Institute for Justice and UPSIDE Food File Lawsuit Against State of Florida – vegconomist

In partnership with the cultivated chicken company UPSIDE Foods, the Institute for Justice (IJ) has filed a lawsuit against the Florida law banning cultivated meat.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill prohibiting the production, distribution, and sale of cultivated meat in the Sunshine State on May 1, 2024, and it went into effect on July 1.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida, argues that Florida’s ban on cultivated meat violates Constitutional provisions against protectionist measures “designed to favor in-state businesses at the expense of out-of-state competitors,” IJ stated.
Here you can view a video created by IJ discussing the firm’s National Food Freedom initiative. The video features attorney Paul Sherman and Upside CEO Uma Valeti speaking on the topic. “We see these types of bans as a harbinger of what might come when a small set of people try to make laws and rules on what common Floridians and Americans can eat,” says Valeti in the video.
© Upside Foods
“This law is not about safety”
As stated in the announcement, both Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and Gov. DeSantis publicly supported the law because of its protectionist intentions.
“We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture . . . . Together, we will keep Florida’s agricultural industry strong and thriving,” Simpson said.
Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis said cultivated meat “is designed to be a threat to agriculture as we know it. . . . [W] e’re snuffing this out at the beginning.”
Paul Sherman, a senior attorney at IJ, criticizes the law as an attempt to protect meat producers’ interests at the expense of consumer choice. “If some Floridians don’t like the idea of eating cultivated chicken, there’s a simple solution: Don’t eat it. The government has no right to tell consumers who want to try cultivated meat that they’re not allowed to. This law is not about safety; it’s about stifling innovation and protecting entrenched interests at the expense of consumer choice,” he comments.
© Institute for Justice
FDA and USDA approval
UPSIDE Foods, founded in 2015, has been developing cultivated chicken from real chicken cells, eliminating the need to raise and slaughter animals while reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses, contaminations, and other issues in modern animal agriculture. In 2023, UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat became the first companies to receive FDA and USDA approval confirming the safety of cultivated chicken.
“Anyone who wants to try cultivated meat should have the opportunity to do so”
“Anyone who wants to try cultivated meat should have the opportunity to do so. Cultivated meat represents a significant advancement in food technology with the potential to improve supply chain resilience, and we are committed to making it available to all,” stated Valeti.
© Upside Foods
A free and open national market
Founded in 1991, the Institute for Justice defends the rights of entrepreneurs and consumers against arbitrary and protectionist government regulations. Through its National Food Freedom Initiative, it has been at the forefront of protecting individuals’ rights to buy, sell, grow, and advertise foods without undue government interference.
“For the same reason that California cannot ban orange juice made from oranges grown in Florida, Florida cannot ban UPSIDE’s meat,” explained IJ Attorney Suranjan Sen.
“A major purpose for enacting the Constitution was to prevent exactly this kind of economic protectionism, ensuring that all Americans can benefit from a free and open national market. Florida cannot ban products that are lawful to sell throughout the rest of the country simply to protect in-state businesses from honest competition.”

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