Lab-Grown Meat: Is It Vegan?

Cultivated meat — grown from animal cells without slaughter — could eliminate the killing of billions of animals. But should vegans eat it? The question divides the community, and the answer isn't obvious.

What is cultivated meat?

Cultivated meat (also called lab-grown, cell-cultured, or clean meat) is real animal muscle tissue — biologically identical to conventional meat — produced by growing animal cells in a bioreactor rather than inside a living animal.

The process:

1. A small biopsy of muscle stem cells is taken from a living animal
2. Cells are cultured in a nutrient-rich medium in a bioreactor
3. Cells multiply and differentiate into muscle fibres, fat, and connective tissue
4. The result: meat that is biologically real, produced without slaughter

What's been approved?

• Singapore (2020) — first country to approve cultivated chicken for sale (GOOD Meat by Eat Just)
• United States (2023) — USDA approved Upside Foods and GOOD Meat cultivated chicken
• Israel — several companies operating, regulatory framework developing
• European Union — novel foods approval process underway; expected approvals 2025–2027

The case FOR vegans eating cultivated meat

Some vegans and animal rights philosophers argue that cultivated meat should be embraced:

• No slaughter — the most fundamental act of violence in conventional meat production is eliminated
• Reduced suffering — the biopsy is a minor procedure; no factory farming, no transport stress, no slaughterhouse fear
• Environmental improvement — if widely adopted, cultivated meat could use 95% less land and 78% less water than conventional beef
• Pragmatic transition food — for the billions of omnivores who will not go fully vegan, cultivated meat represents a dramatically better option than factory-farmed meat
• Peter Singer's view — Singer himself has suggested that if cultivated meat can be produced without causing animals significant suffering, the case for consuming it is far stronger than the case against it

The case AGAINST vegans eating cultivated meat

Most mainstream vegans and the Vegan Society hold that cultivated meat is not vegan:

• Animal cells are still used — the product literally is animal cells and is derived from animal exploitation
• The biopsy involves the animal — cells must be taken from a living animal; this is still animal use, even if minor
• Foetal bovine serum (FBS) — historically, many cultivated meat processes used FBS (derived from foetal calf blood) as a growth medium. This involves slaughter. Several companies have developed FBS-free media, but many have not disclosed their processes fully.
• Veganism is a philosophy — not a set of utilitarian trade-offs; using animal products remains incompatible with veganism by definition

The Vegan Society defines veganism as a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals. Cultured meat does not meet this definition.

The FBS problem

Foetal bovine serum is extracted from the blood of foetuses taken from pregnant cows during slaughter. For years, it was the primary growth medium for cultivated meat. Its use would make cultivated meat fundamentally incompatible with veganism.

Progress is being made: several companies (including GOOD Meat, Upside Foods, and others) claim to have developed or to be working toward serum-free production methods using plant-based or synthetic growth media. However, commercial-scale serum-free production remains a technical challenge.

The bigger picture

Regardless of whether individual vegans choose to eat cultivated meat, the technology represents a potential path to dramatically reducing animal suffering and environmental damage for the billions of people who will not go fully vegan. From a consequentialist perspective, supporting the development of this technology — even without consuming the product — is consistent with vegan values.