A Global Path Forward Without the U.S.
As the U.N. projects the global population to grow from approximately 8 billion people to 10 billion people by 2050, many countries have begun planning for more mouths to feed and a more efficient, nutritious, faster, and prolific way to feed them. Investing in research into resource-saving technologies such as plant-based innovations, precision and biomass fermentation, and cellular agriculture is a path to food security. Canada, for example, announced that it would invest $100 million in its plant-based industry. The European Union announced it would invest 10 billion euros in a green transition program focusing on plant-based proteins.
For countries that naturally have food insecurity issues, finding a more efficient way to produce food is a strategic imperative. Singapore can only produce 10% of its food and imports the rest. Because its food supply chain is very susceptible to pandemics and regional political squabbles, Singapore is emerging as the Asian food tech capital, investing $72 billion in its ’30 by 30’ plan to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. Of note, Singapore made history when, on December 2, 2020, it became the first country in the world to give regulatory approval for the sale of cell-based meat by Eat Just, Inc.’s Good Meat.
Israel is also taking a global leadership role in diversified proteins. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed government officials to appoint a body to support these innovation industries by connecting key stakeholders operating in this field, including but not limited to universities, government agencies, and entrepreneurs. According to the Good Food Institute, the Israel Innovation Authority announced its plan to allot a portion of a $69M investment to a cultivated meat consortium composed of companies and research institutions.
The Netherlands, too, is championing the advancement of cultivated meat. A leader in food innovation and home to MosaMeat, the first company to debut a cultivated meat burger, the Netherlands pledged 60 million euros to develop a cellular agriculture ecosystem.
Food Innovation Is an Issue of U.S. National Security
In 2024 it seemed that the U.S. was gearing up to be a leader in food innovation with the Department of Defense (DoD) set to invest in advancements in food through biomanufacturing. “The next industrial revolution will be a biomanufacturing revolution. [The Department of Defense] is keenly aware of that reality,” said Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “DBIMP’s [Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program] investment in a diverse set of companies will help transition U.S. bioindustrial manufacturing from the laboratory to a network of large-scale production facilities, able to fortify defense supply chains…while positioning the U.S. bioeconomy for surging growth.”
Unfortunately, several food companies that were set to receive funding for biomass fermentation say that this funding has been cut. It is important to note that this is not the case in China, which continues to invest and advance in food innovation.
According to Reuters, in China, “Food security has long been regarded as a major source of political legitimacy for the ruling Communist Party.” China’s arable land is shrinking, making the country increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to feed its 1.4 billion people.
The Good Food Institute’s 2026 State of Global Policy: Public investment in protein diversification to feed a growing world notes, “China’s No. 1 Central Document—the first policy statement released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council each year–included among 2025’s goals “Building a diversified food supply system,” including efforts ‘to cultivate and develop biological agriculture and explore novel food resources.’ The central document specifically mentions a need for ‘expanding food sources through multiple channels,’ including fungal and algae-based protein extraction — techniques used in the development of many plant-based and fermentation-derived products.”
It goes on to say that, “China’s investments in cultivated meat, fermentation-enabled protein, and other “new proteins” grew both larger and more explicit in 2025, with a variety of actors at the national, state, and municipal levels announcing new investments in biotechnology research, industry development, and infrastructure. In February 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released a plan to revitalize rural economies pursuant to the No. 1 Central Document, advocating for investment in biotechnology-enabled agriculture, exploration of new food resources such as plant-based meat, and the development of algae-based foods.”
The report quotes the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnologies. “Realizing the full potential of agricultural biotechnology requires addressing the challenges it faces. Total U.S. spending on agricultural research has fallen by a third since peaking in 2002. By contrast, China is now the largest global funder of agricultural research and development (R&D), and China-based companies are acquiring and consolidating global agricultural companies to bolster their technology portfolio. For all of these reasons, it is critical that the United States leverage the opportunities of biotechnology today to build an agricultural sector that is up to the challenges of tomorrow.”
With the Commission additionally stating in the April 2025 report, Charting the Future of Biotechnology: An action plan for American security and prosperity, “The inflection point for biotechnology has not yet arrived. Ultimate leadership of the sector is still up for grabs. With chips and advanced telecommunications, we were caught flat-footed. But with biotechnology, fortunately, we can act early and decisively.”
Will we? Clearly, the clock is ticking.
The Next Wars Will Be Fought Over Food and Water
Water advisor Will Sarni’s approach makes sense. “I propose we be honest and clear with civil society: there are outdated public policies that fail to address the increasing demand for a finite resource and a hydrologic cycle disrupted by climate change. With regard to water management, the past is no longer a guide to the future, and the status quo is no longer adequate. We need to increase water efficiency and reuse, and develop alternative water supplies, due to declining surface water and groundwater depletion.” The same approach must be taken with our no longer resilient and outdated food system. We need a more efficient system addressed through food waste, water and land management, and less destructive and innovative methods resulting in more products and more resiliency.
Water and food security is the single-largest impact investment opportunity in the history of mankind. Roughly 40% of the world’s population is affected by water scarcity, much of which is linked to animal agriculture using over 70% of the world’s freshwater supply.
With a growing global population, global warming, and dwindling resources, we are all in a race for food and water. With fewer countries potentially less willing or able to share or trade food in the future, the food supply may soon become a geopolitical issue and an environmental and health issue. Ultimately, it is possible to foresee that wars will be fought over food and water, as is the case with Syria, and true geopolitical power will be held by those who control the global supplies. This hits home for governments and individuals alike.
Yet, according to the Good Food Institute’s State of Global Policy: Public investment in protein diversification to feed a growing world, “Federal investments in plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-enabled proteins in the United States declined from a peak of about $115 million announced in 2024 to an estimated $11 million in 2025. In doing so, the United States bucks the global trend of investing competitively in biotechnology and biomanufacturing, of which food production is an essential driver of scientific progress, production capacity, and economic growth.”
This is dangerous territory for the U.S. The race is on.
Excerpts of this article were taken from my co-authored article with Kubra Koldemir, Forget The Race to Space. We’re in a Race for Food and Water.
Elysabeth Alfano speaks globally on the intersection of food security, sustainability, and our global food supply system, including recently at the United Nations Global Leaders Compact Summit, COP27 and COP28, BloombergTV and more. She is a business and policy advisor on efficient food system transformation, and hosted two podcasts on the same, one entitled, The Plantbased Business Hour, and one entitled, Upside & Impact, for the New York Stock Exchange’s podcast platform. She is the former CEO of VegTech™ Invest, the Advisor to the VegTech Plant-based Innovation & Climate ETF, (EATV).
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Kübra Koldemiris a business writer at SustainFinance and a sustainability researcher at Argüden Governance Academy. She has written numerous sustainability articles that have been published in various global publications. Koldemir started her financial career in 2006, working as an investment analyst in New York City, first at a long-only fund and later at a hedge fund with $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) that specialized in financial service companies.
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