The topic is "Lab Grown Meat." It's back in the news again!

 I was on a bit of a side quest a few days ago and ended up eating dinner by myself at a cute 1950's style diner, complete with the music and red plastic chairs of the period.  I entered and had already resigned myself to a chicken or meat dinner; so imagine my surprise when I was able to order a vegetarian meal.  

That's something that I've been trying to do for some time because I know that when I order a vegan/vegetarian dinner at a restaurant; I 'm doing my part to make these items a little bit more accessible to others, as well as helping my overall health and reducing my carbon footprint just a tiny bit more.

The waitress and I started chatting about this and she stated she wanted to try more plant based items.  I mentioned one of my favorite companies Quorn.  Either due to luck or more likely the all powerful algorithm; what showed up in my news feed at the diner was that Ron DeSantis, current governor of Florida, was in the process of trying to ban lab grown meat.

Now Quorn is produced from a myco-protein (fungus) and is produced in a lab.  Although what DeSantis is ranting about is meat actually grown from meat cells in the lab.  

Basically stem cells are taken from living animals and nurtured in bio reactors; this cultivated protein byproduct is then turned into "meat".  The biggest advantage is that traditional livestock practices produce a lot of greenhouse gasses, another advantage is that no animals have to die in this process.   The "cultivated meat" and meat are essentially the same product according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.  Here in the United States, the FDA and USDA have reached similar conclusions.  

Lab grown meat is basically meat.  It's being grown in vats containing the amino acids, vitamins and nutrients needed for muscle to grow.  This muscle, or cut of meat if you will, is then grown on a natural scaffold made of gelatin, silk, algae or similar material.

Nutritionally and chemically it is meat, however it may have higher levels of saturated fat and cholesterol as compared to natural meat.  There are also concerns that scaling production up would be energy intensive as well.  Long term health effects need to be considered as well but initial research would indicate it's very similar to the health risks associated with meat today.  Their is also concern about any use of growth hormones or additional additives.

What scares DeSantis and others however is much more sinister.  Lab grown meat threatens to disrupt a multi-million dollar industry.  Florida is home to roughly 886 thousand head of cattle, 15 thousand beef producers, is ranked 13th nationally in cattle herds with over 546 - 650 million dollars in sales per year.  Nearly 50% of Florida's agricultural land is dedicated to cattle.   

For a variety of reasons DeSantis wants to protect this industry.  

I do understand some of the reasons why, but the truth of the matter is that it will change.  This is where I think my former state, I lived in Florida for over 20 years, is making an error.  This is why:

1)  Scaling up production will take at least a decade.  Instead of an outright ban, invest money into the research and be at the forefront of a new industry.  This also attracts some of the brightest minds to Florida and other newer technologies are always born out of basic research.

2)  Florida is on the front line of global warming - it's time to face that fact.  By working with farmers for ways to reduce methane and other green house gases over time Florida could become a leader in this field while still maintaining their beef production levels.  By offering tax incentives or other carrots- such as carbon credits - to grow...well, carrots for example, in addition to lowering beef production will help with carbon sequestration efforts.  

3)  Despite cattle's hold on Florida agriculture - it's not much of a money maker.  Roughly 16% of all the agriculture income made if from some sort of livestock.  Florida's citrus production also has been falling in recent times due to disease, indicating that a move towards more stable options might be in order.  Florida is basically referred to as a Cow-Calf producer.  Calf's are raised then shipped out of state to be processed.   Feed, health care costs, breeding costs, shipping costs are all borne by the producer of the calf.  This in turn lowers profit.   As more people lower their red meat consumption, the profit margin grows thinner.

4)  The health risks of eating meat are well known.   Everything from heart disease to colon and other types of cancers to diabetes has been linked to high meat consumption. 

5)  Plant based diets are on the rise in every generation.  In other words the market share for traditional meat products is shrinking in the US.  What's really interesting is that meat consumption falls with each generation.  My generation (X) eats more meat than the current generation (Alpha).  It's been estimated that up to 1 out of every 10 of this new generation is eating a plant based diet. 

I know it sounds odd but all these factors don't paint a rosy picture for the cattle industry for the long term.  In the short term however, nothing changes.  Yes, I am aware of the irony that the guy writing about lab grown meat has a half of a freaking cow in his fridge.   I wrote about that here.  

Conservatives are all about maintaining the status quo for as long as possible.  I'm not for burning the system down but we have to be aware of the reality around us, no matter how complex and complicated it becomes.   So yes, lets push the lab grown meat to the forefront because it's just one of the pieces of the puzzle that may create a better tomorrow for all of us.