meat. Not sure what they are so afraid of, it isn't like it is in any position to surpass natural meat anytime soon. It is anti business also.

  • Well, on sale in Singapore if you can afford it, looks to be expensive.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/20... [abc.net.au]
    Personally I love quail and a nice slab of meat sounds great - Bring it on!

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