Why lab-grown meat is far better than the meat we already eat
NBCNov 21, 2022
The Facts
On Wednesday, two California-based companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, said the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had approved them as producers and retailers of laboratory-grown meat.
The approval allows the USDA to inspect their lab-grown or cultured meat facilities — in the same way as traditional meat processing facilities and slaughterhouses — and label the meat as "cell-cultivated chicken."
The Spin
Narrative A
Lab-grown meat reduces the harm and suffering associated with traditional animal agriculture as it does not involve raising, exploiting, or slaughtering animals. As livestock production generates 14.5% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, cultivated meat is an environment-friendly and relatively sustainable alternative for meat eaters looking for a more humane option.
Narrative B
This "safer and sustainable" alternative to traditional meat is grown in a setting more familiar to the pharmaceutical industry than the food sector. Stealing cells from a living animal still breaches animal rights, which means lab-grown meat has the potential for continued animal exploitation in the production process. Furthermore, cultivated meat's environmental impact is in reality higher than traditional farming, as it currently uses more energy to produce.
Nerd narrative
There's a 1% chance that commercial farming of cows, pigs, and chickens for meat will be prohibited in the US before 2041, according to the Metaculus prediction community.