Meat grown from animal cells? Here's what it is and how it's made

The U.S. government is allowing the sale of chicken made from animal cells.

California companies Upside Foods and Good Meat were granted permission on Wednesday to sell their products by the Agriculture Department.

Livestock doesn’t need to be raised and killed to produce this new type of meat, which proponents say is better for the animals and for the environment because land does not need to be cleared for grazing or growing feed.

Currently, the U.S. uses over 1 billion acres of land for agriculture, or just over half of total land -- the majority of which is used for grazing cattle.