It's the Bryan Lair Show on WNYC. Welcome back everybody. I'm Matt Katz, keeping the

seat warm for Bryan, who has a very well-deserved Friday off.

And now we turn to some food related news you may have missed. Last week, Cultivated

Meat, also known as Lab Grown Meat, cleared its final regulatory hurdle. Two companies,

Good Meat and Upside, have received approval to sell their lab-grown chicken from the USDA.

The FDA similarly approved the companies a few months ago. And while it might not sound

appetizing to think that your chicken was grown to lab, proponents are very excited about

how the product can be a way to eat meat that's cruelty-free. Agriculture is among the

top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, making up 10% of emissions in 2021 according

to the EPA. And supporters think lab-grown meat could help bring that number down. But

if you adhere to religious dietary practices, this may not be the product for you. Neither

company has yet applied for approval of kosher or halal labeling. And that might be because

of how Cultivated Meat is cultivated. Joining me now to explain how meat is grown to lab,

and its far-reaching implications is Danielle Weiner-Bronner, CNN business writer, covering

the food sector who first alerted us to this whole issue. Danielle, welcome to WHOI-C.

Thanks so much, Matt. It's good to be here.

So first, can you explain how lab-grown meat is made? Like, what are we talking about

here?

Yeah. So essentially, like you said, this has been described as a cruelty-free product because

the animal cells are taken from the animal, but it could be from a biopsy or a feather.

It could be removed from the animal in a way that doesn't hurt the animal. It's then fed

with nutrients and amino acids and everything that you and I would need to eat and grow.

...