Carleton representative introduces legislation to ban lab-grown meat

LANSING — State Representative Jim DeSana, R-Carleton, recently introduced legislation to ban lab-grown meat from being sold in Michigan. According to a recent release, he also introduced a resolution to solidify the right to hunt in Michigan's constitution.

"This is about protecting our ranchers and about protecting the integrity of our food supply," DeSana said. "This is also about protecting your right to provide food for yourself and your family."

DeSana's legislation defines "cultivated meat" as "a meat or meat product that was produced from cultured animal tissue produced from in vitro animal cell cultures outside of the animal from which the cells were derived."

"Eating real meat is healthy," DeSana said.

This stance against cultivated meat is rooted in DeSana's frustration with certain precautions taken during the COVID pandemic, such as when his son was prevented from competing on his school's rowing team.

"The 'follow-the-science' crowd canceled a sport that competes outside in the fresh air, on a river," DeSana said. "I'm done with these people. I don't trust them when they say to follow the science because they did some of the most anti-scientific things possible, and they still haven't acknowledged the harm they caused. So no, I don't want lab-grown meat as a substitute for the real thing and I don't want to get my protein by eating bugs. Let the chickens eat the bugs the way nature intended; we'll eat the chickens."

DeSana believes putting the right to hunt in the state constitution will make sure people can always feed their families if food shortages, like those in the pandemic, happened in the United States.

"And we should do this now, because Vice President Harris wants to implement price controls on food, which historically has led to shortages," he said.

The resolution would give voters the ability to amend the state constitution by adding a section that recognizes a right to hunt, fish, trap, and harvest wildlife. It would further stipulate that those rights are only subject to regulations that promote sound wildlife conservation and management. It would not change laws related to trespassing, private property rights, or firearm use unrelated to hunting.

If approved by lawmakers, the amendment would go before the public at the next general election following its passage by the Legislature.

DeSana has been a farmer for two decades; he is a member of the Michigan Sheep Producers and the Michigan Cattleman’s Association. He and his wife operate Shamrock Station, a sheep farm where they raise grassfed lambs on pasture in northern Monroe County. They also raise, cattle, chickens, and Pyrenean Mountain Dogs which they train to protect livestock from predators.

— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Carleton representative introduces legislation to ban lab-grown meat