Republican Governors Like Ron DeSantis Are Blocking Cutting-Edge Food Technology

In their latest attempt to mollify dark money, state GOP leaders are threatening to block and stifle innovative food production technologies.

What is “woke” meat? That’s probably a great question to ask Florida Governor Ron “Looks Like I’ll Never Be President” DeSantis when he conflated lab-grown meat with an “ideological agenda” because, of course, he did. If by “ideological agenda,” he means “Whatever the trade associations representing beef producers in my state told me to say,” then sure. That scans.  

Some background.

In June of last year, the USDA cleared the way for two companies to market and sell lab-grown meat in the U.S. When the agency cleared a regulatory hurdle called a  “grant of inspection” (the USDA’s signal that the company is “following a rigorous process, which includes assessing a firm’s food safety system”) it basically ensured those companies could move forward with production and marketing. Those products are far from cost-effective, but their approval should be embraced as a positive step toward normalizing alternatives to commercial meat production. 

Enter the GOP and their dark money allies.

Cultured meat utilizes stem cells from animal products to produce, so while they’re not vegetarian products, many environmentalists have voiced support for doing anything to get us away from greenhouse gas-emitting cows and bacteria-producing chickens. 

Lab-cultivated meat is (very) expensive, but also notably does not require large swaths of land for grazing and will not produce tons of waste (yes, I mean poop and farts) from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Cultured meat could also cut down on potential outbreaks, like this recent avian flu warning that came from an egg-hatching facility. (Cultured meat could eventually include egg production.) 

Most reasonable people (so not a GOP governor in 2024) agree that doing anything to create protein safely outside of factory farming conditions that don’t result in thousands of pounds of animal waste that contaminates groundwater is a good thing. The darker side of this story is that lobbyists with considerable influence over Republican governors are going to hamper environmental progress and projects that could bring jobs and reduce air and groundwater pollution. 

So…not great.

DeSantis is not alone. From a Semafor story:

Those that attempt to sell lab-grown meat in Alabama or Arizona could soon face jail time or hefty fines as Republicans attempt to block what some have called a “war on our ranching.” More than a dozen states have regulated the use of the word “meat” on the products.

Semafor

Groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have considerable sway over state GOP leaders. If there’s a consistent theme we have around here at the Heartland POD, it’s how that sway will undermine federal efforts to decarbonize our energy grids, increase subsidies for renewable energy projects, and now, apparently, leverage technology to solve issues surrounding how climate change will impact grazable land.

This recent (and excellent) CNN story demonstrates the cozy relationship between Missouri Secretary of State and frontrunner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, Jay Ashcroft, and various dark money groups. That story uncovered emails revealing how an opinion piece ranting about the “negative” impacts of green energy investments with Ashcroft’s byline was penned by a dark money group. From the story:

“While [Missouri Secretary of State Jay] Ashcroft positioned himself as a champion for working class voters, emails obtained by CNN and the progressive watchdog group Documented show that he was steered toward adopting his “anti-woke” investment regulation by a little-known, right-wing think tank with deep ties to conservative billionaires. The communications show that officials with the Foundation for Government Accountability suggested regulatory language to Ashcroft and even wrote an op-ed article that Ashcroft published in a national conservative magazine under his own name.”

“Emails show how a right-wing group steers GOP leaders on major policy issues” CNN

This doesn’t bode well for all cutting-edge technologies and represents a sea change for a party that once touted itself as being pro-business above all else. It’s all quite cynical, of course. Natural gas and oil companies know that their day is coming to a close, and now they’re attacking Wall Street’s investing decisions by manipulating intellectually-deficient, man-children like Jay Ashcroft.

Imagine being a top-tier fund manager with billions under management and being told you can’t invest in a fund that includes solar projects because that’s too woke. Ridiculous, right? Welcome to the modern-day GOP.

As of February, there were 61 anti-environmental, social and governance (ESG) bills pending across the country. Those bills would prohibit pension funds from using so-called ESG guidance to make investment decisions. Of those states, Oklahoma introduced 14, with Missouri coming in second at 8. 

The relationship between Ashcroft (and other leaders like him) and fossil fuel companies and mega meat producers is pretty easy to spot. Sadly, this is a global issue.

When it comes to food tech, the U.S. is not alone. Europe is struggling with protests coming from farmers who are also angling to disrupt the small footprint lab-grown meat producers have gained there. From Politico:

“The EU released proposed plans for a strict new climate goal for 2040 on Tuesday. The announcement was marked by several concessions to the farming industry. None of those were enough for Wojciechowski, who, emails seen by POLITICO reveal, wanted to see the agriculture sector entirely exempted from the climate plan.

According to an email exchange from early Tuesday morning, Daniel Mes, a member of Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra’s cabinet, wrote to Wojciechowski’s adviser Joanna Stawowy to advise that, “we have now removed all references to “protein” (i.e. “lab-made meat”) from the text, per the request.”

An earlier draft of the 2040 target proposal, seen by POLITICO, said the EU should ensure the industry had “the right incentives” to “make healthier diets based on diversified protein intake [a] more affordable choice for consumers.” The phrase “diversified protein intake” was removed from the final version.”

Politico

Industry and paranoia rules the day there, there, too, sadly. There’s no earthly way any of this technology will scale quickly enough to replace farm-grown meat entirely (if ever). It’s ridiculous that EU leaders caved this early in the rollout of alternative meat production.

If the idea of lab-grown meat ruffles your feathers, switch out that term with “solar energy,” and you’ll likely see this from another view. Innovative technology usually sounds crazy when it’s first introduced, but we need to use any and all available innovations to combat not just emissions and other sources of pollution associated with cattle and poultry production (to say the least of reducing the horrors of factory farming). Particularly if, as per our own federal government, they’re safe for consumption.

Innovations like cultured meat are vital to our survival as a species. Climate change will lead to famine. Period. Leaders like Jay Ashcroft and Ron DeSantis are either too dumb, too cynical, or too corrupt, to care. 

Cited Articles:

Emails show how a right-wing group steers GOP leaders on major policy issues | CNN Politics 

Republicans are on a quest to ban lab-grown meat – Semafor

EU dumped lab meats from climate plans on farm chief’s demand – POLITICO  

DeSantis has no appetite for lab-grown meat • Florida Phoenix

Lab-grown meat is cleared for sale in the United States | CNN Business

Anti-ESG legislation seen facing uphill struggle to become law – Thomson Reuters Institute

Texas egg facility halts production after bird flu found in chickens – The Guardian