The Night I Ate Lab-Grown Meat

I had dinner at a restaurant serving cultured meat grown from animal cells in a stainless-steel bioreactor. The menu called it "chicken," plain and simple.

The texture was real, the flavor mild, and it cost about 40% more than ordinary poultry. The chef said the price gap closes every year.

Regulators in three countries now approve sale for human consumption. Scaling remains the hurdle: bioreactor large enough for mainstream grocery supply are still rare.

Advocates say cultured meat could eliminate entire categories of cruelty and emissions. Skeptics call it an expensive solution to a problem many consumers have not identified yet.