To the Editor:
I was pleased to learn the European Union invested €2.7 million in public funds into Meat4All, a Spanish-based consortium researching cultured meat. For those who don’t know, cultured meat is grown from cells without slaughtering animals. The United States should invest more resources to help develop this revolutionary protein, which will benefit human health, the environment and animal welfare.
Dr. Mark Post debuted the first cultured-beef hamburger in 2013. It cost an astonishing $280,000 to produce. Since that time, the price has dropped substantially; post believes a similar burger will cost $10 to make in the near future.
As wonderful as this progress is, the price will need to be reduced further in order to compete with slaughtered meat. This can be achieved by publicly-funded research.
Jon Hochschartner, Granby, Conn.