This important & sobering piece from @zeynep at @nytimes reveals the spread of H5N1 avian influenza to over 30 U.S. dairy cow herds and 1 confirmed human case so far. As I’ve said before, when it comes to preventing the next pandemic, it’s never been more important to invest in long-term solutions like rethinking modern meat production. 🧵 nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opi… As @zeynep points out, while “pandemics are rare because they require a chain of unlucky events to happen one after the other,” the massive scale at which we raise animals for food increases the likelihood of those unlucky events unfolding.

Fermentation-derived protein sources have the potential to capture a significant share of the consumer market while addressing essential climate global climate goals. But significant factors are holding this emerging industry back. 🧵👇 A new study by GFI and Integration Consulting paints a picture of the existing landscape of manufacturing capacity for fermentation-derived products and offers strategies for addressing current growth limitations:
gfi.org/resource/ferme…

I just fell prey to a scam that I now know is making the rounds (apparently someone shared ~exact same experience on TikTok). Got a call from my sister’s legit phone #, heard muffled crying in the background and a guy threatening to kill her if I didn’t send him $$$ immediately. I had no reason to think it wasn’t believable. Again, it came via her real number, and she lives in SF where it would not have been outside the realm of possibility that someone from the street followed her into her apartment building and was in an agitated, irrational state.

*Job alert x2!* @GoodFoodInst has 2 openings on our SciTech team to accelerate the foundational science of alt proteins. Both are remote but you must be authorized to work in U.S.
Short descriptions below, full info at gfi.org/careers. Deadlines in 2 wks!
@effective_jobs Scientist (Principal or Senior Lead level), Plant-based — Lead technical landscaping for plant-based proteins & ingredients, identify key challenges, & articulate solutions to accelerate the industry. Your analyses will help create a roadmap for improving cost & quality of APs.

When I say a shift toward alt proteins can help address multiple global challenges in a very direct way, I'm not just blowing smoke.

@GoodFoodInst is the only org to appear on @voxdotcom's list of best charities for reducing animal suffering AND climate change.

Links: ⬇️ For animal impact, Vox relies on the assessment of @AnimalCharityEv, which uses three main criteria: “likely to produce the greatest gains for animals, "actively evaluate and improve their programs, and "have a demonstrated need for more funding."

This year I took the Giving What We Can pledge to donate >10% of my income to effective charities. I've been donating >5% ever since I've been financially independent (for me, earning a $28k PhD stipend) & am jazzed to do more.

Let me make the entirely selfish case for doing so: I consider philanthropy to be a literal investment in a more stable & secure future—no different than the money I put into stocks or CDs—not a handout or a "feel-good" activity. I'm investing in the world I want to inhabit

Totally surreal to appear on this list alongside several stellar comrades in the pursuit of a more sustainable & kind food system, & also some of my greatest academic heroes incl. Jennifer Doudna & Max Tegmark. Tickled to be in such esteemed company!
vox.com/future-perfect… Huge thank you to Vox Future Perfect and Kenny Torella for this spotlight, and congratulations to everyone whose efforts to build a better future have been recognized with this honor!

We should never tolerate 97% food waste—but that's what beef entails just to produce it. That's not even accounting for further waste at the retailer or consumer end of the chain.

Each human eats 2,000 lbs of food a year. We burn almost all of it off. That's what all animals do. Animals move, breathe, think, digest, generate body heat. This all requires massive amounts of calories. Farming animals is essentially using animal metabolism to concentrate biomolecules from plants in a horribly inefficient manner. We can do better these days.

It's finally happening, but still not fast enough. Major inflection point coming in the alt protein space as plant-based products start outcompeting animal products on price.

2 examples of this starting to happen, in different product categories, and why it matters: Last month, the average cost of plant-based meat (including beef and chicken products) in the Netherlands was reported to have finally dropped *below* (not just parity!) the average cost of their animal-derived equivalents per kg.
foodnavigator.com/Article/2022/0…

Last month was a busy one for convos with journalists, and I couldn't be more thrilled to see expanding coverage of alt proteins in major publications. I spoke with @nytimes, @PopSci, and @TIME. Links for each story in thread below: Lauren Jackson at @nytimes examines the promise & challenges of fermentation. Her piece has great quotes from @GeorgeMonbiot, including:
“Precision fermentation is the most important environmental technology humanity has ever developed.”
nytimes.com/2022/07/29/pod…

Three fascinating open-access publications that popped up in my alerts this week (disclaimer: I haven't read these in full, but find the topics and/or home institutions of the authors to be salient): 1) A research team in South Korea published on bovine cultivated meat production using bioinks made from protein hydrolysates. SK is 6th largest R&D funder in the globe; notable that we are seeing an increasing number of alt prot publications from SK.

pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.102…

If you're an innovator or aspiring innovator in the alternative protein space, there is no better source of news on new opportunities than the @GoodFoodInst GFIdeas Community Newsletter compiled by @mailleodonnell. Here is just a sample of the amazing content in today's edition: Seminar announcements, e.g.:

B2B marketing strategy for novel protein ingredients —
This seminar will provide a framework on the steps, activities, and timelines recommended for developing a go-to-market strategy for novel protein ingredients.

