Last year, the Agriculture Department approved some companies to sell lab-grown chicken; other lab-cultured meats (such as beef, pork and tuna) are still being developed. Even the cultivated chicken is available only in very small quantities, at two U.S. restaurants. And it’s still unclear how well these new technologies will scale up.
But its prospects offer huge potential benefits.
Republican politicians in Alabama, Arizona, Tennessee and Florida are considering legislation that would ban the sale, distribution or import of any “cell-cultured food product” intended for human consumption. Depending on the state, penalties could include everything from a $1 million fine to prison time.
“Some folks probably like to eat bugs with Bill Gates, but not me,” said Tennessee state Rep. Bud Hulsey (R), referring to the billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist who has invested in some of these technologies. Hulsey suggested that allowing the sale of lab-grown meat would be a violation of the Nuremberg Code, which limits experimentation upon human subjects.
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To be clear, this is not about a left-wing nanny state forcing the sale or consumption of lab-grown meats. It’s about a conservative nanny state prohibiting the voluntary consumption and sale of these products (which again, mostly don’t yet exist).
