Fake Meat and the Free Market

By Gene Copenhaver

NCBA’s membership is made up of tens of thousands of cattle producers from every corner of the country. No two families raise cattle exactly the same way, and our association runs on the wide range of different ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives that our producers bring the table. But there are two things that unite each and every NCBA member and set our course in Washington, D.C. — our grassroots policy process and our conservative values.

One of the building blocks of conservatism is belief in the free market. Our members believe in strong private property rights, individual freedom, and fair market competition on a level playing field. We don’t want the federal government to tell us what we can buy, eat, or do with our business, and we don’t want those burdensome, bureaucratic restrictions put on our neighbors either. This is reflected all over the policy book that directs NCBA’s work in Washington — everywhere from our policies on trade, to environmental management, to how we handle competitors in the fake meat business.

Plant-based and lab-grown protein products enjoyed a moment in the sun several years ago, but it didn’t take long for the free market to kick in and push these companies down a very steep decline. From Beyond Meat to SCiFi Foods, we have seen stock prices fall, employees laid off, plans for new facilities cancelled, and in some cases companies have gone out of business altogether. We know — and recent history has proven — that when given a choice, American families will choose real, wholesome beef. Our customers trust farmers and ranchers. They trust the nutrition, taste, and quality of the beef we produce. They trust the safe and responsible way you raise cattle and care for the land. And they don’t want to turn their back on a delicious, proven winner in favor of untried, untested, ultra-processed goop that a Silicon Valley company cooked up in the vat of a bioreactor.

We are not afraid of competing with these plant-based and lab-grown imitators, because we are 100% confident in our product. But that competition has to be fair, and the federal government can’t go putting their finger on the scale to tilt the free market in favor of dying fake meat companies. That’s why NCBA has been working on regulations and legislation that require very clear labeling on these products. In one quick look, every American at the grocery store should be able to tell exactly which products come from a real cattle producer, and which products are manufactured in a lab. No consumer should ever be tricked into eating something they don’t want to eat, and that’s why labeling requirements are so important.

With all the attention on this issue in statehouses across the country this year, I get a lot of questions about whether NCBA supports a ban on imitation products. Telling Americans what they can and cannot buy at the grocery store does not align with NCBA’s policy book, or our conservative values. And setting a precedent that the federal government can remove a product from the shelves completely is not wise for the cattle industry, when we have no idea who might be sitting in the White House or in Congress ten years from now.