Culture meat as “food for the future”? Contentious perspectives between science and publics in the Anthropocene

Cultured meat is one of the most disruptive – and discussed – food technologies in the making, raising a number of ethical, political and ecological issues. The debate is particularly lively in Italy after the government led by Giorgia Meloni has promoted its ban. But while this has been represented in a polarised and simplistic way as an opposition between techno-optimism and techno-phobia, positions across civil society and experts are highly varied and nuanced. In this paper, we present a frame analysis, a typical method in social movement studies, to map the controversy articulating in Italy around this novel food at the crossroads of different knowledges and political positions. Our intention is to show how different framings of the role of cultured meat in the context of Anthropocene challenges are based on deeply held and skilfully articulated (political) convictions, which trace the battlefield around this contested object. We discuss material from 29 semi-structured interviews conducted across Italy between December 2023 and March 2024, including scientists working in this field, activists engaged in relevant struggles (environmental, antispeciesist, ecologist/agroecologists), and social scientists working in cognate fields. The discussion is articulated around three thematic nodes that emerged from data analysis: cultured meat as a contested response to food system crises; its space as solution or option within the futures of food; perspectives on food justice. The conclusions summarise the results, highlight limits and further avenues of research, suggest ways to look at controversies that might support, instead of limit, democratic debate over food transitions.