The conspiracy theory behind Florida’s lab-grown meat ban

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Wednesday banning the sale of lab-grown meat in the state. The legislation is a clear handout to the state’s cattle industry: the state’s commissioner of agriculture said it was about protecting “our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture.” But DeSantis’ statements make it clear that, like many of his other pet causes, the lab-grown meat ban is a culture war issue.

“Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said in a statement the day the bill was signed. A press release declared Florida was “taking action to stop the World Economic Forum’s goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects,” hinting at a fringe conspiracy theory that has taken hold among some on the right.

In reality, lab-grown, or “cultivated,” meat isn’t even available to most consumers yet. Unlike meat alternatives, cultivated meat is made from animal cells. The Food and Drug Administration has only approved lab-grown meat from two companies — Upside Food and Good Meat — neither of which sell their products in stores. In 2023, two restaurants started serving lab-grown meat: China Chilcano, chef José Andrés’ high-end Peruvian restaurant in Washington, DC, and Bar Crenn, a Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco. Both restaurants have since stopped serving it, according to Vox. In other words, no one in Florida was eating lab-grown meat before the state banned it; the nascent industry is not yet competing with Florida’s farmers. 

The ban could be thought of as a preemptive effort to make sure things stay that way — and it likely is — but it’s also a dog whistle to a certain subset of DeSantis’ base that believes in a conspiracy theory about so-called “globalists” forcing us to eat bugs and live in pods. The theory, often referred to as the “Great Reset,” first took off in 2020. It’s named after a World Economic Forum initiative that urged governments to use the pandemic to promote sustainable development. Right-wing commentators conflated the Great Reset initiative with a 2016 World Economic Forum blog post about bug protein and a 2013 book about insect farming published by the United Nations. 

Ultimately, Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat has nothing to do with insect protein or the World Economic Forum — but DeSantis certainly wants voters to think it does.