UC Berkeley Opens New Plant-Based Meat Lab

Last week, the University of California, Berkeley announced it is building the Alternative Meats Lab on campus to help students displace the United States’ $1 trillion meat industry. The school partnered with food-flavoring company Givaudan and food advocacy nonprofit Good Food Institute to help it realize its goals. “We are excited to work with some of the brightest young minds in the world to help find solutions that address the taste and texture challenges of non-animal proteins,” Givaudan Global Business Development Manager Flavio Garofalo said. “The societal and environmental implications are enormous, and no one can solve this individually.” Earlier this year, UC Berkeley launched the world’s first university-level, semester-long course that challenged students to create plant-based meat alternatives, followed by a similar course in February that focused on developing animal-free seafood alternatives. Outside campus, the city of Berkeley adopted a citywide fur ban in April.