NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release, January 23, 2019
Contact: Matt Ball 412 445-5757 [email protected]
Meat innovation is an ‘idea worth spreading’ Founder of The Good Food Institute named a TED Fellow, will speak at TED 2019
Washington DC – The Good Food Institute ( GFI) i s pleased to announce that co-founder and Executive Director Bruce Friedrich has been named a 2019 TED Fellow and will present at TED 2019 in April, an honor which recognizes GFI’s i nnovative approach to solving the world’s toughest problems through market-based solutions and food technology.
TED, whose talks have attracted billions of views worldwide, has just announced its 2019 selection of 20 new Fellows from among thousands of applicants all over the world.
Like all TED Fellows, Bruce was selected based on his t rack record of achievement, originality and authenticity, kind and collaborative character, and because his work has the potential for major impact in the near term.
Bruce established GFI in 2016 and leads the organization’s work to accelerate plant-based and clean meat. These better methods of producing meat aim to eliminate the environmental, animal welfare, and human health harms associated with conventional meat production.
With m ore than 60 staff on five continents, GFI is the foremost nonprofit organization driving science and innovation for plant-based and clean meat. In 2018, GFI was named a top charity for animal-focused philanthropy by charity watchdog Animal Charity Evaluators and was selected for the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator program.
“We are thrilled to announce the newest class of TED Fellows, who give voice to some of the most exciting ideas we’ve seen in the program’s 10-year history,” said TED Fellows director Shoham Arad. “The Fellows program is committed to using its resources and platform to help scale Fellows' ideas and impact, and we are so excited to have these Fellows become an integral part of our global community.”
Even more below:
TED Fellows program ● The TED Fellows program supports extraordinary individuals at work on world-changing projects, providing them with networks, tools and resources to amplify their vision. ● TED Fellows work across 96 countries and include a network of artists, scientists, doctors, activists, entrepreneurs, inventors, journalists, each with a bold approach to making our world better and more equitable.
Bruce Friedrich ● Bruce worked for PETA for 13 years, where he was vice president for campaigns. In 2003, he was named the fifth most powerful man under the age of 38 by D etails Magazine. Subsequently, he was director of policy for Farm Sanctuary for five years, where he led the organization’s legislative, regulatory, and litigation efforts. ● Bruce graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and Phi Beta Kappa from Grinnell College and holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics. ● Bruce’s principal TEDx talk can be viewed here: M arket Forces and Food Technology Will Save the World.
About the Good Food Institute GFI’s t eam of scientists, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and policy experts is using markets and food technology to transform our food system away from industrial animal agriculture and toward clean meat and plant-based alternatives.
Bruce launched GFI on Feb. 1, 2016, with just two employees. The organization now has more than 60 full-time staff, including representatives in India, Israel, Brazil, and Hong Kong. The organization’s funders including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Project, and Y Combinator.
Highlights of GFI’s work in 2018:
● Clean Meat Regulation — GFI helped eliminate regulatory hurdles to the market introduction of clean meat by testifying at a clean meat Congressional briefing and FDA hearing. ● First Amendment Protections — GFI protected the free speech rights of plant-based and clean meat companies to compete fairly by s uing the state of Missouri over the definition of “meat,” alongside the ACLU, ALDF, and Tofurky. ● Competitive Research Grant Programs — GFI launched a first-of-its-kind c ompetitive research grant programs focused on open-access plant-based meat and clean meat R&D. More than 60 applicants from 18 countries applied for funding, with award recipients soon to be announced. ● Startup Manual — GFI launched The Good Food Startup Manual, an extensive step-by-step guide for starting a plant-based or clean meat company. ● Good Food Restaurant Scorecard — GFI released the inaugural Good Food Restaurant Scorecard, which evaluates the top 100 restaurant chains in the U.S. on the breadth and depth of their plant-based menu options.
Read GFI’s strategic plan here. Further highlights from 2018 and plans for 2019 can be reviewed here.