Cultivated Meat Progress: Animal Welfare Promise and Reality

Cultivated meat — grown from animal cells without slaughter — has the potential to transform animal welfare by producing meat without the animal suffering of conventional farming. Understanding the current state of the technology and its welfare implications is essential for supporters and critics alike.

Key Facts

Cultivated meat received its first regulatory approval for commercial sale in Singapore in 2020 (GOOD Meat)
The US approved cultivated chicken for sale in 2023 through Upside Foods and GOOD Meat
Current production costs have fallen from 300,000 dollars per kilogram in 2013 to around 20-100 dollars per kilogram by 2025
Cultivated meat requires a growth medium — early formulations used foetal bovine serum, raising welfare concerns
Animal-free growth media using fermentation-derived growth factors are being developed and adopted by leading producers
Full commercial scale-up requires capital investment estimated at 10-20 billion dollars globally
The Good Food Institute estimates that cultivated meat, if successfully scaled, could reduce land use by 90% and greenhouse gas emissions by 90%
Public acceptance studies show significant variation by country — acceptance is higher in younger and more environmentally conscious demographics

Welfare Considerations

Cultivated meat represents a genuine potential welfare breakthrough: meat produced with minimal animal suffering beyond the initial biopsy to obtain founding cells. If it achieves commercial scale, it could reduce the suffering of tens of billions of farmed animals annually. However, the welfare assessment must be honest about current limitations: foetal bovine serum (FBS) used in early growth media requires slaughtering pregnant cows to harvest foetal blood, a significant welfare harm at scale. The transition to animal-free media is ethically important. The welfare journey from current prototype production to widespread consumer adoption is long and dependent on investment, regulation, and consumer acceptance. Supporting this transition — through investment, consumer willingness to try products, and advocacy for favourable regulation — is a high-leverage welfare action.

What You Can Do

Try cultivated meat products as they become available to support commercial development
Support Good Food Institute advocacy for research funding and enabling regulation for cultivated meat
Advocate for government investment in cultivated meat research as a public health and welfare investment
Engage with food companies about their cultivated meat development strategies
Follow the transition from FBS to animal-free growth media as a welfare indicator for the industry
Donate to Good Food Institute Europe and cellular agriculture research programmes
Share accurate information about cultivated meat to counter misinformation and build public support