On this day in vegan history · March 15, 2017
The First Cell-Grown Chicken Gets Fried
In a San Francisco kitchen, tasters ate southern fried chicken and duck that had never been part of a living bird.
The facts
- Date
- March 15, 2017
- Location
- A kitchen in San Francisco, California
- Dishes served
- Southern fried chicken and duck à l'orange
- Company
- Memphis Meats, founded 2015 (later renamed Upside Foods)
On March 15, 2017, the startup Memphis Meats served tasters southern fried chicken and duck à l'orange made from cells grown in a bioreactor, not from a slaughtered bird. It was the world's first public tasting of cultured poultry, a year after the company had debuted a cultured beef meatball. CEO Uma Valeti framed the moment as proof that meat could be redesigned at the cellular level, not just farmed differently. Tasters who tried the chicken strip found the flavor close to the real thing, noted a slightly different texture, and said they would eat it again.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
-
Chicken and duck are at the center of the table in so many cultures around the world, but the way conventional poultry is raised creates huge problems for the environment, animal welfare, and human health.
Uma Valeti, co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats, March 15, 2017
Source: FoodNavigator-USA -
slightly spongier than a chicken breast, but almost spot-on in terms of flavor
Tasters' description of the cultured chicken strip
Source: Foodbeast
Why it still matters
It was the moment cultured meat stopped being a single expensive meatball and became a platform, chicken and duck alongside beef, pointing toward a poultry aisle with no hatchery behind it.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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