Edition 77: chicken nuggets worth $50 a nugget

(This newsletter was sent to email subscribers on December 11, 2020.)

Happy Friday, muggles. The makers of Post-It notes and Scotch tape are moving to the animal kingdom. 3M (the parent company of these inventions) sought to find a safer way to track polar bears by running an internal challenge called “tag-a-bear.” Now, two years later, they have narrowed down to a few prototypes to be tested. While we wait to hear which one sticks, here’s a few stories we’re sticking to the top of your reading list.

FOOD

Singapore becomes the first country to approve lab-grown meat

Thu Dec 3

Chicken nuggets might be a little different in Singapore soon. For the first time anywhere, cultured chicken has been approved for sale. Unlike slaughtered chicken, cultured chicken is grown by adding a mix of nutrients to a small amount of real chicken cells. As a result, chicken meat can be grown without inedible parts like bones. These specific nuggets were developed at a San Francisco-based startup called Eat Just, and for now will be available in Singapore.

Will other countries follow Singapore’s lead?

It might take some time. Singapore was eager to approve the cultured meat as an important way to potentially produce 30% of the nation’s food by 2030 (they currently import more than 90% of their food). The country hopes cell-cultured alternatives and other innovative agri-tech can help them meet this “30 by 30” goal. Eat Just is already investing millions to open a plant protein facility in Singapore. The U.S., on the other hand, is moving very slowly while agencies remain cautious and want to devise a plan for safety and policy questions.

While there are environmental benefits to creating meat in labs, some worry it’s not a fully-proofed solution — especially if handled incorrectly. And so far, lab-grown meat is not cheap! The “chicken nuggets” were originally priced at $50 each, but the price has since come down, and Eat Just is aiming to price their meats within 30% of conventional meat.

Overall, the cultured-food industry is growing rapidly. It’s expected that meat alternatives could be a $140 billion industry in the next decade. Plant-based meat options, such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, have already taken off in the U.S. Meanwhile, there are dozens of other startups trying to eventually sell a cultured meat product, with two of the largest companies based in Israel.

📣 From the Soapbox

This month, we’re partnering with Soapbox Project, a media company that gives you action plans for social causes you care about.

>> Continue Learning

Listen to The Atlantic’s Crazy / Genius episode “Will We Ever Stop Eating Animal Meat?” Alternatively, read the episode highlights here, which includes the history of how the first lab-grown patty cost over $300,000!

SOURCES / READ MORE: The Counter, BBC News, The New York Times

DRUGS

How Chinese money brokers are being used to launder drug money from the U.S. to Mexico

Thu Dec 3

Chinese expats working with Mexican cartels have changed the illegal drug business, taking over for Mexican and Colombian money launderers. Authorities say they’ve been able to move cartel profits from the U.S. to China and then back out to Mexico, quickly and quietly, through just a few clicks on a burner phone and by using Chinese banking apps.

What has allowed criminals to (mostly) get away with this?

• The brokers would pay small Chinese-owned businesses in Mexico and the U.S. to help move money, and would also sometimes operate their own legitimate businesses so they could transfer USD between two Chinese bank accounts.
• Law enforcement in neither the U.S. nor Mexico has access to the Chinese banking system, and therefore cannot investigate activity within.
• The U.S. banking system has gotten really good at detecting unusual activity, but the Chinese banking system isn’t set up in the same way to flag these sorts of transactions.

Tensions between the U.S. and China have not helped either. Some U.S. sources say the U.S. reached out to China, but didn’t receive any assistance in criminal cases. However, China claims they were willing to help, but the U.S. did not reach out.

Meanwhile the U.S. has been trying to crackdown on these groups and individuals, and has charged alleged criminals in Illinois, Virginia, and Oregon. One of the groups is believed to have operated a ring based in Guadalajara that laundered anywhere from $25 million to $65 million in illegal drug money from 2016 to 2018. The U.S. and Europe are on high alert and say this is a growing and sophisticated threat to their financial systems.

There’s a lot going on with this story. Learn more from our sources: Reuters, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Center for Immigration Studies

HISTORY

The U.S. is one step closer to Latino and women’s history museums

Fri Dec 4

It’s been decades in the making, but last week a Senate Committee unanimously voted to approve both a Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women’s History Museum. Both bills will now be sent to the full senate for a vote, and then go to the President for a signature.

When would these museums open?

While it will still take a few years, the hope is that the bills get to President Trump before the end of the year. After that, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents will have two years to determine where the museums will live. The museum will also need to raise half the funds through private donations. The other 50% of funding will come from the federal government.

The last national museum built was the National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016.

SOURCES / READ MORE: The Washington Post, The Hill, Observer

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That’s all for today. Have a magical week.✨