Hochschartner: Senators should support reallocating subsidies to cultured-meat research

Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema should support reallocating the billions of dollars a year in subsidies the federal government gives to animal-exploitation industries to cultured-meat research.

For readers who aren’t familiar with the term, cultured meat is grown from cells, without killing. It is better for animal welfare, public health and the environment than slaughtered meat.

Since animals are removed from production, cultured meat is a compassionate choice, which eliminates the risk of spreading zoonotic diseases. It requires a fraction of the land, freshwater and greenhouse-gas emissions that slaughtered flesh does. Congress should support development of this new protein, instead of propping up animal-exploitation industries.

Editor’s note: Jon Hochschartner is a resident of Granby, Connecticut.