Pentagon Considers Feeding ‘Experimental’ Lab-Grown Meat To Troops To ‘Reduce CO2 Footprint’

The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has revealed proposals to feed American soldiers cell-cultured, lab-grown meat in a bid to “reduce the CO2 footprint” at military bases.

The Pentagon has funded a private-public biotech company called BioMADE to the tune of over $500 million, and in a recent May press release the company unveiled proposed plans submitted to the DoD in 2022 to create faux meats to reduce carbon emissions.

Innovations in food production that reduce the CO2 footprint of food production at and/or transport to DoD operational environments are solicited. These could include, but are not limited to, production of nutrient-dense military rations via fermentation processes, utilizing one carbon molecule (C1) feedstocks for food production, and novel cell culture methods suitable for the production of cultivated meat/protein.

The document says

The group went on to suggest ideas such as “converting waste to bioproducts” and use “them as feedstocks for bioindustrial manufacturing;” and “carbon capture technologies” that convert greenhouse gases and CO2 into ‘sustainable’ products, which could “include but are not limited to biocement, biochar, and bioplastics.”

It would appear the Pentagon is perhaps on board with this idea as the DoD doled out $450 million in taxpayer’s funds to the company in March.

Matt Spence, a former Defense Department official, wrote in a piece for Slate in 2021 that “One of the most immediate, politically feasible, and high-impact ways to do this [address climate change] is for the U.S. government to invest in and accelerate alternative ways to produce meat.”

However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the process of making lab-grown meats. In late-2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that consuming cell-cultured meat is “safe for human consumption,” and gave their stamp of approval to the first company to sell their faux meats. The FDA approved a second fake meat company in 2023.

But there are reports of notable health issues these cell-cultured meats can create. Some scientists say people should not eat these products…