Senators need to support cultured-meat research 

To the Editor; 

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King should support federal funding for cultured-meat research. For those unaware, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughtering animals. It has the potential to eliminate unimaginable levels of nonhuman suffering from our food system.

Dr. Mark Post created the first cultured-beef hamburger in 2013. It cost a whopping $280,000. Soon, he thinks, that price could be reduced to $10. Still, more research is required to make cultured meat economically viable. This is too important — and too urgent — to leave to the private sector. We need federal funding for cultured-meat research.

Jon Hochschartner

Granby, Connecticut