To the editor:

If Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer care about the environment, they should support federal funding for cultured-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughtering animals. The greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater and land required to produce it are a tiny fraction of those necessary to raise livestock. 

Dr. Mark Post debuted the first cultured-beef hamburger in 2013. It cost an astonishing $280,000 to make. Since that time, the price has dropped substantially. Post believes a similar burger will cost $10 in the near future. As wonderful as this progress is, the price will need to be reduced further in order to compete with slaughtered meat. This can be achieved by publicly funded research.

Jon Hochschartner

Granby, Connecticut