Free Republic

Pork might be cheap, fatty, and flavorful, but pig farming isn’t without its downsides. For starters, pigs are highly social creatures — capable of displaying distinct personality traits as well as emotions like stress and fear — and considered the fifth most intelligent animal in the world, demonstrating cognizance that rivals that of a three-year-old human child. The environmental impact of factory meat production is also astounding. Yet since the 19th century, we’ve bred, fattened, and harvested these sensitive creatures on an unprecedented scale. Now, a new startup named Mission Barns is looking for a way to change that: the...

The Florida Legislature got an unlikely shout-out earlier this month. China Weekly, a Chinese language publication, mentioned a Florida bill that would ban the sale and manufacturing of cultivated meat, also sometimes referred to as lab-grown meat. If the bill passes, Florida would be the first state to ban the sale of cultivated meat. The industry worries Florida’s action could cause other states to follow suit. A lawmaker in Alabama has proposed a similar ban, and bills in New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Iowa would impose other restrictions on these products.