Ya just gotta ask. Why is the Grand Old Party so worried about what it says is “fake meat?”

Do republicans really believe that livestock production will somehow become obsolete should cultured beef and chicken gain a toehold on market-share in the distant future? Do they believe “real Americans” only eat “real meat,” drink “real milk” and slather their toast with “real butter?” Are they isolationists, fearful that cultured beef, perhaps spearheaded by multinational corporations, will irreparably alter their way of life?

Cell-cultured meat – grown in steel bioreactors – was green lighted by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2022. It is an industry very much wet behind the ears. Management consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates the global cell-cultivated meat market could reach $25 billion by 2030. By comparison, the world meat market is $1.3 trillion. With a T. Cultured meat production is diminutive, tiny, a fly-speck…you pick an adjective.

So what Florida did in May was a little shocking. The Sunshine state became the first in the nation to outright ban cell-cultured meat:

“It is unlawful for any person to manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for sale, or distribute cultivated meat in this state. A person who knowingly violates this section commits a 1058 misdemeanor of the second degree.”

Florida defines cultivated meat as “any meat or food product produced from cultured animal cells.” The bill took effect on July 1.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claims the law is needed to protect ranchers and farmers from future competition: “Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals. We will save our beef.”

The same day he signed the bill, DeSantis doubled down on his X account suggesting the World Economic Forum is out to get the United States. (I’m sure DeSantis’ assertions are news to the WEF.)

Not to be outdone, other Florida republicans joined in on the goofiness. Rep. Dean Black says cultured meat is a national security issue, claiming foreign adversaries would target cultured meat production laboratories in times of war, potentially creating a national famine. What?

And Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson says the ban is necessary to protect “the integrity of American agriculture.” He asserted that cultivated meat is nothing more than “a disgraceful attempt to undermine our proud traditions.” (Cue Lee Greenwood.)

Florida isn’t alone. A week after the DeSantis signing, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivery signed a similar cultured meat ban, making it “unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, hold or offer for sale cultivated food product in this state.” Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Erin Beasley posted on her Facebook account that the law will “ensure Alabamians to continue to purchase safe, wholesome real beef.” 

Poppycock. Cultured beef will never, never, NEVER, supplant the livestock industry.

And in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill prohibiting schools from purchasing cultivated beef.

Other states are sure to follow what can only be called a culture war on cultivated meat. Tennessee and Texas to name two.

But here’s the thing. In a democracy, folks don’t go around willy-nilly banning things just because they don’t like them. That’s the case here. Cultured beef has become a GOP scapegoat. There is simply no reason for anyone, including ranchers, to worry about cultivated meat. In fact, cultivated meat is having serious growing pains and it’s far from clear whether it will survive long term.

The larger implication of all this meat madness surrounds using the growing practice to weaponize legislation to stifle innovation and maintain the status quo. It’s not uncommon for a legislative body to pass laws over an existing public safety concern – guns, pollution, a pandemic, and so forth. It’s quite another thing to legislate against something that isn’t a problem. Like cultured meat, which can fairly be deemed a struggling industry that the FDA says poses no danger to the public. 

Don’t like it? Get rid of it.  

Such legislation is very problematic and dangerous for our republic.  

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