- Our requirement:
Illustration of lab-grown meat in pop art style
- Dall-E says what it gives us:
This illustration brings the concept of lab-grown meat to life in a Pop Art style, bringing together the worlds of scientific innovation and art in a colorful, vibrant composition.
Lab-grown meat is a scientific marvel. Through sheer human ingenuity, we have managed to create something that looks like meat, cooks like meat, tastes very much like meat, and comes from animal cells, but without killing a single living animal.
But state legislatures across the country are considering following Alabama’s lead and banning lab-grown meat, also known as “cultured meat.”
In March, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill banning the sale or development of lab-grown meat in the state. Italy’s parliament passed a ban on cultured meat last year, citing the need to protect farmers from competition. Arizona, Florida and Tennessee also appear to be preparing to ban the product, with cultured meat bans having been in effect through state legislatures since mid-March. In Congress, senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would ban lab-grown meat from being served in public school cafeterias.
“These misguided and short-sighted bills would stifle innovation in the vital and growing field of biotechnology,” said David Wolman, vice president of Food Solutions Action, a meat alternative political action committee. “Consumer freedom, consumer choice and free market principles are also lost when legislators decide what they know is best.”
What’s the main reason for the rush to ban lab-grown meat? One is excessive concern about competition among farmers. In fact, after a limited rollout in restaurants in early 2023, cultured meat is no longer available anywhere in the United States. But that didn’t stop some politicians from immediately banning it.
“We’re going to eat fake meat? That’s not going to work,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference in February. “I think there’s going to be a whole ideological agenda that goes behind many important parts of our society.”
Another reason comes down to misunderstandings about how cultured meat is made.
“I’m going to be looking at all the chemicals that are put into meat today and everything else,” Alabama Sen. Jack Williams, who supports the state’s ban, told local news station NBC 15. “What I represent. People, we don’t want that to happen.
“Cultured meat is bioidentical in all important respects to cultured, slaughtered meat,” Wolman said. “We’ve seen a disturbing increase in state lawmakers attacking the cultured meat industry on the false premise of safety concerns, but consumers are seeing these bills for what they are… Protectionist measures needlessly hinder food innovation. “
Where the sale or development of lab-grown meat is prohibited from March 2024:
Places under consideration for banning:
- Arizona
- Florida
- Tennessee (only prohibits the sale of this product)
- American public school cafeteria
This article originally appeared in the print edition under the headline “Caged lab-grown meat.”
