#eatfortheplanet With Nil Zacharias

Jaime Athos, CEO of Tofurky discusses how Tofurky has managed to stay independent and family-funded throughout their monumental success. Jaime shares a variety of insights from his thoughts on the responsibility he inherited from his step-father to how to balance mission of the company with profit, decoding the hype in the plant-based food space, and how he hopes to aid new businesses by pulling from the vast knowledge from Tofurky’s own 37-year-long journey. To Jaime, Tofurky’s so-called competitors in the world of plant-based food are just collaborators. He believes every brand has to work together to help transform our food system – that is, if we truly want to make a difference. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/jaime-athos Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's episode highlights news and trends in the plant-based food industry based on what I saw at this year's Natural Products Expo East, recently held in Baltimore. I identify the following 3 trends as the hottest new ones to keep an eye on:   1. The evolution of dairy-free products 2. The demand for clean, whole ingredients in plant-based proteins 3. The emergence of functional snacks and beverages   This episode also features commentary from representatives of the following brands: Califia Farms, Field Roast, Follow Your Heart, Good Catch Foods, Good Seed Burger, Kite Hill, Milkidamia, Miyoko's Kitchen, Navitas, No Bull Burger, No Evil Foods, REBBL, Sweet Earth Foods, Teaonic, Uptons Naturals, Vegan Rob's, and Veggemo. To learn more about the latest and greatest products and how brands are stepping up their game, you'll have to listen in! Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/bite-sized-news Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Lea

Miyoko Schinner is Founder and CEO of Miyoko's Kitchen. In this interview we talk about her recent success with Miyoko’s Kitchen as well as the challenges she faced scaling the business. From the simple logistics she wishes she had thought through before diving in, to how to choose the right investor, Miyoko shares the advice she was given and the things she had to find out the hard way. Miyoko wants to change the world with her food. Listen in to this wide-ranging conversation and you'll understand why I think she's probably going to make it happen. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/miyoko-schinner Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features my recent interview with Jerry Sever for Plant-Based Business Week, an online conference that showcased 30+ of the world’s top experts across the plant-based industry. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/media-food Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Ritz, the founder of Green Bronx Machine, is a Bronx native and educator in the public school system, who has seen how an excess of cheap, unhealthy food can negatively impact a community. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/stephen-ritz Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently had the honor of sitting down with Greg Steltenpohl, co-founder and CEO of Califia Farms, a company that makes dairy-free milks, citrus juices, and specialty coffee drinks. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/greg-steltenpohl Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craig Cochran is the co-owner of Terri, a 100 percent plant-based fast casual restaurant with 3 locations in NYC. He also recently launched a new restaurant, P.S. Kitchen that caters to a more high-end palate and donates all their profits to charity. In our conversation, Craig tells the story of how he worked his way from being employed at some of NYC’s first vegan restaurants to eventually starting his own. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/craig-cochran Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michele Simon is the executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association, a trade group with over 80 members, whose goal is to level the playing field for plant-based food. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/michele-simon Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I speak with David Simon, lawyer, sustainable consumption advocate, and author of the book Meatonomics. In our chat, we get into the externalized costs of the meat industry, specifically, the burden on taxpayers, the environment, and of course animals that keep this mega industry afloat. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/david-simon/ Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Michelle McMacken is a board certified internal medicine physician at Bellevue Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine. She is an advocate for plant-based nutrition and has helped transform the lives of many of her patients by focusing on their food choices and guiding them to improve their overall well-being through healthy eating and lifestyle modifications. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/michelle-mcmacken Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few people have a better understanding of the oceans and their current state than Captain Paul Watson, President, CEO and founder of Sea Shepherd. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/paul-watson Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rob Laing, the CEO of Farm.One is a farmer of the future! He runs a thriving hydroponic farm that specializes in growing rare and exotic herbs and greens – right out of the Institute of Culinary Education in the heart of New York City. an agriculture ecosystem and how we can bring about a real food revolution by helping people connect with farming in urban areas. Show Notes: https://eftp.co/rob-laing Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features a recording of a panel discussion from the Reducetarian Summit, held in New York City in May 2017. The goal of the summit was to spark solution-driven conversations that can help individuals and communities decrease meat consumption. I had the pleasure of moderating the opening panel of the summit, focused on providing an overview of the Broken Food System. In the recording, you will hear some introductory remarks from me, followed by presentations from 6 different experts for about five minutes each, covering the wide-ranging impacts of industrial animal agriculture, from worker treatment, the environment, animal rights, public health, antibiotics and global food security. Even if you don’t want to listen to the brief individual presentations on various issues, I highly recommend the Q&A part of the panel. It begins around the 45-minute mark of this episode and includes questions posed by myself and the audience. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/reducetarian-summit/ Newslett

