There are already 7 North American states governed by Republicans that have decided to prohibit the production and consumption of “alternative plant-based meats,” which includes tuna, pork, and other
protein products manufactured in laboratories from bone cells. Animal origin.
It is worth noting that the Republicans control 29 states out of the 50 that make up the Union, and that in them the overwhelming favorite to win the presidential elections on November 5 is
Donald Trump, whom national polls show as the winner
over the current head of the Joe Biden White House.
At the head of this Republican effort against "alternative meats" is the state of Florida - which is the 4th in order of importance in the US system -, and where a young opposition figure such as Governor Ron De governs. Santis, who currently fully supports Donald Trump's candidacy.
The law passed by the Florida legislature directly prohibits the sale of plant-based meat; and this occurs in the middle of the “cultural battle” unleashed by the conservative vision that Donald Trump embodies; On the contrary,
the main endorsements of “alternative meats” come from great “progressive” figures
, such as Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, and Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon.
None of the criticisms of “alternative meats” have found truly relevant scientific support
; Nothing has been demonstrated that these products directly or indirectly affect human health; and observations of this type have shown a merely episodic character, or have been reduced to the status of mere anecdotes.
In the US, it must be added, we are currently experiencing
extreme polarization
in which the cultural confrontation over the values that should govern social coexistence constitutes the sign of the times.
The origin of the anti-consumption of plant-based meat trend is Italy, governed by an extreme right-wing expression, such as Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who drastically rejects the consumption of “vegetable meats” arguing that they are an affront to culinary culture. of the Peninsula, of recognized international renown.
The Italian Parliament last year approved a law prohibiting the development of cultured meats and other non-traditional foods, which it considers a threat to national identity.
In the words of the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida “…this law places Italy at the forefront of the world.”
The main associations of Italian producers, led by Coldiretti, fully support the law voted by Parliament at the initiative of Premier Meloni; and this organization has already gathered more than 2 million signatures in favor, and has the endorsement of more than 3,000 local and regional governments.
The Italian meat industry sold more than 6.3 billion euros of beef in 2022, and 8.4 billion euros of pork in the same period, which means that it is one of the most prosperous activities in the peninsular economy.
The law drastically prohibits various semantic associations, such as those that use the terms “steaks” or “salami” referring to any plant-based product, whether on advertising posters on public roads or on the menus of the countless “trattorias” in the peninsula.
Behind the anti “plant-based meat” trend that is emerging in Italy and the US is an underlying problem of contemporary society, especially acute in advanced countries; and it is
the crisis of meaning that affects the revolution of technique and the culture of instantaneity.
This system remarkably knows what to do and its language is that of the incessant increase in productivity. But what he doesn't have the slightest idea of is the purpose of things and life.
His rationality is only about means, but not about ends: he knows what, but he does not know why. This is a crisis of meaning.
That is why there is deep rationality in the concern that arises in Italy and among American Republicans about rejecting “laboratory meats.”
This is a question that goes to the roots of things and not an expression of frivolity of any kind. It goes beyond a culinary issue, although this constitutes the core of the culture.