Alabama has become the second US state to ban the sale of cultured meat. The bill, signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey on May 7, will make it illegal for anyone to manufacture, sell or distribute meat grown in Alabama. Anyone found guilty of violating the law will have committed a class C misdemeanor, which in Alabama carries the possibility of a sentence of up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.
In early May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a similar bill banning cultured meat in his state. U.S. Senator John Fetterman expressed his support for the Florida bill in X, writing that “as a guy who would never serve that garbage to my children, I support our American ranchers and farmers.”
These two bans mean that approximately 28 million Americans now live in states that have banned cultured meat (meat that comes from real animal cells grown using bioreactors rather than requiring the slaughter of animals). Only two companies are approved to sell U.S.-grown meat, and it is not currently for sale in any restaurants.
The laws have been met with disappointment from supporters of the cultured meat industry. “With these short-sighted laws, politicians in Alabama and Florida are trampling on consumer choice and criminalizing agricultural innovation,” says Pepin Andrew Tuma, legislative director of the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that works to accelerate adoption. of alternatives to animal protein.
“At a time when American farmers and manufacturers face tough competition around the world, states can support new initiatives that create thousands of good-paying jobs or they can play politics and control the food people eat,” he says. Your mom. “When they are done with the distractions and political theater, we hope these public servants remember their former affinity for the free market and free speech.”
The Alabama bill was proposed by Senator Jack Williams, vice chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. The bill had a smooth passage in the state legislature, passing the Alabama House of Representatives with 85 votes in favor and 14 against, and in the Senate with 32 votes in favor and none against. The law will come into force from October 2024.
Cultured meat companies have argued strongly against the bans, saying it shouldn’t be up to state governments to decide what people can eat, and that the bans will stifle a technology that could offer a way to produce meat with less environmental impact and less animals. cruelty. Alabama’s bill includes an exception that allows higher education institutes and government departments to conduct research on cultured meat.
“Alabama’s decision to strip its citizens of their right to decide what they can eat erodes freedom at an important moment. During the same legislative session, a bill (HB14) was considered that would require, among other things, signs warning Alabamians about fish that have been contaminated by contaminated waters. Shouldn’t Alabamians have the right to feed their families a product like ours that avoids these contaminants? says Justin Kolbeck, CEO of cultured seafood company Wildtype.