Mooji Meats (YC W22) reposted this
#YCombinator President & CEO Garry Tan invited me to the #CapitolHill in DC to speak about the new #labgrownmeat policies in front of a room full of congressional staffers. As an immigrant I do not have any strong political affiliation in the US, so I judge policies by what they are. And I, personally, find them bizarre and harmful. Here's my full statement (from memory): "I do believe that fears should not be disregarded. I do understand why the idea is scary and I think that we should listen to those concerns. Yet, I find this legislation to be absurd, yet harmful. It’s absurd because lab-grown meat is still in it’s infancy and we have no idea yet how it will look like. Prohibiting lab-grown meat today is the equivalent of someone saying “We should ban autonomous cars” in the 1800s when people moved from horses to the first cars. It seems like a political gaslight to move attention away from more relevant topics. Nevertheless, the legislation is harmful because it impedes important innovation. Lab-grown meat could become the nutrition equivalent to OpenAI in terms of how much it transforms our world. Right now, like any other deep-tech company, lab-grown meat firms are having an incredibly hard time raising funding. Obviously, many investors shy away from regulatory risks. If lab-grown meat companies do not receive funding today because of the uncertainty caused by regulation, we'll feel the impact in 10, 20, or 30 years from now. China has made lab-grown meat a key part of their five-year agriculture plan. I really believe that we, as Western countries, need to keep our political systems functional if we want to stay competitive." Thanks Luther Lowe for organizing! #labgrownmeat #agriculture #policies #washingtondc Follow us: Mooji Meats (YC W22) (plant-based meats only, sorry! ;-) )