Lab-grown meat was supposed to save the world. What happened?

The first lab-grown beef burger, unveiled in London in 2013, embodied a bold promise: produce meat without the land, water and emissions associated with livestock, while avoiding the need to change what people eat. Made from cow cells and costing €250,000, it was more a demonstration than a practical food. Still, its launch sparked a global rush: about 140 companies attracted $3bn to develop cultivated beef, chicken, pork and seafood. Supporters predicted benefits extending beyond climate protection to food security and reduced disease and antibiotic resistance. Some forecasts even suggested the technology could dramatically displace conventional meat within a decade.

That transformation has stalled. Producing cultivated meat at scale remains costly and energy-intensive, facilities are expensive, skilled workers are scarce, and regulatory reviews take time. Investment fell sharply after 2021, while several US states banned sales or production amid conservative backlash. The product is commercially available in only one store, in Singapore. Yet the piece finds grounds for renewed interest in North Carolina, where Jeff Bezos’s $30m grant established a sustainable-protein research center and Israeli company Believer Meats began building a large chicken-production plant. The FDA later issued the company a “no questions” letter on product safety. Against this history of extravagant promises and practical setbacks, the narrator’s long-standing vegetarianism frames a personal question: if cultivated meat could avoid meat’s environmental and ethical costs, would there still be a reason not to eat it?