In an under-noticed press release from back in May of 2025, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and the legislature of his state took a major step to protect the people of Nebraska and cattle ranchers from lab-grown meat, which the governor referred to as “fake meat”: the governor signed into law LB246, banning the production and sale of the lab-grown concotion.
As background, some of the very pro-technology types claim that lab-grown meat, which uses biological material and industrial processes to print meat in a lab, is the future and will help the world move away from raising and butchering animals like cows, pigs, and chickens. Importantly, the meat is not made of vegetables or like materials, as imitation meat like Beyond Meat is. Rather, it is meant to have broadly the same characteristics and composition as real meat.
Much as could be expected, most conservatives have come out swinging against the idea of lab-grown meat. For one, they have note its various problems, such as the need for absolute cleanliness in the facilities that will be difficult if not impossible to achieve on a large scale, and questioning whether it is really more humane than normal meat, given the various imputs that need to be harvested from young cattle, in the case of lab grown beef. Others have noted that, if funded and successful, lab-grown meat could destroy the ranching sector and cause untold agricultural harm.
So, some red states, particularly those with large ranching sectors, have moved to ban lab-grown meat. Nebraska did so in May, with the governor’s office announcing on May 20, 2025, “Today, Governor Jim Pillen signed LB246, banning the production, sale, promotion and distribution of fake meat in Nebraska. The bill was sponsored on the Governor’s behalf by Senator Barry DeKay.”
The press release added that this came on the back of another move made by the governor to protect Nebraskans from the lab-grown meat industry, saying, “Putting this ban into law builds on the Governor’s effort to protect producers and consumers from the fake meat industry, which was initiated with the issuance of Executive Order 24-09, prohibiting state agencies from purchasing lab-grown meat and requiring state contractors to certify that they will not discriminate against natural-meat producers in favor of laboratory or cultivated-meat producers.”
Commenting on why he signed the legislation, Gov. Pillen noted that he wanted to protect both consumers and the agricultural sector, and was met with a great deal of support when he announced his plan to do so. He said, “When I stood in front of a group of producers and ag business owners yesterday and announced my intention to sign this legislation, I was met with applause. We need to be willing to protect and preserve our state’s vital ag industry as well as our consumers.”
Continuing, he noted that there are unknown health consequences to the lab-grown meat and that the claim that it is more humane is one he is skeptical of, given the need for harvested cells. He said, “These products are grown from harvested cells in bioreactor machines. The health consequences are unknown and so are the long-term effects to consumers.”
"*" indicates required fields
Commenting on the matter in a well-received post on X, Gov. Pillen said, “If it’s grown in a lab, then it’s not real meat. It’s a science experiment. We put a lot of work into passing a ‘Fake Meat’ ban and won big for ag and our ranchers. Bio-reactor junk meat won’t be grown or sold in Nebraska. We have to battle fringe ideas and groups to defend our way of life. That’s why making LB246 law matters — to our legacy and for our future.”