Alternative protein research with Good Food Institute

Most people will not stop eating meat because they are asked to. They will switch if something else is as good and costs less. That makes the taste and price of alternatives a serious lever on animal suffering, and on the emissions, antibiotic use and land pressure that come with intensive animal agriculture.

Alternative proteins have specific, unglamorous technical bottlenecks: cell culture media that cost too much, plant proteins that behave wrongly when cooked, scaffolding that will not scale. The program maps the most neglected of these, publishes open-access research and resources rather than proprietary results, funds academic work that benefits the whole sector, and trains the scientists who will carry it forward.

Two other teams work on the conditions around the science. One argues for alternative proteins to be treated as climate and food security infrastructure, which is how public research funding gets allocated, and works on the regulatory pathways novel products must pass. The other works with food companies, from start-ups to multinationals, on the commercial case for making these products well.

The organization is the Good Food Institute, which works as an international network of affiliates.

Canadians receive an official Canadian donation receipt for gifts made through Rethink Charity. This program sits at the intersection of animal welfare and climate, so it also appears in our climate giving guides.