Climate Advisers and The Good Food Institute have partnered to develop a new policy brief detailing how sustainable proteins can support food security around the world and in turn national security for the United States.
Food insecurity threatens U.S. national security by increasing the risks of conflict, unrest, and violent extremism. The causes of food insecurity are diverse, but animal protein production makes a significant contribution. Inefficiencies in animal protein production drive up the prices for grains and other staple crops, worsening climate change, and making supply chains less resilient.
Alternative proteins on the other hand provide the valuable nutrition people need without the inefficiencies and other harms involved in cycling crops through animals. A large-scale shift from animal products to alternative proteins therefore has tremendous potential food and national security benefits. In addition, alternative proteins face a markedly easier path to implementation than many other system transformations of similar scale and impact, making them a winning strategy to reduce food insecurity, enhance national security, and strengthen climate action.
This policy brief details the reasons why the United States should make international cooperation on alternative proteins a top diplomatic priority, and shares recommendations that the United States should adopt to accelerate innovation in alternative protein technologies.
