The Italians are no longer the only ones to stand up against the production of artificial meat, made from animal cells. In the United States, Florida now sanctions this type of project. A decision which does not go unnoticed in a country whose food safety policeman has already given the green light to the production of laboratory chicken meat.
In Italy, we remember the controversy sparked by the plan to open a McDonald's restaurant in the Vatican, just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square. In 2017, Venice also banned the opening of new takeaway food stores such as burgers or kebabs. So, when last November the Italian government decided to ban the production of cellular meat, that is to say obtained from the reproduction of cells fed with hormones under a microscope, it was not really surprising.
Except that the Italians are no longer the only ones to stand up against this food innovation brandished as a solution to reduce the heavy carbon footprint generated by the livestock breeding sector. On the other side of the Atlantic, Florida has just adopted a law penalizing the production of laboratory meat. Entrepreneurs who dare to embark on such a project could face up to sixty days in prison and a $500 fine.
In a press release published on May 1, the governor of this American state clearly indicates that “Florida is fighting against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat petri dish-grown meat or insects to achieve its authoritarian goals“And not to beat around the bush.”lab-grown meat is a shameful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity, and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture“.
Never in the United States has such a provision been made against cell-based meat manufacturing projects. And Florida might not be the only state to oppose it. Alabama but also Tennessee and Arizona could do the same. These positions are not at all trivial in the context of the deployment of cultured meat. Because of the 150 companies engaged in the production of cultured meat, no less than 43 are based in the United States.
Furthermore, the Food and Drug Administration gave the green light in June 2023 to two start-ups to produce and market their laboratory chicken meat, namely Good Meat and Upside Foods, which had opened at the end of 2021 a factory capable of producing 23 tonnes of animal muscle cells per year. To date, the United States and Singapore are the only two countries in the world to have paved the way for artificial meat…