Florida's Lab-Grown Meat Ban: Protecting Jobs or Stifling Market Innovation?

How should government officials and the agricultural industry respond to the growth of the lab-grown meat industry?

For Context: This week, Florida banned lab-grown meat. As the name suggests, lab-grown meat is cultivated from extracted animal cells supplied with proteins, sugars and fats.

From the Right: A writer in the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) commended Florida’s ban for “protecting an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people from destruction,” asserting that a widespread shift to lab-grown meat “will have far-reaching effects that will devastate entire communities that rely on cattle farming.” Citing the steel towns of the Midwest as evidence of what happens when a community loses its economic engine, the writer concluded, “By banning the sale of lab-grown meat in the Sunshine State, DeSantis is ensuring that the communities relying on the farming industry to survive will endure for generations. It’s a good policy, and more states should follow suit.”

From the Left: A writer in MSNBC (Left bias) argued, “DeSantis and GOP legislators have taken bold steps to address an issue that doesn’t really exist” since lab-grown meats are not yet common but have the potential to “make a positive difference when it comes to environmental impacts and animal welfare.” Outlining other paths government officials can take to address the potential market disruptions of lab-grown meat, the writer concluded, “For all the talk about the GOP and its free-market principles, this is the latest example of the party preferring government restrictions and prohibitions to consumer choice.”