February 12, 2021
Dear editor;
Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth should support public funding for cultured-meat research, with the goal of making the cell-grown, slaughter-free protein competitive with factory-farmed meat.
Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies recently announced its ability to produce a quarter pound of cultured chicken for $7.50. As encouraging as this news is, more progress must be made on the issue of cost.
The violence we inflict on animals is a moral crime without parallel. We kill more than one Trillion aquatic and land creatures every year. The widespread adoption of cultured meat could help eliminate this unnecessary suffering.
Compassionate legislators should advance this goal by offering public funds for cellular-agriculture research. This will help lower the price of cultured meat, making it more competitive with its slaughtered counterpart.
Jon Hochschartner, Granby, Conn.