UC Berkeley to Offer Plant-Based Seafood Tech Class

In partnership with food advocacy firm Good Food Institute (GFI), University of California, Berkeley will hold the first session of its new Plant-Based Seafood Collider class on February 23. The eight-week class will challenge students to explore new technologies to create innovative plant-based seafood. GFI’s head of communications Emily Byrd tells VegNews that the aim of the class is to inspire students to “do for plant-based seafood what Impossible Foods did for the veggie burger.” Byrd further explains that Impossible Foods’ ability to produce heme from plants—the reason why its premier product the Impossible Burger “bleeds”—has brought the plant-based burger to a whole new level. “For plant-based fish, it’s yet to be seen,” Byrd says, “and if these students can find a solution, they’ll be tapping into a hugely profitable industry that will also pay dividends in ocean conservation.” The class is the second collaboration between the school and GFI, which worked with UC Berkeley last month to launch the world’s first university-level course that challenges students to create plant-based meat alternatives. The plant-based seafood class will run until May 3 and is sponsored by soon-to-launch vegan fish startup SeaCo.