Larson support for cultivated meat

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Jon Hochschartner spreading the word about funding for cultivated meat research. Submitted photo

Representative John Larson supports current public-funding levels for cultivated-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. The revolutionary protein offers environmental, public health and animal-welfare benefits over slaughtered meat.

Larson offered his views on cellular agriculture in a letter to his constituent, Jon Hochschartner of Granby, who has been protesting outside the congressman’s Hartford office. Readers can learn more about Hochschartner’s efforts by visiting SlaughterFreeAmerica.Substack.com

“Nascent industries such as cultivated meat that can help decarbonize our economy deserve a fair shot,” Larson wrote. “I support the $10 million grant the USDA recently gave to Tufts University to further study the potential to grow and scale up this new technology and the National Science Foundation grant of $3.5 million given to University of California.”

The representative argued that if cultivated meat can successfully launch as a consumer product and scale up to meet demand in the way plant-based proteins have, it could be an environmental game-changer. He noted agriculture is a leading cause of global warming.

“I am excited that cultivated meat could help with the resiliency of our food supply, cut back on unnecessary waste and curb greenhouse gas emissions,” Larson wrote. “Federal government food procurement is a complex and competitive process, and we hope that when cultivated meat companies become approved USDA vendors, they can participate on level footing in the process.”