Elysabeth Alfano is CEO of VegTech Invest, a fund that invests in alternative proteins and the food revolution. VegTech is the creator and advisor to the world’s only plant-based innovation ETF.
Elysabeth is a plant-based expert who speaks worldwide about the need for change in the global food supply system including speaking recently at the UN Global Leaders Compact Summit.
On today’s episode, Fran and Elysabeth discuss the need for change in the global food supply system to address global population growth. Elysabeth explains in detail how the way we use our resources to create food is inefficient. 77% of our agricultural land is used for animals to graze and to grow crops to feed those animals. This 77% returns only 18% of our calories. On top of that 42% of our clean water supply is used to grow crops for and as drinking water for those same animals. As we move forward with a rapidly growing population, these inefficiencies are not sustainable.
Elysabeth discusses alternatives for food production and how relying less on animals and more on cleaner, greener more efficient methods of producing the foods we need to meet population growth in the very near future. Elysabeth walks us through the process and benefits of cultivated or lab-grown meat and precision fermentation to grow cheese without involving animals. Elysabeth goes into detail on how these technologies produce food products that not only meet our nutritional and taste requirements but also offer the opportunity to make sure enough food can be produced to meet current and future requirements. Bringing in these new choices to augment, not replace completely our reliance on animal products is the key to a much brighter future for everyone.
