Lab-Grown Meat and our Service Members
With your Southeast Regional Ag News, I am Haylie Shipp. This is the Ag Information Network.
I always joke about the headlines that keep on headlining and, here in 2024, one of those is lab-grown meat.
Earlier this summer the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association topped news stories – both agricultural and otherwise - when it came out with a statement condemning a Department of Defense (DOD) sponsored research grant that would fund the development of lab-grown meat products by manufacturing company BioMADE. In a statement from NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane, “It is outrageous that the Department of Defense is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to feed our heroes like lab rats.”
In the latest, NCBA President Mark Eisele tells that, “After weeks of speaking out against the plan, we are thrilled to have DoD confirmation that lab-grown protein is not on the menu for our nation’s service members.” He also says the men and women who make the greatest sacrifices in service to our country deserve high-quality, nutritious, and wholesome food like real beef grown by American farmers and ranchers.
On another note, two states have so far passed and enacted laws banning the sale of lab-grown meat: Florida and Alabama.
