Italy as a role model: Three SVP farmers protest against laboratory meat

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For some, it’s a Frankenstein product. For others, it’s the best way to enjoy meat without the animals suffering: meat made in the laboratory from animal tissue cells.

But Italy recently banned the production and sale of artificial meat due to health concerns and to protect livestock farmers. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida (51), brother-in-law of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni (46), welcomed the decision.

“It turned my guts around.”

The news is also inspiring in this country. “Bravo, Italian!”, said Didier Calame (51). The newly elected SVP National Councilor is a farmer and organic breeder in Les Planchettes NE. At the end of July, the news that Migros would be able to sell lab-grown meat from 2030 “struck his nerve,” he says. “As a meat producer, I see this as unfair competition.” According to the organic farmer, he doubts the health quality of the products and production.

He doesn’t understand the purpose of laboratory meat. “We ban pesticides, the mentality is focused on healthy products, but we still want to eat meat from the laboratory?”

Too early for a ban

Already in April this year, Freiburg SVP national councilor Pierre-André Page (63) approached the Federal Council with a proposal. As a master farmer, the SVP member called on the seven magistrates to ban the production of artificial meat in Switzerland and ban its export.

The answer: it’s too early. At that time, no authorization application had yet been submitted in Switzerland. The Federal Council was of the opinion that a preventive ban on this technology would be “an unnecessary and disproportionate measure”.

Swiss consumers are tempted

But now the time has come. The first application appeared in July, from the Israeli start-up Aleph Farms. It produces synthetic steaks that you could one day buy on the shelves of Migros. The orange giant invested in the company. According to a survey, almost 74 percent of consumers would be interested in it.

Jacques Nicolet (58), also SVP Councilor and farmer, is not one of them. He has also submitted a proposal and speaks of “concerned” farmers, calling for rules and a clear framework for the production of synthetic foods, especially dairy products.

Not until 2030?

It will probably take some time before the artificial sirloin ends up on our plates. A Migros spokesperson said last summer when the application was submitted that the synthetic meat would probably first be offered in luxury restaurants. He mentioned 2030 as the time horizon for supermarkets.

Artificial meat is no longer that expensive. In 2013, the very first hamburger made in the laboratory cost almost 330,000 francs. The price has now been reduced to approximately nine francs. More than seventy companies are trying to ‘breed’ artificial meat.

A potentially juicy market that Switzerland is eagerly eyeing. In response to Page’s proposal, the Federal Council wrote: “The Swiss economy would be harmed if such products were imported and marketed by foreign companies instead of being manufactured in Switzerland.”

Source:Blick