Britain Approves Lab-Grown Meat for Pet Food
New York TimesJul 24
The Facts
The UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have signed off on pet food made from lab-grown meat made by the company Meatly. It's the first European country to do so.
The first lab-grown food is expected to hit store shelves near the end of the year after taste tests are conducted with dogs. The first of its products, which are made from animal cells, will be Meatly's cultivated chicken.
The Spin
Narrative A
The livestock farming industry is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions and the destruction of the planet. While it's understandable to want to protect farmers, the truth is that without reducing the massive slaughter industry, there may not be land to farm in the future. If lab-grown meat is invested in now, it will give humanity time to combat other greenhouse gas emitters while building a slaughter-less food supply for future generations.
Narrative B
While some people may choose to feed their families lab-grown meat, the issue with this industry is its link to global government agendas. Organizations like the UN have stated plans to overhaul the farming industry and put it in the hands of corporate powers — the ones who wish to force lab-grown food upon regular citizens while not following the same rules themselves. Governments pushing populations to eat synthetic foods should be met with extreme skepticism.
Cynical narrative
Neither side of this issue is absolutely correct. While some on the pro-lab-grown meat side wrongfully neglect the nutritional benefits of eating natural meat, some on the other side neglect the horrendous environmental impacts our agriculture industry has on wildlife. We should allow people to eat both traditional and lab-grown meat if they so choose while working together to cut back on the destructively high volume of animals slaughtered each year.