Authored by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper,

Nearly every household in America has at least a few of the ubiquitous red-and-white cans in the pantry, but perhaps not for much longer. I’m talking of course, about Campbell’s soup, a brand so iconic that Andy Warhol captured it in one of his most famous works of pop art.

First of all, in a leaked recording, it was revealed that the soups contained lab-grown meat – or “chicken that came from a 3-D printer.” Campbell’s strenuously refutes this comment, though the company does use genetically modified ingredients such as canola, corn, soybeans, and sugar beets.

And, just in case that accusation wasn’t enough to make your guts gurgle, it isn’t even the worst thing on that recording.

The recording

Robert Garza, a cybersecurity analyst for the company, was meeting at a restaurant with Martin Bally, one of Campbell’s vice presidents, to discuss his salary.

He secretly recorded statements made by the VP and chief information security officer during a November 2024 meeting. In a rant that lasted over an hour, here are some of the things captured on the recording.

Local 4 News in Detroit broadcast portions of the recording. In it, a speaker identified as Bally is heard saying, “We have s**t for f***king poor people. Who buys our s**t? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f**‘s in it.”

He also referenced “bioengineered meat,” saying, “I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.”

Just in case that isn’t enough to make you sincerely dislike the speaker, he also disparaged some of his coworkers.

“F***ing Indians don’t know a f***ing thing,” and “Like they couldn’t think for their f***ing selves,” it said in part.

Initially, Garza decided to keep the recording to himself, though he was left with “pure disgust.” However, in January 2025, he reported it to his direct supervisor. Twenty days later, Garza’s employment was terminated.

His attorney, Zachary Runyon, says that Garza reported the incident to protect his coworkers, and that he had a spotless record at the company.

Runyan said Garza had no record of disciplinary action and had not been written up for performance issues.

“He had never had any disciplinary action, they had never written him up for work performance,” Runyan said.

Garza also told reporters that he received no follow-up from Human Resources after submitting his complaint.

Garza has filed suit against Campbell’s.

The lawsuit accuses Campbell Soup Company of maintaining a racially hostile work environment and retaliating against Garza for reporting discriminatory conduct. It asserts claims of employment discrimination and race-based retaliation under Michigan law.

Garza says it is “not the case” that The Campbell Soup Company “treats its employees like family.”

The Campbell Soup Company denies using lab-grown meat.

Campbell’s denies that the company uses lab-grown meat.

“We use 100% real chicken in our soups,” James F. Regan, director of external communications at Campbell’s, told Newsweek. “The chicken meat comes from long-trusted, USDA approved U.S. suppliers and meets our high quality standards. All of our soups are made with No Antibiotics Ever chicken meat. Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”

A spokesperson for Campbell’s also told Newsweek:

“If the recording is legitimate, the comments are unacceptable. They do not reflect our values and the culture of our company. Mr. Bally is temporarily on leave while we conduct an investigation.”

What is lab-grown meat?

Be prepared to learn how it’s better for you than actual meat from a butchered animal. Farm Forward explains the process.

Lab-grown meat, also called cultured or cultivated meat, is grown from the cells of an animal, without any need to slaughter an animal to obtain the meat. The animal’s cells are cultivated in stainless steel drums called bioreactors, which are engineered to encourage replication of cells or growth of biological mass. The products that result from this process have been met with excitement due to their potential to replace the millions of animals being raised on factory farms around the world. Because cultured meat is produced in laboratory environments, it does not suffer from some of the contamination and health issues that plague traditional meat producers, such as antibiotic resistance and foodborne and zoonotic illnesses.

And it’s sooooo wonderful, too.

Cultured meat is cellularly indistinguishable from the flesh of animals raised on a factory farm. However, there are several aspects of health in which cultured meat surpasses traditionally farmed meat. For example, animal agriculture is already one of the major contributors to antibiotic resistance worldwide, and the use of subtherapeutic antibiotics in animal farming is set to increase further in the coming years. Cellular meat does not require the heavy use of antibiotics, so its production does not contribute to this ongoing public health crisis.

Another aspect of cultured meat that makes it healthier than its farm-raised equivalent is its lower likelihood of causing zoonotic diseases. While animal agriculture is likely to be a source of future pandemics caused by illnesses that jump from animals to people, this risk is minimized in cell-cultured agriculture, because there are no animals involved once the cells have been collected.

The article lists one of the major “cons” of lab-grown meat as “cultural acceptance.”

If you haven’t yet, it might be time to meet a local farmer and fill your freezer with meat you can trust.