Cultivated meat is moving from scientific promise to regulatory reality in the UK. Reporting on a year-long Citizen Forum, Cultivating Debate captures citizens’ recommendations to ensure health, transparency, and equality in a future with cultivated meat.

Citizen insights on a future with cultivated meat

Instead of raising and slaughtering animals, cultivated meat is produced by taking a small sample of animal cells and growing them in a nutrient-rich environment that allows them to multiply. As cultivated meat moves from laboratory research towards regulatory consideration in the UK, big questions are emerging about its role in our food system. These go beyond just whether cultivated meat is safe, but what kind of food future it might help create.  

As part of the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub (CARMA), the RAU has been engaging the public in deliberations about cultivated meat – not simply as consumers, but as citizens with a stake in how new food technologies are developed, governed, and introduced. 

The CARMA Citizen Forum brings together around 20 participants each year, selected to reflect the diversity of the UK public. The programme includes: 

  • A two-day in-person launch, followed by a series of online deliberation sessions across the year 

  • Structured discussions with scientists, regulators, and sector experts 

  • Deliberations on what cultivated meat might mean for themselves and society 

What makes these forums special is that as well as broader discussions on the potential impacts of these technologies, members are also tasked with giving specific guidance on challenges facing CARMA scientists and the Food Standards Agency’s sandbox on cell-cultivated products. This is a novel approach to citizen engagement within the cellular agriculture sector which we hope will help steer CARMA and the wider industry in more equitable directions.  

Cultivating Debate report

After a year of deliberation (2024 – 2025), the Cultivating Debate report summarises citizens’ recommendations under the themes of Public Health & Food Safety, Power & Transparency, and Equality & Affordability. 

The report captures: 

  • Citizens’ recommendations for policymakers and regulators  

  • Their hopes and concerns about cultivated meat 

  • Direct input into CARMA’s research agenda and the Food Standards Agency’s regulatory sandbox through a series of ‘Deep Dives’ 

Download the report: Cultivating Debate - Citizen Insights on a Future with Cultivated Meat 

What happens next?

The CARMA Citizen Forum is a multi-year process, with a new group of citizens convened each year to deliberate on developments in cultivated meat and, in future, other areas of cellular agriculture. 

Insights from the Forum continue to: 

  • Inform CARMA’s scientific research 

  • Feed into regulatory discussions with the Food Standards Agency 

  • Shape wider conversations about public trust, governance, and food futures 

If you have a view on cultured meat and would like to speak with the CARMA project team, please get in touch here. 

Funding 

The Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub is funded by a grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council reference EP/X038114/1. 

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 

Project staff:  

  • Atenchong Talleh Nkobou, Royal Agricultural University 

  • James Riley, Royal Agricultural University 

Former project staff:  

  • Katherine Lewis, Research Engagement Manager