Meat made from real animal cells, but with no slaughter, will debut in American restaurants very soon.

According to reports from several news agencies in the United States, the Agriculture Department on Wednesday gave the green light to three California-based companies to begin producing and selling lab-grown chicken in the United States.

This comes against several actions taken over the years by citizens to put an end to slaughtering animals for protein. It’s what has been described as a major step and a win for anti-slaughter activists in the US and around the world.

The US Department of Agriculture announced that it issued grants of inspection to Upside Foods, Good Meat, and Good Meat’s manufacturing partner, Joinn Biologics, the first companies that have been aiming to bring the much-awaited product to the American market.

These companies harvest cells from viable animal tissue and grow edible flesh under controlled conditions in bioreactors, flesh they say will be identical to that raised conventionally. Alternatives to traditional animal agriculture are seen as a way to mitigate climate change.

Upside’s chief executive, Uma Valeti, said this marks a paradigm shift in meat production and is a milestone the company has worked toward since 2015.