Fake Meat and the Free Market

By Gene Copenhaver

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Board (NCBA) membership is made up of tens of thousands of cattle producers from every corner of the country. No two families raise cattle exactly the same way, and our association runs on the wide range of different ideas, backgrounds and perspectives producers bring the table. 

But there are two things that unite each and every NCBA member and set our course in Washington, D.C. – our grassroots policy process and our conservative values.

One of the building blocks of conservatism is belief in the free market. Our members believe in strong private property rights, individual freedom and fair market competition on a level playing field. 

We don’t want the federal government to tell us what we can buy, eat or do with our business, and we don’t want those burdensome, bureaucratic restrictions put on our neighbors either.  

This is reflected all over the policy book which directs NCBA’s work in Washington, D.C. – everywhere from our policies on trade, environmental management and how we handle competitors in the fake meat business.

Plant-based and lab-grown protein products enjoyed a moment in the sun several years ago, but it didn’t take long for the free market to kick in and push these companies down a very steep decline. 

From Beyond Meat to SCiFi Foods, we have seen stock prices fall, employees laid off, plans for new facilities cancelled and, in some cases, companies have gone out of business altogether. 

We know – and recent history has proven – when given a choice, American families will choose real, wholesome beef. 

Our customers trust farmers and ranchers. They trust the nutrition, taste and quality of the beef we produce. They trust the safe and responsible way U.S. producers raise cattle and care for the land, and they don’t want to turn their back on a delicious, proven winner in favor of untried, untested, ultra-processed goop a Silicon Valley company cooked up in the vat of a bioreactor.

We are not afraid of competing with these plant-based and lab-grown imitators, because we are 100 percent confident in our product. But this competition has to be fair, and the federal government can’t go putting their finger on the scale to tilt the free market in favor of dying fake meat companies. 

This is why NCBA has been working on regulations and legislation requiring very clear labeling on these products. 

In one quick look, every American at the grocery store should be able to tell exactly which products come from a real cattle producer and which are manufactured in a lab. No consumer should ever be tricked into eating something they don’t want to eat, and this is why labeling requirements are so important.

With all of the attention on this issue in statehouses across the country this year, I get a lot of questions about whether NCBA supports a ban on imitation products. 

Telling Americans what they can and cannot buy at the grocery store does not align with NCBA’s policy book or our conservative values, and setting a precedent the federal government can remove a product from the shelves completely is not wise for the cattle industry, when we have no idea who might be sitting in the White House or in Congress 10 years from now.

We’re ready to compete with these products. We are definitely encouraged by the dried-up investments and other market signals Americans are giving, saying, “We don’t have any interest in these fake products.” 

Just as we have on other industry issues, we respect our state affiliates may take different positions, and we support the idea local leaders know what’s best for their state. 

But above all, we’re going to stay the course, keep following our grassroots policy, keep working to close loopholes and work with the Trump administration to make sure no fake products get to trade on beef’s good name in the marketplace.

Gene Copenhaver is a cattle producer from Virginia and NCBA’s president-elect. For more information about NCBA or to become a member, visit ncba.org or call 866-BEEF-USA. This opinion column was originally published by NCBA on April 3.