(Radio Iowa) – The U-S-D-A has given two California companies the go ahead to begin selling chicken that’s grown from animal cells in a lab, but it will be a while before what’s called cultivated chicken lands in Iowa grocery stores. Chad Hart, an economist with Iowa State University Extension, suggests there are some headwinds for the product. “This is an alternative that some may wish to pursue that’s going to be substantially higher cost for quite some time,” Hart says, “and may not have as big an audience as some folks think.”

Hart points to what’s happened with plant-based products marketed as meatless meat. Products like “Beyond Meat” were introduced in 2019, but data recently released by the Plant Based Foods Association shows meatless meat sales in U-S grocery stores declined by one percent in 2022, after zero growth in 2021. “You know, the Impossible Burger is not as hot as it once was,” Hart says. “It does have an audience. It does have a core group that are looking for it, but for the most part those that want to eat meat find the meat that they’ve traditionally ate.”

Hart made his comments during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa P-B-S.