Nebraska Governor Signs Executive Order Against Cultivated Meat, Aims for Full Ban in 2025 – vegconomist

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has signed an executive order prohibiting state agencies from procuring cultivated meat products. The order also bars entities that contract with the state from “discriminating against natural-meat products” by choosing cultivated foods.

Pillen now reportedly hopes to bring in legislation in 2025 that would prohibit any sale of cultivated meat products in Nebraska. Speaking at a news conference at Oak Barn Beef in West Point, he said Nebraska was entering “a full-blown attack on lab-grown meats and fake meat”.

When asked if the executive order would restrict consumer choice, Pillen replied, “If there are Nebraskans that want to buy lab-grown meat, good for them, they’re just not going to do it in Nebraska.” A proposed cultivated meat ban in Tennessee was previously shelved due to consumer choice concerns.

Opposition to cultivated meat

There has been opposition to cultivated meat in several Republican states, with Florida becoming the first to enact a ban in May of this year. Speaking at a press event, Governor Ron DeSantis told cultivated companies to “take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere”. Alabama followed suit less than two weeks later.

The following month, Warren Davidson, a Republican Party member and US representative for Ohio’s 8th congressional district, introduced a bill that would prohibit using federal funds for any activity related to cultivated meat, including research, production, promotion, and advertisement.

“Harmful attitude”

There have been accusations that these bans are mainly intended to protect the interests of animal agriculture companies, and have little to do with any safety or health concerns regarding cultivated meat. This seems especially clear in the case of Nebraska; Pillen is known for “building a pork empire”, and when he was elected as governor, concerns were raised over potential conflicts of interest regarding policies that could influence the pork industry.

In June, cellular agriculture investment firm CULT Food Science published an open letter to the Florida Government arguing that the state’s cultivated meat ban was based on misinformation.

“The notion that this meat is fake or unhealthy is simply wrong,” says the letter. “The FDA has approved cultivated meat for human consumption and yet policymakers at the State level are trying to impede the progress of this innovative industry. The recent bans out of Florida do not represent the views of leading scientists or environmental research, but rather rely on misinformation and trying to slant the public discourse in a negative way. This is a harmful attitude and needs to be seen for what it is, which is protecting the interests of a select few and trying to discredit one of the most exciting areas of biotechnology and food science.”