Food Biomanufacturing for National Security

Food biomanufacturing is an emerging dual-use industrial capability with major implications for national security, supply chain resilience, and U.S. leadership in life sciences. Advances in fermentation and synthetic biology are making it possible to produce proteins, fats, and other critical ingredients in bioreactors, with potential applications for both military logistics and the broader defense industrial base.

Food biomanufacturing can help address several defense challenges, including:

•  Producing food in contested, austere, or resource-constrained environments
•  Reducing risks of supply chain shocks and geographically concentrated 
   production
•  Producing defense-relevant goods, including food ingredients, fuels, 
   chemicals, materials, or energetics
•  Diversifying the defense industrial base
•  Supporting U.S. leadership in biotechnology

This brief explains these benefits in detail and outlines policy opportunities for advancing food biomanufacturing through research support, demand signaling, industrial policy tools, and infrastructure investment.