Lab grown meat is on the rise. And now, even the United States military is getting in on the future of food.
What’s happening:
- The United States Department of Defense has announced they are requesting official proposals for sustainable food production methods for the military, including cultivated proteins and lab grown meat
Why it matters:
- Lab grown meat is widely seen as one of the most important areas of food technology, in large part due to its ability to produce genuine animal meat without greenhouse gas emissions and relying on factory farming
Going deeper:
- Jeff Bezos recently committed $30M USD to constructing a new facility on campus at N.C. State University to accelerate research around lab grown meat and cultivated proteins through the Bezos Earth Fund
- The United States Department of Defense is looking to provide grant funding to universities, non-profits and small startups who are capable of validating that they can produce one specific type of cultivated protein or lab grown meat in a manner that is environmentally sustainable
By the numbers:
- The Department of Defense will provide between $500K USD and $2M USD in funding for each project they select
The intrigue:
- The National Cattlemens Beef Association has publicly spoken out against the United States Department of Defense embracing lab grown meat, suggesting that military troops should be consuming factory farmed meat despite its close correlation to harmful greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental concerns
