Is lab grown food the dinner of the future?

In this episode of In Good Taste, I sit down with consumer affairs specialist Harry Kind (formerly of consumer champions Which?) to unpack cultivated meat: what it is, why it exists, and whether it’ll actually taste like the “chicken-est chicken” and the “beef-iest beef” but without the animal. WHAT WE COVER ➡️ Cultivated meat 101: cells to steak (and why nuggets are the first stop) ➡️ The price–taste–convenience triangle and who the early adopters might be ➡️ Regulations and reality ➡️ Can chefs help solve “the chew”? Why scaffolding and heterogeneity matter ➡️ Marketing and the “ick factor” ABOUT ME I’m Mallika Basu — food writer, advisor and spice obsessive — on a mission to make food matters accessible, joyful and useful for food lovers. My new book, In Good Taste: What Shapes What We Eat and Drink – and Why It Matters (paperback), is out 22 Jan 2026 and available to pre-order in the UK now. FOLLOW ME Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallikabasu_/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallikabasu/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCYwONfEsXTjIWQQ-in8DY0w Substack: https://mallikabasu.substack.com/