If Florida bans cultivated meat, it will be the first in the nation to do so. With food scarcity challenging modern agriculture, those behind the development of alternative protein sources fear this will set a dangerous precedent.

That hasn’t stopped legislation from plowing forward in the House and Senate. Language completely banning the manufacturing, sale or distribution of cultivated meat now appears in larger agriculture bills in the House (HB 1071) and Senate (SB 1084).

Leaders in the cultivated meat biotech sector, an industry still in its infancy, say the push to regulate lab-grown chicken, seafood and beef out of existence flies in the face of the conservative economic policies normally embraced by Florida lawmakers. More importantly, it could literally leave the nation starved for alternatives to slow-maturing livestock.

“Food security is national security. We are in a protein arms race with demand outpacing supply,” reads a statement from Food Solutions Action, an agriculture biotech advocacy group.

But leaders within Florida agriculture, one of Florida’s largest industries, say government needs to put lab-grown meat under a statutory microscope.

“This cultivated protein, we know it isn’t beef, we know it isn’t meat. Meat comes from an animal,” said Dusty Holley, Director of Field Services for the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. “We’re not exactly sure what it is.”

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