From GFI

New report: Transforming Land Use

The United States has ambitious land conservation targets and climate goals — but to make progress against those targets, we must reimagine our food system. Our new Transforming Land Use report, developed in partnership with Highland Economics, is the first analysis looking at the potential benefits of alternative proteins’ land use efficiency in the United States.?Download the report and watch our recent webinar for a deep dive into the findings.

Precision fermentation for food proteins: ingredient innovations, bioprocess considerations, and outlook—a mini-review

GFI's resident fermentation experts Adam Leman Ph.D. and Lucas Eastham have written a great technical explainer for scientific audiences about precision fermentation. This manuscript explores the food application potential, scale up, and biological engineering that goes into precision fermentation.

Meet the 2024 Alt Protein Project cohort

We are thrilled to welcome 21 new student groups to The Alt Protein Project (APP)! Established in 2020, the APP started as a nascent community connected across five universities. Today, the program has grown to include more than 70 active groups in universities around the world, each dedicated to transforming their campuses into hubs for alternative protein innovation.?Meet the newest APP chapters.

Alternative proteins' place on the global health agenda

We cannot make meaningful progress on our global health goals while our food system is working against us. In our latest Substack piece , GFI’s senior editorial content specialist Chelsea Montes de Oca digs into the major public health risks associated with today’s methods of meat production and why public health advocates should champion alternative proteins as a tool to mitigate these threats.

Upcoming events & opportunities

Building your alt protein career

Are you interested in working in alternative protein? Join GFI academic community coordinator Asia Sheehab on September 10 to learn more about pursuing an academic or industry career in this emerging field. After an overview of opportunities, you’ll hear from Riley Jackson , strategic partnerships and marketing manager at Ivy Farm Technologies, whose dynamic eight-year career in the alternative protein industry offers valuable insights. Save your spot.

The Science of Alt Protein: Deconstructing bovine myogenesis for cultivated meat applications

Join us for a seminar with Dr. Ori Bar-Nur professor at 瑞士苏黎世联邦理工学院 and GFI grantee, as he delves into groundbreaking research on cultivated meat technology. Dr. Bar-Nur will discuss his team's work on improving muscle cell differentiation in vitro by enhancing the molecular pathways that control bovine myogenesis. Attend the seminar to learn how this research could be key to advancing sustainable meat production.

NY Climate Week for Giving Green: How to Drive Systemic Change Via High-Impact Climate Donations

Join GFI president and founder Bruce Friedrich and other climate leaders for an engaging discussion diving into the latest research on effective climate giving. The conversation will cover where more capital is needed to accelerate the most promising and impactful climate mitigation strategies. Register here.

VERGE 24?

Join GFI and over 6,000 sustainability professionals at VERGE 24, a leading climate tech event, to explore emerging trends, take stock of new technologies, and work to accelerate sustainable solutions to the world's most pressing challenges including transforming our food system.?Register now.

GFI’s Priera Panescu Scott recognized as a Top Agri-food Pioneer

Our lead plant-based scientist Priera Panescu Scott, PhD has been named to the inaugural 2024 cohort of Top Agri-food Pioneers (TAP), a new initiative by the World Food Prize Foundation ! This selection celebrates 38 global innovators transforming food systems, marking the Foundation’s 38th anniversary. This recognition alongside a cohort of fellow awardees from around the world sends a clear message: Alternative proteins are an essential agricultural solution for global food system transformation. Learn more.

Slaughter-free meat hits the grocery shelf

Cultivated meat has the potential to support global climate, food security, and public health goals while freeing up massive amounts of land for biodiversity restoration, carbon sequestration, small farmer, and agroecological farming. This excellent editorial in Nature Biotechnology makes the case for increased government investment to help realize these benefits.?Check it out.

Armed with $12MM in seed funding, Plonts launches plant-based cheese in New York, San Francisco

Backed by $12 million in seed funding, startup Plonts is harnessing the power of microbes to create a line of plant-based cheese with the same characteristic tasting notes as certain varieties of conventional dairy cheese. Plonts uses soy as their core ingredient coupled with microbial cultures to deliver a more complex sensory profile. The startup’s first product, an aged plant-based cheddar, is launching at select restaurants in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more.

Millow Awarded €2.4M EU grant to scale whole food mycelium-oat meat alternatives

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator and the SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) have awarded a €2.4 million (about $2.6 million) grant to Swedish startup Millow.co to help scale production of their meat analogs made from 50% mycelium and 50% locally-grown oats. According to the company, their proprietary dry fermentation technology combined with in-house S-units and unique bioreactor production achieves effectiveness and economies of scale faster than other fermentation methods. Read more.

Umami Bioworks looks to India to scale up cultivated seafood

Singapore-based Umami Bioworks is partnering with two research entities in India to advance R&D and commercial-scale production of their cultivated seafood. Umami Bioworks has teamed up with IKP Knowledge Park’s Centre for Smart Protein and Sustainable Material Innovation, a newly established center created based on an MoU between IKP Knowledge Park and The Good Food Institute India . The startup is also collaborating with the Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai to set up an R&D facility at the university’s campus. Get the details.

Global Spotlight

GFI Brazil puts alternative proteins on the scientific research agenda

Last month, The Good Food Institute Brasil signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fundacao Araucaria , a Brazilian state agency dedicated to supporting and promoting scientific and technological innovation in the state of Paraná.

The collaboration aims to enhance Brazil’s alternative protein ecosystem by allocating additional resources managed by the agency to foster research, innovation, and economic development through joint programs and initiatives between GFI Brazil and Funda??o Araucária.

This MoU marks the beginning of a promising science and innovation-focused partnership between GFI Brazil and Funda??o Araucária by underscoring the vital role alternative proteins play in promoting food security and how investment in the sector can help ensure planetary and public health.?

Community Spotlight

We’re excited to showcase a few pioneering researchers who are conducting cutting-edge work made possible in part by our research grants program.

With a $250,000 research grant from GFI, University of Massachusetts Amherst assistant professor Lutz Gro?mann is recreating the marbling effect of animal fat in whole cuts of plant-based meat using a novel extrusion method which he says has the power to revolutionize the plant-based meat industry. Learn more about his research.

“The Good Food Institute has played a key role in supporting research for more sustainable food options, and UMass Food Science has been fortunate to receive funding,” said Grossmann.

Two University of Waterloo students, Rikard Saqe and Kevin Shen , secured over $700,000 in grants from GFI, Mitacs, and New Harvest to scale their research efforts which leverage AI and machine learning techniques. Their work involves collecting and building open-access data sets to help guide the development of cultivated seafood for large-scale production. Dive into their work here.

Powered by donations from a small number of generous donors, our Research Grant Program funds open-access alternative protein research. Learn more here.

Work at GFI

Corporate Engagement

Institutional Foodservice Fellow

General Interest

General Interest Application

You can view all job opportunities at GFI here. For more information on the application process, we encourage you to attend one of our bi-weekly hiring information sessions.

The Good Food Institute is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world’s climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals. Click here to support our work.