earlier this year the Agriculture# Department approved the production## of what's known as cultivated meat.# That is chicken grown in a lab.

That approval clears the way for# companies to begin selling poultry## produced from animal cells, rather than# animals bred in factory farms Wi lliam Brangham gives us a taste of# what the future could hold.

William NATE PARK, Chef, Good Meat: We# put a little allium glaze on it,## which is just an onion-garli WILLIAM BRANGHAM: At the Good Meat plant# in Alameda, California, chef Nate Park is## putting the finishing touches on a dish that is# seemingly pulled right out of science fiction.

NATE PARK: A lot of people don't know what# this is.

So there's a tendency to maybe back## away because they don't know what it is.

But# I think once they understand wh that it's just chicken, and that it's delicious,# it'll be very easy for everyone WI LLIAM BRANGHAM: Getting people comfortable with# the idea of cultivated chicken is at the heart of## operations here at Good Meat.

It's one of two# companies now federally approved to make it.

NATE PARK: We want to slice it in front of you.## We want you to see what it is that# WI LLIAM BRANGHAM: Grilled, sliced and served# with heirloom beans and a sw If you had said nothing about this, I# would just think this was a lovely meal.

NATE PARK: Well, thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It taste NATE PARK: It's chicken.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And delicious.

NATE PARK: WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But be seen here, inside this bioprocessing# lab, as tiny microscopic stem cells.

They're all taken from real chickens without# harming them.

The cells are then constantly## stirred, kept warm, and nourished, so that they# will multiply inside these massive bioreactors.

It's all part of a lengthy process# designed to mirror how actual animals grow.

JOSH TETRICK, CEO, Eat Just: Cultivated meat# has been talked about for over 100 years.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Josh Tetrick is the co-founder# and CEO of Eat Just, which op What is the rationale for cultivated meat?

JOSH TETRICK: First and foremost, we just got# to accept people love meat.

An really difficult, to get people to# stop eating meat and choose beans## or some other plant-based source,# which would be better for them.

So how do you get at that?

And# I think the answer is,you make## real meat in exactly the same taste# and texture that people are used t but you make it in a way that doesn't require# billions of animals.

You just can't feed## the world without the billions of animals,# because each animal has to be slaughtered.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Global food production# is responsible for roughly a third of all## the manmade greenhouse gases that are# dangerously heating the planet.

And## meat production is the major driver of# that impact, with the majority of the## world's croplands and forests being used# to grow food for the animals we then eat.

JOSH TETRICK: If were going to solve the# climate problem, we definitely need to move## from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

And we# also definitely need to mo animal farming that is eating up a third of our# planet today to an entirely different approach.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But not everyone# is sold on this new approach.

NED SPANG, University of California,# Davis: We can't just take it as a that cultured meat is good for the environment.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Ned Spang is an associate# Da vis, who studies the links# between food and the environment.

He says, while no animals are# being slaughtered, a recent report## he co-authored about cultured meat indicates# it's not nearly as green as many would hope.

NED SPANG: Along the lines of climate# emissions or energy use, we found that## cultivated meat might actually have more of# an impact than the conventional agriculture.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And how is that possible?

NED SPANG: Well, the major driver is# that these are still ani so they still need to eat food.

And, basically,## just as a cow needs to eat some grass or corn# to grow and grow muscle ma the cells.

And so we need to feed them glucose# for energy and amino acids to build proteins.

And it takes a lot of resources to actually make## the food to grow these cells# to create the cultiv WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But Tetrick argues that, as# the technology improves, cultivated meat the potential to pollute much less and consume# far less land and water than conventional meat.

And he argues, our current approach,## from its cruelty to animals to its# environmental impacts, has JOSH TETRICK: We're eating food# every day that no one would be## proud of if they actually engaged with it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Several companies have come# to market with plant-based meat substitutes,## like Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers.

But cultivated meat will likely be a tougher# sell.

A recent poll from the As found that half of adults in the U.S.# say they would be unlikely to try it,## with many citing that it sounded weird.

JOSH TETRICK: We found the most# effective way this is kind of weird to, all right,# I'm down with it, is put it on a plate,## get them hanging out with their friends# and have them eat the chicken.

And then## a bit about midway through it, they're# like, all right, this is just chicken.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So far, only a few# restaurants in the U.S. ha served cultivated chicken, including# China Chilcano in Washington, D.C. WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Take it right like this?

DANIEL LUGO, H WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That is delicious.

It's owned by world-famous# chef head chef Daniel Lugo prepares it as# a traditional Peruvian street food.

So when Jose first came to you and said,## we'd like to try cooking with this u DANIEL LUGO: Well, at first, I was# super excited and curious.

And,## to be honest, once I tried it, I was# super surprised and actually liked it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But getting cultivated meat both## into more restaurants and eventually Good Meat is reportedly looking for# ways to cut surging production costs.## The company had aimed to eventually produce# up to 30 million pounds of meat annually.

JOSH TETRICK: Yes, we are nowhere# near the scalability to actually## make a dent in this problem.

And that was# exactly the sa years ago.

And we were in exactly the same# position for electric cars 20 years ago.

And if you're ultimately going to# shift the system, best to start now,## because it's going to be a many-many-decade long,# very, very hard, uncertain problem to solve.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's a problem now being# tested and tasted in labs like this one.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William# Brangham in Alameda, California.