Future of Food
Are we eating for extinction or for the future of the planet? A bone of contention for many. But if you watch the documentary “Eating Our Way to Extinction” we see a pretty stark vision of where our old choices are taking us.
We have ten years left to avoid cataclysmic climate change. But the solution is right under our noses. It’s in the choice we make about what we put in our mouths- breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I was a vegetarian until I watched the documentary Cowspiracy 5.5 years ago. That convinced me that I could personally have a big, fat positive impact if I went vegan. So I did. Not so hard for me because even as a child I hated meat, dairy and fish.
For those who love the taste and texture of meat but do want to save the planet then food technology is on your side. You can now eat a full array of animal alternative products, that are cheaper, healthier and good for mother earth. Win, win.
My Brave New Girl podcast guest this week is Alexandra Clark, and she is stepping up to the plate to support those companies who are endeavouring to give meat-eaters a different choice.
Happy Burgers
Alexandra Clark is the Co-founder of Sentient Ventures Ltd, a £30 million investment vehicle set up to fund companies making animal alternative foods.
Alexandra Clark is a venture investor & co-founder of Sentient Ventures which was recently launched as new £30m investment vehicle today designed to spur growth in firms developing meat-free animal alternative products. The fund taps into firms fuelling the shift to net zero and removing animals from every stage of the supply chain.
The Pandemic has simply brought front and centre the dire state of the planet and our food system and supply change and made change more pertinent but also easier to communicate. On a personal level, Alexandra had just moved back in with her mum to have a baby before lockdown so it turned out to be a very special and bonding experience on many levels.
Alexandra's mother is from a large farming family so that shaped her upbringing. She had never liked meat as an infant, and her mum says she would spit it out, and at around five she fully understood it was dead animals and never ate it again.
When she left home she travelled a lot, and loved India and its holy towns where it’s illegal to eat meat. That blew her mind. She wanted to understand the world and all the wonderful and diverse cultures we share this planet with. She settled in Brussels and lived there for 11 years.
Becoming a single mother, she needed to be closer to family so quit her job, and her life in Brussels, and moved back to the UK to have a baby just before lockdown.
She had been working in policy in Brussels to encourage a shift to a more plant-based diet, but when she moved back to the UK she got involved in start-ups and Venture Capital and co-founded Sentient Ventures to fund companies developing superior foods to enable more people to stop eating animals without having to give up the enjoyment of animal products.
The fund helps companies' ability to scale, and have access to retail channels, with alternatives to animal products. The co-benefits of eating fewer animal products impact health and sustainability is on both an individual and societal level.
Animal agriculture drives climate change, biodiversity loss and species extinction, the spread of foodborne and zoonotic diseases, and contributes to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases that are the leading cause of illness and early death in the developed world.
Thanks so much Alexandra for investing in companies who are re-imagining the world we live in using your “impact assessment tool”, to reduce animal suffering, increase access to nutritious food, and make reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, land use & water pollution.
Thanks also for showing us how to do hard things, and stand up for our beliefs even when it’s not the easiest path to take.
You can find out more about Alexandra’s work on https://sentientventures.co.uk/ and follow her on Linkedin @Alexandraclark
Your story matters.
Increase your visibility and impact by stepping up to the mic to share your vision and mission with the world. Are you a change-maker? Let’s get you guesting on global podcasts.