In Berkley, California, chef Jess Weaver sautés a chicken filet. A buttery sauce simmers in a pan with tomatoes, capers, and green onions. She plates it. It smells just like any other pan-fried poultry. But it’s not.
No chickens were harmed in the making of this meal. And no—it’s not a plant-based product like Burger King’s Impossible Whopper. This meat came from a lab.
For the first time, the U.S. Agriculture Department has approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells. Two California-based companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, got the green light to serve lab-grown poultry. The meat will soon appear in exclusive upscale restaurants. Someday, it could arrive on supermarket shelves.
This “cell-cultivated” or “cultured” meat starts with living cells. Scientists take these cells from live chickens, fertilized eggs, or a special storage bank. Experts choose the cells most likely to taste good and grow fast. They place them in a broth-like mixture of amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, salts, and vitamins. Then the cells grow into muscle and connective tissue.
At Upside Foods, the finished meat comes out in large sheets. It’s then cut into recognizable shapes like cutlets, nuggets, and sausages.
Does this sound a little gross to you? You’re not alone. A poll showed that half of U.S. adults are unlikely to try lab-grown meat. Why? Most people answered, “It just sounds weird.”
“We call it the ‘ick factor,’” says Amy Chen, Upside’s chief operating officer.
So why grow meat in a lab? Advocates provide several reasons. For starters, you don’t need to slaughter animals. Also, traditional farming uses lots of land, water, and other resources. Some experts say lab-grown products could reduce the meat industry’s environmental impact.
It’s not just chicken. Around the world, over 150 companies are working on cell-cultivated meats. They make pork, lamb, beef, and fish. But you probably won’t see these products in the grocery store any time soon. Labs still can’t produce meat on the same scale as traditional farms. For example, the United States produces about 50 billion pounds of chicken per year. Currently, Upside Food’s main facility can make only 50,000 pounds per year. Plus, cultured meats cost much more.
In the book of Acts, God gave Peter permission to eat all sorts of animals. “What God has made clean, do not call common,” He said. (Acts 10:15) But what about lab-grown grub? Humans grow the meat in factories. But the process still starts with living cells. That’s something only God can make.
Some experts worry lab-grown meat will feed only the rich. When polled, some adults feared the products wouldn’t be safe to eat. But what do folks say when they actually try it?
“The most common response we get is, ‘Oh, it tastes like chicken,’” says Chen.
Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. — 1 Corinthians 8:8
