“Star Trek” Foundation Awards Startup $250K for Converting 1.6 Million to Vegan Diet

Hong Kong-based meatless initiative Green Monday was one of four recipients of the Roddenberry Prize—a biannual climate change-focused competition funded by the estate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The competition, which awarded winners $250,000 each, was launched to highlight individual climate-friendly choices that can be made without waiting for government organizations to mandate environmental policies. “Really, the motivation is to let the world know that there are other ways of thinking about climate change,” Roddenberry Foundation CEO Lior Ipp told Fast Company. “I think one of the challenges in the climate space is that people feel that there’s nothing they can do individually—sure, I can do some recycling and don’t have to buy a Hummer, but what difference will my contributions make?” The foundation chose Green Monday—which was founded by Hong Kong entrepreneur David Yeung, owner of vegan-friendly grocery chain Green Common and maker of vegan pork replacer Omnipork—for its role in helping 1.6 million Hong Kong residents shift to a plant-based diet. Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Oxford found that eschewing animal products reduces an individual’s carbon footprint by 73 percent. “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth,” the study’s lead author Joseph Poore explained. “Not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use.”