Lab-Grown Chicken Approved For Sale In The United States
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On June 21, 2023, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) granted
As you might have guessed, lab-grown meat is not sourced from traditional animal farming. Instead, it is produced by collecting cells from live animals and cultivating them in a controlled laboratory environment. The process involves nurturing the isolated cells with vitamins and amino acids. This helps them multiply and develop into muscle tissue. The resulting product replicates the taste and texture of conventionally farmed meat.
The USDA approval comes at a crucial time in our quest to slow the impact of global warming. According to the United Nations, livestock production is responsible for 14.6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. A 2022 study from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that phasing out animal agriculture could help halt the increase of greenhouse gases for 30 years. This would provide us enough time to repair the damage we have caused thus far.
Livestock farms also contribute to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and water pollution. Additionally, animals raised for food production are often treated inhumanely. Lab-grown meat may help alleviate all the issues and provide an environmentally-friendly way to make meat.
However, before you dash out to your nearest supermarket in search of the new chicken, note that neither company is ready for mass production. UPSIDE Foods, which has the country's largest production facility, currently makes only 50,000 (22,680 kg) pounds of meat per year. This is the equivalent of about 10,000 chickens — only a fraction of the eight billion birds Americans consume annually. Hence, for now, the products are only available at a select few restaurants around the country.
But there are currently over 100 companies working on various iterations of cultivated meat. They range from beef to seafood. So, we can all be assured that sustainable and cruelty-free meat production is in our future.
Resources: Smithsonian.com, NPR.com, Dcist.com, Yahoonews.com, Time.com
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85 Comments
- mando02almost 2 yearsShould just stick to the food we already have...
- frijolesalmost 2 yearsi think this is a step in the right direction, cheaper chicken across the board.
clxzalmost 2 yearsnot my thing. i like my chicken farm raised.
kittycatlover11almost 2 yearsI dont like the thot of a chicken hafting to die but god gave us chickens for a reason ya'll
summer_beachalmost 2 yearsI would really like to know what exactly is in this "lab grown" chicken because the sliver of... who knows what on the video did not look to good. 🤢 Real chicken is actually good for you, it has a lot of vitamins and has almost no fat at all, plus, you know what's in it. I'm probably going to stick with the cruelty free chicken. 🐔🐇
skankhunt42almost 2 yearsThis lab grown chicken has mutated chicken cells,it is no diffrent from any other chicken you buy in the market- frijolesalmost 2 yearsit is bio-identical, there is not a chemical extra in it. also lab-grown chicken has the potential to be more nutritious since they can just add a second source of whatever nutrient you want
- kittycatlover11almost 2 yearspretty sure they real stuff is better (and less gaggy ) and more healthy for you🫠.
supernova21slayalmost 2 yearsfake meat though....💀 Making chicken without chicken is questionable... still cool info
lovelordalmost 2 yearsThis is crazy like why not just stick with regular chicken🙄- skankhunt42almost 2 yearsIt takes less space to do this then to raise hundreds of thousands of chickens in 1 area for there whole life.
Mr. Ezraalmost 2 yearsThis is shocking! I didn't know that producing animal products like meat from cells was even possible. Maybe someday all animal products will be lab-grown.- Ms. Laskaalmost 2 yearsI love this article about Lab-Grown Chicken Approved For Sale In The United States Kids News Article and that's cool and I love this idea!