Proposals were introduced at the state legislative level in both South Dakota and Nebraska last month, with politicians concerned about the potential impact of cultivated meat availability on farmers and livestock producers.
The sale of cultivated meat products was first approved by the US Department of Agriculture in June 2023, with Upside Foods and Good Meat among the first firms to be given permission to produce and sell meat grown from animal cells in metal vats.
However, state-wide bans have since been instituted in Alabama and Florida, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis telling reporters in May 2024 that he will save the state’s beef from the “global elite”. The ban remains subject to litigation.
In South Dakota, initial legislation has been approved by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, while a separate bill that requires lab-grown meat to be clearly labelled as such is set to come into force on 1 July.
Similar labelling laws are in place in Iowa, West Virginia and South Carolina, but Republican representative Jana Hunt wants to go step further and bring in a full ban on the sale, holding or offer for sale of cell-cultured meat in South Dakota.
Hunt, who is a rancher and sits on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said: “We need meat that can stand on its own feet.”
Meanwhile, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has made banning cultivated meat a legislative priority and called for state legislators to “get on the offense”.
Pillen, who also has background in farming, justified his position by arguing: “Most of us want government out of our hair, but there’s places where government needs to step in and protect us.”
The Italian Government also moved to ban cultivated meat production in November 2023, but the ban was postponed due to concerns around whether the law would be enforceable.
This is after the European Commission said that Italy’s ban on cultivated meat was in violation of a key EU scrutiny procedure.
