Bruce Friedrich
PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER
Bruce Friedrich serves as GFI’s chief thought leader and relationship-builder, working in close partnership with GFI’s global teams and food system stakeholders around the world.
Areas of expertise: alternative proteins generally, GFI’s global programs and strategy, bicycling in heavy traffic.
Bruce is a TED Fellow, Y Combinator alum, and popular speaker on food innovation. He has penned op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Nature Food, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wired, CNN, and many other publications. He has represented GFI on the TED Radio Hour, New Yorker Radio Hour, the Ezra Klein Show, Making Sense (Sam Harris), and a variety of other podcasts and TV programs. Bruce’s 2019 TED talk has been viewed more than 2.4 million times and translated into 30 languages.
Bruce’s book Meat has earned rave reviews from CSIS director of global food and water security Caitlin Welsh (who penned the foreword); former UN World Food Program chief Ertharin Cousin; former UNFCCC head Christiana Figueres; SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson; Harvard University’s Cass Sunstein, Stanford University’s Charlotte Pera; and others. Says Welsh: “This book explains the imperative to transform our food systems, and lays out a game plan to get us there…. Meat is as important as it is enjoyable.”
Bruce graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University, the London School of Economics, and Grinnell College.
TED & other talks/panels
Podcasts
Hungry For Alternatives
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich is interviewed by Andy Jarvis from the Bezos Earth Fund, as they both unpack the outsized positive impact that alternative proteins can have not only on tackling…
The Market-Based Solution to Meat’s External Costs
Bruce chats with The Dispatch’s Sarah Isgur and David French about the market-based case for alternative proteins.
Making Sense with Sam Harris: Food, climate & pandemic risk
GFIers Dr. Liz Specht & Bruce Friedrich join Sam Harris for a discussion of GFI, food, climate, antibiotic resistance, and pandemic risk.
Giving What We Can: The EA Case for Alternative Proteins
Bruce chats with Giving What We Can executive director Luke Freeman about the case for alt proteins as a focus for effective altruists (and GFI’s work).
Rich Roll & Bruce Friedrich
In a wide-ranging discussion between two good friends, Rich and Bruce talk about alternative proteins, the history of GFI, GFI’s current work, and more.
My Climate Journey
GFI founder and executive director Bruce Friedrich shares his climate journey and GFI’s work with MCJ host Jason Jacobs.
Eat For The Planet
Bruce talks with host Nil Zacharias about how GFI’s work fits into movements for broader food systems reform.
How is eating meat affecting our planet?
Hear GFI executive director Bruce Friedrich explain why it’s critical that we modernize meat production in order to mitigate climate change.
Why finding alternatives to meat is so important
GFI’s executive director explains why biomimicking meat is a win for the planet and for people.
Future Food: Alt protein winners, losers, innovation whitespace
GFI executive director Bruce Friedrich discusses the remarkable growth of the alternative protein sector with AgFunder’s Louisa Burwood-Taylor.
Trading land for lab: Cultivating clean meat
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich explains why making alternative proteins the default choice is critical for building a sustainable food system.
Ending the age of animal cruelty
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich discusses the coming transformation of meat production with Vox’s Ezra Klein.
Articles and op-eds
U.S. Government Should Support Alt Proteins
GFI president Bruce Friedrich: Alternative proteins pay dividends for food & water security, economic & national security, farmers & consumer choice.
Transforming a 12,000-year-old technology
GFI President Bruce Friedrich argues for Nature that animal agriculture is an antiquated technology ripe for transformation.
Governments must support alt proteins – for climate & food security
GFI president Bruce Friedrich & Climate Advisers CEO Nigel Purvis argue for robust government policies in support of alternative proteins – for climate, food security, and more.
Reinventing meat to stave off climate crisis—and the next pandemic
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich talks about how alternative meats could mitigate climate change and help prevent the next pandemic, and he responds to criticisms of corporate greenwashing.
The cow that could feed the planet
In a special Time Magazine double issue on climate change, Bruce explains the need for government support for alternative proteins, the value of getting the big meat companies involved, and…
How alternative meats could help save the planet
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich and Energy Innovation executive director for strategy and policy Anand Gopal argue that the climate community must back (and governments must implement) strong policies in support of…
Meet the innovator behind the plant-based meat movement
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich was named a 2021 “American Food Hero” – learn why.
Using meat alternatives to fight climate change
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich explains why the federal government should fund open-access research into plant-based and cultivated meat and incentivize private-sector research in order to meet President Biden’s goal of net-zero…
Opinion | Cultivated meat is better for the planet – and government should get involved
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich argues that governments should invest in alternative proteins to achieve their climate goals.
Cultured meat has been approved for consumers for the first time
Restaurant-goers in Singapore will soon get the chance to eat chicken nuggets grown in bioreactors.
I’ve not eaten KFC since the 80s. Its plant-based chicken nuggets will change that
Ignore the naysayers, explains GFI’s Bruce Friedrich. For anyone who cares about the footprint of industrial animal agriculture, we should applaud KFC’s plant-based and cultivated meat plans.
Dietary change may help us avert future pandemics
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich spells out that among the many steps we could take to lower the risk of the next pandemic, perhaps the most effective would be to stop farming…
Is in vitro meat the new in vitro fertilization?
GFI’s Bruce Friedrich explores the history of society’s opposition and then adoption of new technologies, as well as reasons to expect many consumers to embrace cultivated meat.
Featured blogs
Regenerative agriculture and alternative proteins: complementary approaches to feed a growing world
Regenerative agriculture and alternative proteins can work hand-in-hand to create a just, secure, and sustainable food system.
Stanford Medicine study shows nutrition benefits of plant-based meat
A new Stanford School of Medicine study on the effects of plant-based meat compared to animal-based meat shows nutrition benefits for plant-based meat.
Cultivated meat: A growing nomenclature consensus
GFI Founder and CEO Bruce Friedrich explores the increased sector alignment around the preferred category name for meat produced through cellular agriculture.
Celebrating five years: Announcing our new mission, vision, logo, and website
Five years after our founding, GFI is launching a new brand and website. Both enable us to triple-down on our commitment to a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply.
Plant-based and clean meat are crucial for a sustainable food system
If we are going to effectively address the environmental devastation and public health threats of industrial animal agriculture, it is critical that we develop plant-based and clean meat. Regardless of…
History is clear: Innovation will remove animals from industrial systems
Every time we’ve innovated an animal-free way of doing things, that has become the norm. That can happen in food, too. Big milk started one marketing revolution, big meat can…
