Democrats should include federal funding for cultured-meat research in their coronavirus-relief bill.

For readers who aren’t aware, cultured meat is grown from cells, without slaughter. Since animals are removed from the process, the risk of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 making the jump to humans is eliminated.

Our current food system — which relies on huge numbers of creatures being packed together in dirty cages — is like kindling to the fire of a future pandemic. There is no reason to accept this danger. Though cultured meat is now more expensive than its slaughtered counterpart, this can be fixed with open-access research.

Jon Hochschartner
Granby, Connecticut