In 1964, British science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke wrote a short story titled ‘The Food of the Gods’, set in a world where any sort of food, including meat, could be created using technology. Little more than half a century later, the idea of human-engineered meat is no longer something out of speculative fiction.
On July 1, California-based food technology startup Upside Foods partnered with a Michelin-starred restaurant, Bar Crenn in San Francisco, to serve cultivated chicken to diners for the first time.
This came close on the heels of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granting approval last month to Upside Foods and another brand, Good Meat, to start producing and selling chicken made in a lab. Meanwhile, Australian cell-based meat company Vow Food has just made a bid to the Food Standards Australian New Zealand (FSANZ) to sell lab-grown quail.
