DeSantis Wrong to Criminalize Lab-Grown Meat

Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that makes the manufacture and sale of lab-grown meat (made from meat cells) in Florida a misdemeanor. From the Popular Science story:

This week, Florida officially became the first state to make good on threats to ban cultivated meat. On Tuesday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law legislation making it illegal to manufacture, sell, hold, or distribute lab-grown meat within the state. Those who run afoul of the new law could be charged with a misdemeanor crime. Similar legislation is currently under discussion in Alabama, Arizona, and Tennessee. Violators of those bills, if they come to pass, could face jail times or fines.

Why do that? To worry about “woke” and to protect the meat industry. From an earlier story in the Florida Phoenix:

DeSantis, during a news conference, suggested he sees the lab-grown meat industry as another attempt to control Americans, similar to what he sees as happening with renewable energy.

“They really want to go after agriculture, how they do. They blame agriculture for global warming,” DeSantis said. “You need meat, okay? We’re going to have meat in Florida. Like, we’re not going to have fake meat. Like, that doesn’t work,” he continued.

I agree with DeSantis that our would-be woke overlords want to destroy animal agriculture internationally, decimate the U.S. meat and dairy industries, and force us into eating more plants, insects, and lab-grown meat in the ideological quest to prevent global warming and/or to support animal rights. A pox on that!

But freedom is the solution to those threats, not neo-Luddism. Millions of people could want such products, and why shouldn’t they have access? If that harms traditional meat suppliers, well that’s the way the free market crumbles. Lab-grown meat should not more be suppressed — assuming safety — by onerous regulations, undue taxation, or legal bans than meat grown on the hoof and milk products derived from the mammary glands of cows.

The best approach is to require labeling so consumers can make informed choices. Then, let competition work its miracle improving quality, lowering prices, and providing employment. If you want meat manufactured from cells that (supposedly) reduce emissions or does not involve killing an animal, or that you simply think tastes better, fine and good. If you want a traditional steak, lamb chop, bacon, or chicken thigh, bon appétit.

In other words, the market should decide, not the government.