Iowa lawmakers have nightmares about lab-grown meat rising from its test tube and strangling the state’s livestock industry.
So, of course, they have a bill, Senate File 2391, designed to drive a steak through “cultivated protein food products.” The steak is a big old porterhouse if you’re wondering.
What’s a “cultivated food product?”
“ … a food product having one or more sensory attributes that resemble the type of tissue originating from an agricultural food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from meat processing, is derived from manufacturing cells, in which one or more stem cells are initially isolated from an agricultural food animal, are grown in vitro, and may be manipulated …”
A “misbranded food product” labeled with an “identifying meat term,” such as burger, bratwurst, etc. but is meatless, can’t be sold unless it’s also clearly labeled with words such as “Fake,” “Plant-Based” and ”Vegan.“
Community colleges, state universities and K-12 public schools would be barred from purchasing misbranded meat products and cultivated protein food products. And if the federal government ever approves cultivated protein food products for purchase by recipients of food assistance, Iowa will be required to request a waiver to prohibit lab meat purchases.
It passed the Senate without opposition and is now awaiting passage in the House. It’s bipartisan!
A House amendment would add eggs and dairy products to the bill, including a mouth-watering list of cheeses.
Far be it from me to oppose any labeling providing more information to consumers.
But this is a useless bill for a couple of reasons.
First, companies selling meatless products aren’t trying to trick carnivores into buying plant-based brats or burgers. I have proof in my freezer, thanks to my daughter who quit eating red meat and chicken. These products are labeled to make sure people who want meatless products are not getting any meat.
“Burger Patties Made from Plants,” reads the Impossible Burger label, very clearly.
Second, even if you have a strong hankering for lab-grown meat, there’s nowhere you can buy it. Last year, the USDA approved lab chicken for sale in two high-end restaurants in California. But those eateries dropped it and it’s no longer available in the U.S., according to the online magazine WIRED.
And if, eventually, lab meat turns out to be safe and affordable, why stop institutions and low-income people from buying it?
What's the real motivation for this bill?
“This is a preventative measure against an activist federal government that wants to see our children eat from a petri dish,” said Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg.
Ah, red state politics. The feds are going to force feed our kids lab meat. Do your research. It’s all part of a plot to make us buy electric vehicles, get vaccinated and encourage radical vegans to come after our meat and gas stoves.
Again, I’m all for labeling, so let’s add labels to “agricultural food animals” detailing environmental harm done by confined animal feeding operations. Let’s add a warning that the meat you’re about to consume might have been handled by immigrant child labor. How about, “In the event of a pandemic, we will do nothing to protect meatpacking workers.”
The more consumers know, the better. Right?
(319) 232-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
So, of course, they have a bill, Senate File 2391, designed to drive a steak through “cultivated protein food products.” The steak is a big old porterhouse if you’re wondering.
What’s a “cultivated food product?”
“ … a food product having one or more sensory attributes that resemble the type of tissue originating from an agricultural food animal but that, in lieu of being derived from meat processing, is derived from manufacturing cells, in which one or more stem cells are initially isolated from an agricultural food animal, are grown in vitro, and may be manipulated …”
A “misbranded food product” labeled with an “identifying meat term,” such as burger, bratwurst, etc. but is meatless, can’t be sold unless it’s also clearly labeled with words such as “Fake,” “Plant-Based” and ”Vegan.“
Community colleges, state universities and K-12 public schools would be barred from purchasing misbranded meat products and cultivated protein food products. And if the federal government ever approves cultivated protein food products for purchase by recipients of food assistance, Iowa will be required to request a waiver to prohibit lab meat purchases.
It passed the Senate without opposition and is now awaiting passage in the House. It’s bipartisan!
A House amendment would add eggs and dairy products to the bill, including a mouth-watering list of cheeses.
Far be it from me to oppose any labeling providing more information to consumers.
But this is a useless bill for a couple of reasons.
First, companies selling meatless products aren’t trying to trick carnivores into buying plant-based brats or burgers. I have proof in my freezer, thanks to my daughter who quit eating red meat and chicken. These products are labeled to make sure people who want meatless products are not getting any meat.
“Burger Patties Made from Plants,” reads the Impossible Burger label, very clearly.
Second, even if you have a strong hankering for lab-grown meat, there’s nowhere you can buy it. Last year, the USDA approved lab chicken for sale in two high-end restaurants in California. But those eateries dropped it and it’s no longer available in the U.S., according to the online magazine WIRED.
And if, eventually, lab meat turns out to be safe and affordable, why stop institutions and low-income people from buying it?
What's the real motivation for this bill?
“This is a preventative measure against an activist federal government that wants to see our children eat from a petri dish,” said Sen. Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg.
Ah, red state politics. The feds are going to force feed our kids lab meat. Do your research. It’s all part of a plot to make us buy electric vehicles, get vaccinated and encourage radical vegans to come after our meat and gas stoves.
Again, I’m all for labeling, so let’s add labels to “agricultural food animals” detailing environmental harm done by confined animal feeding operations. Let’s add a warning that the meat you’re about to consume might have been handled by immigrant child labor. How about, “In the event of a pandemic, we will do nothing to protect meatpacking workers.”
The more consumers know, the better. Right?
(319) 232-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Lab meat madness frightens Iowa lawmakers
Chef Zach Tyndall prepares Good Meat’s cultivated chicken at the Eat Just office in Alameda, Calif., Wednesday, June 14, 2023. …
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