Adam Lowry, co-founder and co-CEO of Ripple Foods, is on a mission to create the purest plant protein and a ripple effect in the food system. Using a proprietary technology, Adam and his co-founder Neil Renninger, have successfully made milk from yellow peas that has just as much protein as cow’s milk, half the sugar and double the calcium … oh, not to mention their product doesn’t taste a thing like peas. He might be in the food industry now, but Adam began his career as a climate scientist before founding the incredibly popular sustainable and non-toxic soap brand, Method. Adam also talks about Ripple’s sustainability mission and what it’s like to start your own business, raise millions in venture capital funding and what the long-term strategic goals of the company are (they go far beyond just making milk from peas). To learn more, you’ll have to listen to the interview. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/adam-lowry Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Z

David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America dishes some hard facts and truth about sustainable agriculture. David starts off by getting into the fascinating backstory of Dr. Bronner’s soaps, and he shares his thoughts on a range of issues related to food, including how he helped make Dr. Bronner’s palm oil supply sustainable – something many companies have attempted unsuccessfully, the problems with monoculture crops, CAFOs/factoring farming, why “organic” has its limitations, why regenerative agriculture is better and how everyone (from vegans to meat eaters) can help foster a more sustainable world with their food choices. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/david-bronner Newsletter signup: https://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I speak with T.K. Pillan, co-founder of Veggie Grill, the largest all vegan restaurant chain in the United States about his experience building a successful food business. T.K. is now also an investor and co-founded Powerplant Ventures, a venture fund that supports visionary entrepreneurs who are leveraging the power of plants to deliver better nutrition in more sustainable and ethical ways.  In our conversation, TK shares the inspiring back-story of how he co-founded Veggie Grill despite having never worked in the food space and provides key tips on what it takes to be a plant-centric food entrepreneur...if you are an entrepreneur or aspiring to break into the sustainable, plant-based food industry, or just love an inspiring success story, this episode is a must-listen. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/tk-pillan Newsletter signup: hhttps://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I had the pleasure of sitting down with John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market to discuss his thoughts on how best to eat with the planet, keeping your personal health in mind. Mackey helped fuel the rise of organic and natural food in the United States and also popularized the idea of “Conscious Capitalism." In addition to running Whole Foods, Mackey is a best-selling author and his new book talks about why a whole foods, plant-based diet is the optimum choice for health and longevity. In our conversation, he explains how his mission to make healthy, sustainable food available to the masses is derived from his own health journey and personal goals. Mackey has devoted countless hours speaking to experts and pouring over research to craft his ideas on what is the best way to feed ourselves – and his conclusions are incredibly simple. But we get into a lot more in this interview, including his thoughts on why people are changing the way they eat, whether plant-based meat alternatives or cellular agr

When it comes to understanding the future of food, there are few people who know more than Bruce Friedrich, the Executive Director of the Good Food Institute (GFI) and founding partner of New Crop Capital. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/bruce-friedrich Newsletter signup: hhttps://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gene Baur, President of Farm Sanctuary talks about the problems with our food system and explore solutions both meat eaters and vegans can agree on. Gene has spent the past 30 years fighting for a more just food system and believes that “people should make food choices that are aligned with their own values and interests.” After all, we vote with our dollars every day and as he puts it, have a lot of power. Show notes for this episode: https://eftp.co/gene-baur Newsletter signup: hhttps://eftp.co/newsletter Follow us on Facebook and Instagram Follow Nil Zacharias on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dive into the future of meat production and the battle against climate change with Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures. Khaled is not your typical venture capitalist/investor. Not only is he a member of the Saudi royal family, but he is also vegan, an outspoken animal rights advocate, as well as a firm proponent of clean energy and healthy living. Khaled has bold ambitions to “relegate factory farming to the dustbin of history” by investing in technology-driven solutions like plant-based proteins and cellular agriculture/clean meat. In our conversation, Khaled explains everything from why he went vegan to his ideas on how you can use investments to create a better world, and perhaps most significantly, he details his projections for the end of factory farming. The world’s population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by the year 2050 and the demand for meat is rising globally. Given that industrial animal agriculture produces 99% of meat available today and is driving massive amounts