Massachusetts is gearing up to potentially make significant state investments in the alternative protein industry in coming years.
Both the House and Senate have approved the state’s ability to issue bonds to fund at least $10 million in grants over the next five years for researchers and businesses making milk and meat alternatives created from plants or cultivated in labs, rather than through raising and slaughtering livestock.
Now, as the Legislature works to finalize its economic development bond bill by the end of the month, food scientists and industry advocates say the likely new influx of money could help grow their blossoming industry. That growth, they say, could combat climate change, create high-paying jobs, and boost Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness.
“This is where we need to go,” said David L. Kaplan, director of the National Institute for Cellular Agriculture at Tufts University. “That will have a ripple effect throughout the country because [we’ll be] finding better, safer, more nutritious, healthier foods.”
It remains to be seen whether the industry’s grants, and the rest of the economic development bill, make it to Governor Maura Healey’s desk. Senate and House leaders are working to hammer out the differences between their proposals before their formal sessions end on July 31.