The Alternative Meat of the Matter

Abstract

Technological, social, and scientific advances are transforming the nature of everything we eat. This Article focuses on the most pressing topic within this changing landscape: the consumption of meat. The Article first elucidates that animal meat consumption is environmentally costly, unhealthy, cruel to animals, and may result in long-term food shortages. It then argues that plant-based meat alternatives have the rare potential to address all these challenges.

Despite their exceptional potential, the legal literature on the newest generation of plant-based meat alternatives is sparse. Responding to this gap, this Article provides a holistic and contemporary law and policy approach to these novel versions of non-animal meats. Integrating insights and lessons from various legal fields and non-legal domains, it exemplifies key issues that policymakers should consider when crafting the legal framework that will govern tomorrow’s meats.

Keywords: environmental harm, ethical consumption, evidence-based policy, food security, industry lobby, innovative foods; food labeling, meat consumption, plant-based meat alternatives, public health, regulatory design principles