Why lab-grown meat is so controversial

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned cultivated meat, Reason's Zach Weissmueller visited California labs to try cultivated chicken and salmon and explore the future of this industry.

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A company based in San Francisco just became the first in the world to sell direct to consumers what its founders call "cultivated meat," meaning it didn't originate from an animal that lived on a farm or in a muddy feedlot but from a giant steel vat.

The first thing I wanted to know—is it delicious? I visited one of the labs of GOOD Meat to taste it for myself.

GOOD Meat, a subsidiary of the company Eat Just, began selling its lab-grown chicken direct-to-consumers in Singapore this past summer and recently received approval from the Food and Drug Administration, which means that it could be coming to a grocery store or restaurant near you.

Except if, like me, you live in the Sunshine State.

"Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere. We're not doing that in the state of Florida," declared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he banned lab-grown meat last May, claiming that it's part of a left-wing conspiracy orchestrated by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Alabama followed in Florida's footsteps with its own ban.

"This is really a vision of imposing restrictions on freedoms for everyday people while these elites are effectively pulling the strings, calling the shots, and doing whatever the hell they want to do in their own lives," said DeSantis. "These folks at, like, the World Economic Forum and Davos, they meet and they scheme. Those policies are dead on arrival in the state of Florida."

Cultivated meat has a ways to go before it can come close to satisfying global meat consumption. But, whether it's really just "nitrogen paste" or not, a majority of American consumers are open to trying it—60 percent of meat eaters say they're willing. The question is, will governments let them?

"The consumers should be able to decide what they want to eat," says Elfenbein. "That should determine whether or not this company succeeds or fails, not politicians opining about food safety."

Photo Credits: Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Lian Yi / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom; Benedikt von Loebell / Avalon/Newscom; JASPER JACOBS/Belga/Sipa USA/Newscom; Nikhinson Julia/ABACA/Newscom; Gage Skidmore/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Annabelle Gordon/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/NewscomCHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/Newscom; Avalon/Newscom; Alexander Pohl/Sipa USA/Newscom; World Economic Forum/Sandra Blaser / Avalon/Newscom; Gary Coronado/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Deans/ZUMApress/Newscom; Paul Hennessy/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Pedro Portal/TNS/Newscom; Joe Burbank/TNS/Newscom; Bayne Stanley/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Loren Holmes / Adn/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Richard Graulich/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Keith Myers/MCT/Newscom; Bkirkland909, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Envato Elements; Artlist.io.

Music Credits: "Dawn - Instrumental Version," by nuer self via Artlist; "Sunset," by nuer self via Artlist; "Bubbles Drop," by Cosmonkey via Artlist; "Life's Journey Begins," by Pitched Percussion via Artlist; "Dive," by Stanley Gurvich via Artlist.

Producer: Zach Weissmueller

Editor: Regan McDaniel

Color Correction: Cody Huff

Audio Production: Ian Keyser

Camera: Justin Zuckerman

Camera: James Marsh