A Florida Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that would criminalize the sale and distribution of lab-grown meat as part of an effort to preserve the state's cattle and farming industries.
The proposal, known as House Bill 435, aims to make it unlawful for any person to manufacture, sell, hold or offer for sale or distribute "cultivated meat," defined as any meat of food product produced from cultured animal cells, in the state of Florida. The bill seeks to establish criminal and licensing penalties, as well as provide that such products are subject to an immediate stop-sale order.
The bill says anyone who violates the ban would be subject to a second-degree misdemeanor, while any establish that distributes or sells cultivated meat is subject to disciplinary action, including suspension of the business’ license. The legislation would authorize the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt rules to implement the ban.
State Rep. Tyler Sirois, who introduced the bill earlier this week, told Politico that he believes lab-grown meat is an "affront to nature and creation" and is part of the latest initiative in the "ESG agenda." GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken a bold stance against ESG, or environmental, social and corporate governance, arguing the globalist ideology threatens economic freedom and other American values.
"Farming and cattle are incredibly important industries to Florida," Sirois, a developer who said he does not have ties to agriculture, told Politico Wednesday. "So I think this is a very relevant discussion for our state to have."
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He reportedly said he hopes Florida becomes the first state to ban lab-grown meat.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, the former state Senate president, told Politico he is "100%" behind the effort.
"Without this legislation, untested, potentially unsafe, and nearly unregulated laboratory produced meat could be made available in Florida," Simpson, an industrial egg farmer, said in a statement.
In June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the first time approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, permitting two California companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, to serve lab-grown meat at restaurants and eventually offer the product at supermarkets. The green light came months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined products from both companies are safe to eat.
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The introduction of cell-cultivated or cultured meat seeks to eliminate the slaughtering of animals and reduce environmental impacts of grazing, growing animal feed and animal waste that comes with rearing livestock. The cultivated meat products are grown in steel tanks, using cells that come from a living animal, a fertilized egg or a special bank of stored cells, according to The Associated Press.
"Instead of all of that land and all of that water that’s used to feed all of these animals that are slaughtered, we can do it in a different way," Josh Tetrick, co-founder and chief executive of Eat Just, which operates Good Meat, told the AP in June.
Sirois told Politico that he does not believe enough is known about the process of growing meat in laboratories, deeming the introduction of chemicals and other enzymes "deeply troubling."
"I think it raises important ethical concerns about the limitations and boundaries we should place on this type of science," he said. "I think you could see a very slippery slope here leading to things like cloning, which are very troubling to me."
The lawmaker pointed to ESG scoring factors in state investments, blaming the FDA and ESDA for pushing lab-grown meat across the country.
"That’s the message that is being sent here is that the laboratory-produced product is superior to conventional farming and cattle ranching," Sirois said. "But to me my focus is on making sure No. 1 that we are not acting here without understanding the consequences of manipulating this material in a laboratory — manipulating cells that are harvested from animals — and also making sure Floridians have a clear understanding of what is going on here."
