Image Credit: Bloomberg

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Italy has taken a decisive step to safeguard its culinary heritage by banning the production and sale of lab-grown meat, showcasing the commitment of Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government to uphold the nation’s gastronomic traditions. Meanwhile, a breakthrough in gene therapy has emerged with a single infusion of a gene-editing treatment showing promising results in lowering high cholesterol, offering hope for novel approaches to managing cardiovascular health. On a different note, vegan egg and lab-grown meat startup Eat Just is facing significant financial challenges, as insiders reveal the company is being sued for over $100 million, with former employees suggesting that this legal battle may only be the tip of the iceberg for the troubled company.

In other news, we’ve wrapped the first season of our podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast, and be sure to subscribe and share!

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1. Italy Bans Lab-Grown Meat in Move to Protect Culinary Heritage – Bloomberg

Italy banned the production and sale of cultivated meat, a move that signals the determination of Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government in defending the nation’s culinary tradition.

2. A Single Infusion of a Gene-Editing Treatment Lowered High Cholesterol – Wired

It’s still early days for a novel form of gene therapy called base editing, but this small study in people with extremely high cholesterol shows striking results.

3. Insiders Say Eat Just Is in Big Financial Trouble – Wired

Vegan egg and lab-grown-meat startup Eat Just is being sued for more than $100m. Former employees allege that’s just the start of its problems.

4. Germany Earmarks €38M Investment for Alt-Protein Transition in 2024 Federal Budget – Green Queen

This includes promoting the manufacturing and processing of plant-based, cultivated and fermented proteins, supporting a transition to plant-based farming, as well as opening a Proteins of the Future center.

5. Select Cuts: Inside Big Meat’s Fight to Measure Greenhouse Gases with Alternative Math – Fast Company

In the midst of a scientific debate over how to measure climate change, massive agricultural corporations have latched onto a metric that could make them carbon-neutral almost overnight.

6. An Ex-Noma Chef Has a Plan to Serve Better Food for US Prisoners – Bloomberg

Dan Giusti is bringing professional chefs into penitentiaries to help inmates cook for each other. So far, it’s working.

7. Florida Republican Proposes Bill To Ban Sale, Distribution of Lab-Grown Meat in the State – Action News Jax

Florida House Republican Ryler Sirois introduced a new bill on Monday, aiming to make it illegal to manufacture, sell, hold or distribute lab-grown meat within the state.

8. War Plunged Israel’s Agricultural Heartlands Into Crisis, Raising Fears for Its Farming Future – Associated Press

Before the war, most of the produce consumed by Israelis was grown in Israel. The increasing reliance on imports threatens the local farms whose products used to stock supermarket shelves.

9. The UN Warns That All 2.2M People in Gaza Are at Risk of Starvation. – New York Times

Just 10% of what is characterized as the necessary amount of food aid is being delivered into Gaza, and food stocks are rapidly running out.