COFFEE BREAK: Alternative Proteins are to Agriculture as Renewables are to Energy: The Future

People in every corner of the planet need our food system to be sustainable, secure, and just. Yet consumption of conventionally produced animal meat—which causes multiple existential risks (climate change, antibiotic resistance, pandemic risk, loss of biodiversity)—continues to rise.

Alternative proteins—meat made from plants or cultivated from animal cells—can decouple meat production from a host of harms and usher in a more restorative, resilient food future. Given that taste, price, and convenience determine what most people eat, GFI works around the world to advance alternative proteins to be as delicious, affordable, and accessible as conventional meat.

By reimagining how meat is made, we can help get the world to net-zero emissions, protect global health, feed more people with fewer resources, and enable animals and ecosystems to recover and thrive.

FEATURED GUEST

• Sheila Voss, Vice President of Communications, The Good Food Institute

Voss serves as the vice president of communications for The Good Food Institute, an international network of nonprofit organizations working to create a sustainable, secure, and just food system. As a nonprofit think tank and open-access resource hub powered by philanthropy, GFI works around the world to advance alternative protein science, policy, and markets to tackle the biggest challenges of our time: getting to net-zero emissions, feeding 10 billion, protecting global health, and enabling animals and ecosystems to recover and thrive. Prior to joining GFI, Sheila served as the vice president of education for Missouri Botanical Garden from 2009-2019, and from 1996-2019, led the conservation and community engagement work of the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Discovery Cove parks across the U.S. Sheila holds a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and a M.S. in Environmental Sciences from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Click here to watch a recording of this Coffee Break!