A bill in Florida will ban the production and sale of meat that is made in a laboratory. Although the ban is officially intended to keep people safe, some people argue that cultivated meat should stay legal to improve the environment and the economy.
Agricultural technology has advanced to the point that it is now possible to produce meat in a laboratory. Although cultivated meat is getting support from many people, some people want it banned. House Bill 1071 has text that would ban the production and sale of cultivated meat in Florida, and any person who violates the ban would get punished with a fine and a misdemeanor. People who want cultivated meat banned argue that the meat is possibly dangerous, but people who want cultivated meat to stay legal argue that it is necessary to improve the environment and the economy.
People who support the ban on cultivated meat are arguing that it is for safety reasons. The federal government regulates the sale of meat to guarantee that it stays safe for people who buy it. Cultivated meat is produced in a way that has not been done before, and the government might not be able to inspect and regulate cultivated meat as it currently regulates meat that is produced at farms and prepared at slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants. People have not eaten cultivated meat regularly yet, and critics are not sure how healthy it is. It can and will take time to prove that cultivated meat is safe, and many critics may very well approve of it then.
People who oppose the ban on cultivated meat argue that it must stay legal to improve the environment and make it possible for a new industry to succeed. Cultivated meat requires a lot less time, water and land to produce than meat that is produced on farms, and it can prevent the killing of billions of animals every year. It also makes it possible for more people to get involved in the food industry. Most people are not able to travel to farms, slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants, and they are not able to get hired at any of those businesses. Cellular agriculture makes it possible for people to produce food in basically any area. Although people have not eaten cultivated meat regularly, there is still no proof that it is unsafe to eat regularly. Cultivated meat is meat that is produced in a new way. Anything new can seem dangerous until it is proven safe.
Although cellular agriculture might not get discussed in the news very often, it will have a major impact on food production and politics. People who are against it will talk about why they believe it is dangerous, and people who defend it will talk about how it will keep the environment clean and make food affordable and safe. Political parties might even have stated positions about cellular agriculture. Food gets discussed in politics a lot because of how important it is.
Comments