Register: gfi.org/event/the-busi…

ICYMI—new report from @BCG:
“We call [alternative proteins] the untapped climate opportunity – you’re getting more impact from your investment in alternative proteins than in any other sector of the economy.”
theguardian.com/environment/20… "The report... found that, for each dollar, investment in improving & scaling up the production of meat & dairy alts resulted in 3x more GHG reductions compared w/ investment in green cement technology, 7 times more than green buildings & 11 times more than zero-emission cars."

Super high-impact role: Assoc Director, Research Funding, who oversees our efforts to mobilize funding for open-access R&D in alt proteins. This includes overseeing internal mechanisms (our grants program) & activities to support external funding agencies.
gfi.org/job/?gh_jid=62… This is among the highest-leverage work that GFI can do to catalyze innovation across the alt protein sector. We're seeking someone who understands how funding agencies work, is a superb strategic thinker, & is skilled at building relationships across research funding ecosystem.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my team @GoodFoodInst. We're pulling together our first State of the Science snapshot (to be published every 4mo) in alt proteins & my eyes are welling up at how fast this field is starting to move. This wasn't guaranteed to happen. Everyone on our Science & Technology team, down to a person, is relentlessly driven to find the highest-impact ways of accelerating the alternative protein field through generating open-access knowledge, mobilizing research funding, and building the talent & training ecosystem.

This strain "... is closely related to an Asian strain that has infected hundreds of people since 2003, mostly those who had worked with infected poultry. That virus does not spread efficiently among humans, but it is extremely deadly, with a fatality rate of 60 percent..."

https://twitter.com/AndrewRdeC/status/1496938307644624900

"For a growing number of scientists, the real threat is the nation’s industrialized system of meat and dairy production, with its reliance on genetically identical creatures packed by the thousands inside huge confinement sheds."

*New analysis!* “Plant-based meat: Anticipating 2030 production requirements” examines raw materials, processing capacity, infrastructure, & investment required for #plantbasedmeat to hit 6% share of the global meat market by 2030. Insights + report/webinar links below. 1/19 Several market analyses have made bold predictions about the growth of the #alternativeprotein industry, but we wanted to dig deeper to find out what would be required on the supply side to hit these ambitious growth targets. @goodfoodinst’s new analysis is eye-opening. 2/19

Two HUGE nationwide fast food launches of plant-based meat announced this week at major chains, including a big reversal from one CEO.

1) KFC rolling out Beyond Meat plant-based chicken options nationwide next Monday, after first trialing them in 2019.
cnbc.com/2022/01/04/kfc… 2) Chipotle launched a plant-based chorizo option nationwide earlier this week—its first new meatless protein option since adding tofu-based sofritas in 2014. cnbc.com/2022/01/03/chi…

We have TWO full-time openings on my team at @GoodFoodInst, both working to mobilize research funding toward the highest-impact areas to advance alternative proteins. (1/4)
gfi.org/careers/ #1: A program manager to run our ~$5M/year Research Grant Program. With a grantee community 70+ researchers strong, this program has a catalytic impact on the field. Looking for someone w/ grant program management experience to take it to the next level. gfi.org/job/?gh_jid=57…

Today's must-read article, with some selected (highly alarming) quotes and my 2 cents below on why we can't afford NOT to invest in alternative protein R&D and infrastructure:
theguardian.com/environment/20… "Eight or more variants of avian flu, all of which are able to infect and kill humans and are potentially more severe than Covid-19, now regularly rattle around the world’s factory farms barely noticed by governments."

Ever wonder which research labs are working on #alternativeprotein projects? Looking to find a potential collaborator or co-founder to launch your idea? Thinking about making a career leap into this field?

🧵 Here are a few resources that researchers should know about: The Research Labs Database catalogues labs that have active projects underway to develop non-proprietary technologies and knowledge to advance the #alternativeprotein field.
gfi.org/resource/resea…