BOSTON – Protein-rich diets are important, but people who don’t eat meat or dairy can often struggle to find sustainable sources. 

Groups advocating at the State House on Monday say the demand for protein sources will double in the next 25 years. They don’t believe the traditional market can support the growth. Now, meat and dairy alternatives are being prioritized.

“High in protein, but I think most importantly, it tastes really good,” Megan Reece, sales manager at Rebellyous Foods, told a man visiting her table of free samples. 

“I think the texture is really good,” said the passerby. “It's really similar.”

Reece said her company has been working for almost a decade on alternative plant-based products like their chicken nuggets. Their biggest clients are school systems. 

Right now, they’re working on a new manufacturing technology to help lower costs and make their products more accessible and better priced for consumers. 

“Its one of the barriers to keeping people from purchasing meat alternatives. We know that,” Reece said about the cost of alternative proteins. 
"Our company has actually created a novel technology. So we're deploying a machine that is going to help us, you know, bring those prices down to the same cost as real chicken nuggets.”

Plant-based chicken nuggets aren’t new, but there were groups who showed off research that took cells from animals and turned them into real meat without having to slaughter a cow. It could be a game-changer for meat alternatives because it limits the number of animals needed, thereby reducing the impact on the environment without taking away familiar flavors. 

“There's an enormous benefit to being able to still provide people with a cultural experience of your eating a burger, or you're eating a chicken nugget,” says Noa Dalzell, the state policy director for Food Policy Action. “But you're not worried about the fact that it's so detrimental to the environment. So, all these products use much less water, much less land and at the same time, they still provide people with the taste, texture, cultural experience.”

Monday’s advocacy day wasn’t for any special ask but to educate the legislators they’ve been lobbying for two years. 

They are hoping the investment into alternative protein research will remain in the economic development bill.