Raleigh, NC – Duke’s World Food Policy Center (WFPC) presented policy research and moderated a panel discussion on sustainable protein policy and regulation at the Bezos Center Summit held October 16-17, 2025, on the North Carolina State University campus. The event featured talks, panels, and posters from researchers, students, and alternative protein (AP) companies affiliated with the Bezos Center. Sessions included a focus on commercialization, technology innovations, scaling AP manufacturing, workforce development, outreach, and policy and regulation.
The WFPC is an academic partner in the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein at NC State, which was established in 2024.
The Bezos Earth Fund’s Future of Food Program Director Andy Jarvis spoke about the intersection of food systems and climate change. “We seek to rebalance the food system to feed people in a much more sustainable way,” says Jarvis. By 2050, demand for animal-sourced food will increase by 50% or more, he explains. With one-third of global emissions coming from food, and one-half of that third coming from animal agriculture, there is a need for innovative solutions, like AP products.
“We need to move away from an ‘either/or’ approach and toward a ‘yes, and’ approach when it comes to protein,” says Jarvis. “It’s not one or the other, so with our grants, the fund bets on both animal-sourced foods and protein alternatives.”
The fund has granted $100 million to create global centers for sustainable proteins, including the Bezos Center at NC State, the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College London, and the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at National University of Singapore, and to the Good Food Institute (GFI) to support the Centers.
Sustainable Protein Landscape Analysis
The WFPC’s Amanda Wood led a team of researchers and students over the past year to complete a deep dive landscape analysis of the AP sector. “We needed to better understand the trends, challenges, and opportunities that AP stakeholders in the U.S. currently face,” she said. When Wood began the work, she was a Visiting Researcher with the WFPC, on research leave from the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University. She now continues the collaboration as a Research Affiliate from her home base at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Wood’s research team included WFPC Postdoctoral Fellow Katherine Consavage Stanley, doctoral student Sophia Nissler from the University of North Carolina-Chapel, graduate student Ella Zalewsky from Arizona State University, and Duke Master of International Development student Aleksandra Zaborowska from the Sanford School of Public Policy.
The team collected information from recent industry news articles, grey literature, academic publications, and interviews with AP experts to obtain up-to-date information about the AP sector. They then analyzed characteristics of the key stakeholders in the sector; developed a snapshot of AP labeling and ban legislation across the U.S. and other policy-relevant issues affecting the sector; and assessed the market and consumer landscapes and factors that influence consumer acceptance of alternative proteins.
“We interviewed twenty AP experts, and their insights were integral to understanding the current state of play of the sector, key research and innovation needs, and how APs might contribute to our future food systems,” she said.
The team also identified clear research and engagement needs for interdisciplinary research centers with the goal of serving as a guidepost for the emerging Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein at NC State. “Stakeholders made it clear that interdisciplinary research centers such as the Bezos Center have a critical role to play in the development of the sector as collaborators, thought leaders, educators, and conveners,” she said.
“APs have the potential to help meet a growing global demand for protein and address several environmental sustainability challenges. And yet, our analysis highlights that the sector is facing mounting challenges, including uncertain policy and regulatory landscapes, funding limitations, and opposing narratives,” said Wood. “As a result of this work, we were able to identify research and innovation priorities that can help advance the AP sector.”
Wood and Consavage Stanley have since finalized their analysis of the stakeholder interviews and submitted the findings for peer review.
Deep Dive into Cell-Cultivated Meat and Seafood Labeling and Bans
Consavage Stanley is collaborating with NC State University Postdoct Katariina Koivusaari on an analysis of the regulatory environment for cell-cultivated meat and seafood products and state and federal legislative efforts to restrict how these products are labeled and sold in the U.S. Stanley and Koivusaari presented a poster on this work at the Bezos Summit. They are also in the review process for a journal publication on the topic.
“This work shines a light on the fragmented legislative approach for cell-cultivated meat and seafood products to date, both for whether these products can enter the U.S. market and for how they are labeled,” said Stanley.
“Our study outlines the challenging and evolving regulatory and legislative environment for cell-cultivated meat and seafood products in the U.S,” she said. “To date, many states have imposed labeling restrictions on cell-cultivated meat and seafood products—some of which are likely to be preempted once federal labeling guidance is released.”
What’s interesting is that five cell-cultivated products have succeeded in gaining approval for the U.S. market. “At the same time, we’ve seen a rise in states who have attempted and/or succeeded in passing laws that restricted cell-cultivated product market access. Seven states have banned the research, production, sale, promotion, and/or distribution of cell-cultivated products and 2 states have passed legislation to restrict the use of state funds to support them,” said Stanley.
Consavage Stanley and Koivusaari hope the findings from this research will be useful for industry leaders, advocates, and policymakers as it provides a comprehensive overview of the policy environment for cell-cultivated meat and seafood products in the U.S. The study can also inform future research on the narratives surrounding cell-cultivated labeling and ban legislation, the diffusion of these policies across states over time, and how the media environment impacted these legislative efforts.
Sustainable Protein Policy and Regulation
During the October Bezos Summit, WFPC Director Norbert Wilson moderated a panel discussion on the policy and regulatory landscape for AP products. Panelists included Madeline Cohen from The Good Food Institute, food and drug specialist attorney Deepti Kulkarni from Covington & Burling LLP, and environmental health and safety specialist Jo Anne Shatkin from Vireo Advisors.
Kulkarni provided an overview of the regulatory frameworks in the U.S. that apply to AP products, including labeling, marketing, and development of industry standards. Cohen discussed state level efforts to label and regulate plant-based and cell-cultivated proteins. Shatkin discussed the global regulatory framework, providing examples from Singapore in particular.
Each panelist provided insight into the importance of cultivating public trust as part of emerging technologies, and how revisions to GRAS ingredient disclosures may affect the AP industry. They also discussed policy levers that may support or hinder AP industry competitiveness in the future.
“The policy panel was a valuable contribution to the Bezos Center conference. Policy is a topic that everyone can engage with, but it is easy to get lost in the weeds,” said Wilson. “The discussion was rich in detail but still accessible. We were able to see how the federal policy framework evolved and interacts with various state efforts to regulate the industry. In the end, we have a fuller understanding of the policy space around alternative proteins.”