Why Jeff Bezos’ climate fund just invested $30 million to build ‘sustainable protein’ in North Carolina

The Bezos Earth Fund will create the Center for Sustainable Protein at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, to research cheaper and tastier alternative proteins.

North Carolina might not seem like an obvious place for a research hub dedicated to breakthroughs in lab-grown meat. After all, the Tar Heel state is a leader in producing meat the old fashioned way: Its top agricultural commodity is chickens. It produces more turkeys than any other state, along with about 10% of the nation’s hogs and pigs.