Italy’s right-wing government provoked immediate controversy when it proposed banning the production of lab-grown meats to “safeguard our nation’s heritage.” The farm lobby cheered, scientists protested, and the conflict began to sound eerily akin to Europe’s protracted battle over genetically modified crops. I could only think: Here’s another hugely promising technological frontier stymied by false claims and misguided public skepticism.
Italy should do its part to support, not stigmatize, this industry. When the EU forbade GMO agriculture decades ago — with restrictions that remain in place today — it deterred crucial research. And look where this ban has gotten the EU today: Even Italy now imports vast amounts of GMO soy annually.
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What Italy’s government seems to be missing is that it’s climate change, more than any other factor, that’s threatening Italy’s food heritage, shifting what’s possible to grow where: which wine grape can be produced in Tuscany for a good Chianti; which heritage-breed pigs can be raised in what regions for Prosciutto di Parma. We have entered an era of disruption and adaptation that is understandably painful for the food-nostalgic, but unavoidably necessary.
