It's Friday. California is at the forefront of the lab-grown meat movement. Plus, despite revamped efforts to move people off the streets, homelessness has increased in Los Angeles. |
 | | A chicken dish featuring lab-grown meat from Upside Foods.Gabriela Hasbun for The New York Times |
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A state long known for pushing the envelope, California is once again at the center of a new technological trend: lab-grown meat. |
The U.S. Agriculture Department last week approved the sale of meat grown from stem cells, a watershed moment for the alternative protein industry. To be clear, this isn't another plant-based meat substitute like Impossible or Beyond burgers, but something that seems much closer to science fiction: actual meat cultivated from animal cells. |
"This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table," Dr. Uma Valeti, the chief executive and founder of Upside Foods, said in a statement. Upside Foods and another company, Good Meat, are the only two companies in the country that have been given the federal clearance. Both are based in the Bay Area. |
"It's a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future — one that preserves choice and life," Valeti said. |
Upside, which has facilities in Berkeley and Emeryville, has partnered with the chef Dominique Crenn, who will begin to serve the company's lab-grown chicken at her San Francisco restaurant, Bar Crenn, in the coming weeks. Good Meat, based in Alameda, plans to begin selling its own cultivated chicken to the chef José Andrés to use at China Chilcano, his restaurant in Washington, D.C., company officials told me. |
"It begins with stem cells from an animal biopsy, an egg or even a feather that multiply rapidly in a stainless steel tank called a bioreactor or cultivator. The cells feed on a complex broth that contains nutrients like carbohydrates and amino acids, and some type of growth factor, to become muscle, fat or connective tissue. Taste and nutrition are controlled by cell selection and the broth they grow in. … And the taste? In the Upside Foods test kitchen, I sampled a slightly grainy chicken pâté and a perfectly round breakfast patty blended with plant-based proteins that fried up nicely. Generous seasoning masked the flavor of the meat." |
The United States is only the second country to approve the sale of meat grown from stem cells; Singapore was the first in 2020. That year, Good Meat debuted cultivated meat for sale at a private club in Singapore, where the company, as Kim wrote, "tucked the meat into a bao bun and turned it into a crisp patty on a maple waffle." |
The arrival of lab-grown meat isn't without pushback. While supporters say growing meat in tanks will bring environmental benefits and relieve animal suffering, opponents worry it could be scientifically risky and create allergens and untested byproducts. |
There's even debate about what to call this new product. Supporters prefer "cultivated" or "clean" meat, while opponents like "synthetic" or "engineered" meat. The Agriculture Department is still drafting regulations on how the products should be labeled, but for now the agency is going with "cell cultivated chicken." |
Crenn, the San Francisco chef, told The New York Times last year that she was initially turned off by the idea of cooking with cultivated meat. |
"I love farmers and ranchers. That is not what I am against," she said. "I am against factory farming. That is not sustainable." |
The first cultivated breast meat Crenn tasted was a bit mushy, she said, but the flavor reminded her of poulet rouge, a heritage breed from France. |
Soon, an "exquisite signature dish" featuring the cultivated chicken will grace her restaurant's menu. |
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 | | AP Photo/Jeff Chiu |
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- Housing crisis: Officials in Washington State and Vermont recently banned single-family zoning in response to the housing crisis in San Francisco, Politico reports. The city's problems are prompting Democrats across the country to spend political capital trying to address housing affordability issues in their states.
- Senate candidate: The former Google executive Lexi Reese announced that she was entering the race to succeed Senator Dianne Feinstein, The Associated Press reports.
- Judiciary seat: The question of whether Republicans would block Democrats from filling Feinstein's seat on the Judiciary Committee if she were to resign has big implications for the Senate and California politics.
- Speaker resignation: Anthony Rendon, who on Monday became the second-longest-serving speaker in California State Assembly history, will step down today, The Associated Press reports.
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 | | Peter DaSilva for The New York Times |
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Today's tip comes from Ed Lanfranco, who recommends a walk in Fresno: |
"There are far worse fates than finding oneself in Fresno. The 1.1-mile walk on Van Ness Boulevard between Gazebo Gardens nursery and Fresno High School is a century-old trip through the town as it was becoming a city. The route's bookends were both built in 1922. The nursery has become a weekend gathering spot with music and refreshments. The street sign in front of Fresno High honors a hometown hero and baseball legend, Tom Seaver. The walk itself goes through a neighborhood of lovely houses built primarily from the 1920s to the 1940s. The midpoint of the journey is an ancient temple of California's car culture that also sports an icehouse." |
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We'll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter. |
What's your favorite part of summer in California? Music festivals, going to the beach or the longer days? Something else? |
Email me at CAtoday@nytimes.com with your responses. Please include your name and the city where you live. |
And before you go, some good news |
A junkyard in South Los Angeles has been transformed into a place of healing and solace. |
In one of the most park-poor parts of Southern California, the Survivors Healing Garden is now blooming with fragrant culinary herbs, newly planted trees and low-water California native plants, The Los Angeles Times reports. The garden is the project of Oya Sherrills, who has worked tirelessly to transform it into a place where survivors of violent crime can find comfort. |
"For us, the garden is a physical manifestation of peace," Sherrills told the news outlet. "Everyone is welcome here." |
Thanks for reading. I'll be back on Wednesday because of the July 4 holiday. — Soumya |
Briana Scalia and Allison Honors contributed to California Today. You can reach the team at CAtoday@nytimes.com. |
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