37 - David Welch, Ph.D., on Clean Meat, Plant-Powered Running, and Saving the Environment

With global demand for meat being expected to rise by more than 70% by 2050, and the average American’s beef consumption already generating almost 2,000 pounds of greenhouse gasses annually, we have to find an alternative that people will readily adopt. 

 

Non-animal meat products are growing rapidly in availability, but there’s still work to be done.

 

David Welch, Ph.D., is a plant biologist, ultrarunner, running coach, and the Director of Science and Technology at the Good Food Institute. 

 

His work focuses on creating clean meat and advancing the cultured and plant-based meats industries. 

 

He’s here today to explain exactly what goes into creating “clean meat”, to answer your ethical concerns, and to share the benefits of adopting clean meat and dairy alternatives. 

 

Although an entirely plant-based diet is optimal, you’ll hear how clean meat will eliminate the need for industrial farming and why it might be the best immediate answer to our environmental and animal cruelty worries. 

 

This plant-powered runner is working to make cruelty-free diets more accessible and research less biased. Tune in and hear how he’s doing it.  

 

What we discuss in this episode:

 

- Dotsie’s lobbying adventure in Washington, D.C. calling on Senators to vote for the removal of dairy from the 2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines

 

- How Eat & Run by fellow runner Scott Jurek inspired David to make the switch, and how making the switch improved David’s running performance and his family’s health

 

- The suspect nature of research driving the dairy industry

 

- Climate change and greenhouse gases: The greenhouse effect is the way in which heat is trapped close to the surface of the Earth by “greenhouse gases.” These heat-trapping gases can be thought of as a blanket wrapped around the Earth, which keeps it toastier than it would be without them. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides

 

- Montreal Protocol: The Montreal Protocol, finalized in 1987, is a global agreement to protect the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances (ODS). It is the first treaty to achieve universal ratification by all countries in the world.

 

- David’s transition from academia to developing research tools to working with the Good Food Institute to turn stem cells into tissue for clean meat

 

- How taking one small biopsy from an animal can generate thousands of kilograms of meat

 

- What the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture is going to cost us in our health and dollars by 2050, and how clean meat is working to mitigate that damage

 

- The future of clean dairy and plant-based gelatin, and how this science is different from traditional GMOs

 

- The Good Food Institute’s free online course teaching the science behind plant-based and clean meat

 

- Follow David on Twitter at @orthostichy, on Instagram at @orthostichy and @plantpoweredrunning, and at PlantPoweredRunning.com. 

 

Connect with Switch4Good

 

- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2toqAmlQpwR1HDF_KKfGg

 

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Switch4Good/

 

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/switch4good/

 

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwitchForGood

 

- Website: switch4good.org