To the editor:

The scale of violence we inflict on our fellow creatures is hard to comprehend. Humans kill more than a trillion aquatic and land animals for food every year. To put that in a little perspective, according to the Population Reference Bureau, only about 117 billion humans have ever lived. In my view, the commercialization of cultivated meat represents one of the most promising means of reducing animal suffering and premature death. For those who aren’t aware, the new protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter.

While the private sector has done an admirable job advancing the field of cellular agriculture, significant public investment is needed to overcome the remaining technological hurdles. Compassionate politicians should support government funding for cultivated-meat research at the state and federal level. Let’s build facilities like the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture at schools across the country. Cultivated meat that is cheaper than and identical to slaughtered offerings has the potential to do so much good.

Sincerely,

Jon Hochschartner