When I told friends and family I was reporting on the first chicken meat grown from animal cells, their first comment was “Eww." Yes, it's strange to think of eating a totally new kind of meat — chicken that doesn't come from a chicken, meat that will be sold as “cell-cultivated” chicken after the U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday gave the green light to two California firms, Upside Foods and Good Meat. And in this case, to the larger question behind it: Is this new material in fact chicken, or is it an impostor? Last week, I visited the Alameda, California, plant where Good Meat is poised to begin production of its chicken products. And the texture was both tender and chewy, like a well-cooked chicken thigh should be.

Source: The Nation June 22, 2023 05:02 UTC