Mike is a Senior Associate Merchant at FreshDirect, a New-York based online grocer. He joined FreshDirect in 2019 to work in their express, one-hour delivery service, improving the supply chain, buying and merchandising for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood. He took over the Meat and Poultry sourcing and supply chain at FreshDirect in April 2020, right at the start of the COVID pandemic, and spends most of his time on FreshDirect’s four whole-animal programs — Grass Fed Beef, Antibiotic-Free Angus Beef, Pasture-Raised Pork, and Pasture-Raised Lamb.

Mike graduated from Cornell University in the winter of 2016, where he studied Food Industry…

Didier Toubia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms, a cultivated meat company that is shaping the future of food by growing slaughter-free beef steaks directly from cow cells, preserving natural resources, and avoiding the use of antibiotics. Prior to Aleph Farms, Didier co-founded and led IceCure, which went public in 2010, and served as the CEO of NLT Spine, which was acquired by SeaSpine in 2016. Didier was trained as a Food Engineer and Biologist at Agrusup (Dijon, France) and holds a joint executive MBA from Kellogg (IL, US) and Recanati (Israel).

This episode is sponsored by the…

Sonia Lo joins the Sensei Ag team with over 32 years of combined agriculture, technology and business experience. Ms. Lo began her career in technology with a UK media conglomerate. She then went on to build her first tech venture as CEO of eZoka Group, a UK-based internet startup that was sold in 2002. Following eZoka, Ms. Lo founded and served as Managing Director of Chalsys LLP, an advisory and direct investment firm which has invested over $120 million in 15 global growth stage companies. From Chalsys, she became the Director of Localization and Global Content for Google, Inc.

Most…

Christie Lagally is the founder and CEO of Rebellyous Foods, a food production technology company working to make plant-based meat price-competitive with traditional chicken products. Ms. Lagally is a mechanical engineer and holder of multiple patents in manufacturing technology. She spent much of her career in the aerospace industry working on commercial airplanes and spacecraft in testing, design, and manufacturing at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Previously, Ms. Lagally served as a Senior Scientist for the Good Food Institute uncovering the technical barriers in the development of plant-based meat and clean meat (i.e. cultured meat). Ms. …

Lou Cooperhouse is recognized as a leading global authority in food business innovation and technology commercialization, with extensive leadership experiences throughout his 35-year career in the food industry.

He is a results-driven professional, and has led cross-functional teams in a wide array of industry settings that include: multinational corporations, foodservice and retail operations, new business startups, mid-sized and family-run companies, university entrepreneurship and innovation centers, and industry trade associations.

Lou also has considerable expertise in food safety and quality assurance systems, and has provide leadership at numerous FDA and USDA-inspected operations throughout his career, and has conducted third-party audits of…

The following interview was recorded and published in early 2018.

Alex Shirazi (00:00):

Thanks for joining us on the Cultured Meat and Future Food Podcast. We are excited to have Lisa Feria as the guest for today’s episode. Lisa Feria is the CEO of Stray Dog Capital, a mission driven venture capital firm that invests in early stage mission-driven companies that aim to take animals out of the supply chain. She’s a seasoned business manager with over 15 years of experience running organizations and businesses. Lisa has always been heavily involved in the community as a volunteer for SPCA…

Shirisha Suryaji Desai

I love meat! And I know a lot of you do too! Having meat on our plates is a rewarding meal after a long stressful day; we would not want to pause and think about the long production process that the meat went through to get here on our plates. I bought it from the supermarket, cooked the way I like it, and ate it; why do I have to worry about anything else? My vegan and vegetarian friends playfully argue with me that eating meat is cruel to animals, harmful to the environment. …

Amanda Leung, Tufts University

Vegetarianism may be defined as a person who does not eat meat, whether that be for moral, religious, or health reasons. You may be asking yourself, why would a cultured meat organization care about vegetarians? Well, that’s because two of the top reasons people decide to follow a vegetarian diet is due to ethical and environmental concerns. Producing cultured meat has been in the works for years and a part of its appeal is that it doesn’t harm animals and has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint caused by livestock. …