Could Lab-Grown Meat be Worse for the Environment?

What if we could produce and consume meat without environmental, animal welfare, and human health concerns? With lab-grown meat, we can do that.

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How is lab-grown meat made?

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Lab-grown, also known as cultivated meat, is grown in a controlled laboratory environment. The process starts with extracting cells from animals using a needle biopsy. Inside stainless steel tanks, these cells are fed nutrients that an animal would usually eat. The cells quickly multiply and grow into meat, which can then be converted into cutlets, nuggets, or ground meat.

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FDA clears lab-grown meat

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More than 150 companies around the world have been successfully creating lab-grown chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and fish from cells. In June 2023, the U.S. became the second country after Singapore to declare cultivated meat safe for human consumption.

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The FDA and the USDA gave the green light to 2 American companies, GOOD Meat and UPSIDE Foods to sell lab-grown meat to consumers via restaurants and supermarkets.

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As part of their soft rollout, UPSIDE Foods has partnered with a San Francisco restaurant Bar Crenn, and GOOD Meat is working with a Washington, D.C., restaurant run by chef José Andrés.

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It’s not yet available in supermarkets as the costs are higher than animal meat. If these companies can reduce costs and CO₂e emissions, lab-grown meat could be a game changer.

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Is lab-grown meat better for the planet?

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Research says that lab-grown meat uses 99% less land than a European farm producing the same amount of meat. Lab-grown meat would also require 82%-96% less water than a traditional livestock farm.

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Lab-grown meat produces significantly less methane than conventional cattle farming, with an average of 0.082kg methane produced per 1kg of meat grown in a lab compared to up to 1.2kg of methane for 1kg of conventionally farmed meat.

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One of the downsides of it is the amount of CO₂e produced. To cultivate cells in a lab under the right conditions, a lot of energy is consumed. Assuming this energy is coming from fossil fuels, it generates up to 22.1kg of CO₂e per kg of meat which is worse than conventional cattle farms which produce up to 5.4kg CO₂e.

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Is lab-grown meat better for our health?

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As lab-grown meat does not involve slaughtering animals, it has the potential to prevent the spread of diseases like avian flu and swine fever, and reduce the need for antibiotics in animal farming, which can lead to antibiotic resistance.

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Also, lab-grown meat is free from bacteria like E.coli, Salmonella, and Listeria that are found inside an animal’s gut.

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Within the coming months and years, we’ll see if lab-grown meat can join the ranks of the meat alternatives gaining popularity. 

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