Paul Shapiro had spent most of his profession as a lobbyist, working for organizations like The Humane Society. Whereas he discovered his work advocating for animal welfare extraordinarily gratifying, round 2016, he began to reevaluate.
He began considering he may impact change in a means that he couldn’t as a lobbyist by serving to to construct one in every of these new applied sciences that would make animal agriculture—in different phrases, elevating cows, pigs, chickens, and different cattle for human consumption—out of date.
So he determined to put in writing a e-book. Paul had by no means printed a e-book earlier than, however he had accomplished loads of writing. Op-eds, columns, and different items as a lobbyist. And since he was so early to the subject and pitched a e-book nobody had written earlier than, it didn’t take lengthy earlier than a writer took an interest.
Whereas writing the e-book Clear Meat—the primary to deal with the nascent cultivated meat business—he spent plenty of time speaking to of us on the entrance strains of the long run meals business. It was throughout this time he had a realization.
“What I discovered was these individuals had been mere mortals like myself,” mentioned Shapiro on the newest episode of The Spoon Podcast. “I assumed when you had been going to start out your personal firm, you needed to have some type of particular skillset that commoners like myself lacked. It was at that time that I made a decision that as a substitute of writing about these individuals who I assumed had been going to resolve this drawback that had been animating my life for the previous couple of a long time, I might develop into one myself.”
On this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Shapiro talks about their journey to start out The Higher Meat Co., his resolution to pursue hybrid meat options as a substitute of applied sciences like cultivated meat, his first massive win with Purdue, and his firm’s eventual transition to growing mycoprotein primarily based merchandise.
You’ll be able to pay attention by clicking play beneath, or you’ll be able to obtain it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
