Cultivated meat seeks discerning diners

For the first time, the United States Department of Agriculture has granted full regulatory approval to two companies that grow cultivated meat — that is, meat that comes from growing animal cells, not from slaughter.

Proponents tout cultivated meat as much more humane and environmentally friendly. But is that enough to convince carnivores?

Sometime in the next few months, you’ll be able to eat cell-cultivated chicken at Bar Crenn, a high-end restaurant in San Francisco run by a 3-Michelin star chef. 

“When consumers try something new, we want to make sure it’s a good experience,” said Amy Chen, COO at Upside Foods, one of the two Bay Area companies that got the USDA seal of approval. “And the best way for that to happen is have a professional chef to prepare the dish itself”

As opposed to dad bringing home cultivated meat from the store, overcooking it and blaming it on bad stem cells.

There’s also just logistical obstacles to getting cultivated meat to the supermarket. The industry has to scale up.

But Bruce Friedrich at the Good Food Institute is confident the industry will get there eventually.

“Well it’s exactly like renewable energy and electric vehicles,” said Friedrich. “The products are going to cost more until they have the capacity to scale up.”

And right now, cell-cultivated meat is a bit like the Tesla of environmentally-friendly proteins.