Awesome Vegans with Elysabeth Alfano
by Elysabeth Alfano
Welcome everyone to my podcast Awesome Vegans with Elysabeth Alfano. This podcast will feature in-depth interviews with plant-based celebs, politicians, athletes, entrepreneurs, influencers, environmentalists, doctors, chefs, animal activists and so much more! I am dedicated to exploring how certain individuals are making the world a better place for themselves, those around them, our environment and our animals through their food choices, practices and businesses. I really do believe if we change what we eat, we change the world!
Episodes
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To Be Continued
Elysabeth is taking a break from recording the Plantbased Business Hour this summer while she is away enjoying her travels and will be back in the fall with more episodes! Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For…
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Corporate Lawyer Turned Vegan Book Author: Christine Mott
What would make a corporate lawyer write a children's book about the New York City Zoo owl, Flaco, that escaped to freedom? Join The Plantbased Business Hour and Awesome Vegans Podcast for an in depth conversation with Christine Mott about her new book, Flaco's flight and plight and the power of...
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What's Next for Oatly? With Julie Kunen, Co-Lead Global Sustainability
Julie Kunen, Co-Lead Global Sustainability and Senior Director of Regenerative Agriculture Director, discusses what is next for Oatly and the sustainability successes and targets for 2030. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at...
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Foods System Shift By the Numbers with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
Professor and Senior Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois discusses the growing need for food system transformation and the structure that will allow for a rapid shift to take place on this new episode of The Plantbased Business Hour. Subscribe! For plant-based...
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Why Is The Department of Energy Investing in Food Innovation? With Mike Messersmith of Tender Food
Why is the Department of Energy investing in food innovation? Mike Messersmith, CEO of Tender Food, shares how and why they got a grant from the Department of Energy. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more...
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Can the Tilt Collective Create a Shift Towards Plant-Rich Diets? With Sarah Lake
New on the scene, the Tilt Collective is trying to encourage a shift to plant-based diets...is it too little, too late or the timing more than perfect? Sarah Lake, CEO, explains their initiatives for creating global change on this edition of Awesome Vegans. Subscribe! For plant-based…
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2025 and Beyond
Elysabeth wraps up 2024 and discusses the impending shift in food systems transformation beginning in 2025. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit ElysabethAlfano.com. For more information,...
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Why Europe Is Leading the World In Plant-based Options with Pascal Bieri of Planted
Why is Europe leading the world in plant-based options? Pascal Bieri, Co-Founder of Planted, discusses the struggles and successes of the European market and the recent turn towards sustainable eating. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at...
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Investing in Food System Transformation with Jason Ingle
Jason W. Ingle, Founder and Managing Partner of Third Nature Investments, joins Elysabeth Alfano on The Plantbased Business Hour to discuss the powerful lever for societal and environmental impact that is investing in food system transformation. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding…
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The Demand for Plant-based, Juicy Steak with Amos Golan of Chunk Foods
Founder and CEO of Chunk Foods, Amos Golan, talks about the demand and success of thick, juicy, plant-based steaks and the global outlook for foodservice on today's Plant-based Business Hour with Elysabeth Alfano. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out...
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Will the Election Change U.S. Food Policy?
In this week's Plantbased Business Hour episode, Elysabeth discusses whether or not the 2024 presidential election will change U.S. food policy. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit...
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What is Plant-Rich Meat and is it a Sell-Out?
Caroline Cotto of Nectar Research and Tim Dale from Food Systems Innovation join me on The Plantbased Business Hour to discuss the results of a recent study around consumer perception of blended (or plant-rich) meat. Do they like it? Do they hate it? Is it a sell-out? Subscribe! For plant-based...
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Make It or Break It: Scaling Food Manufacturing with David Ziskind
Founder of Mach Global Advisors, David Ziskind discusses the pros and cons of building out manufacturing or going with a contractor...and keeping it all sustainable. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more...
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Building A Resilient Food System Supply Chain With Jamie Valenti-Jordan
Food Systems Supply Chain Expert Jamie Valenti-Jordan discusses bringing resiliency to the diversified protein supply chain. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit ElysabethAlfano.com. For...
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Update from NYC Climate Week
After a busy week away, Elysabeth Alfano returns to recap Climate Week in NYC for 2024. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit ElysabethAlfano.com. For more information, visit...
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How Successful is Plant-based Chicken in the US? With Jeff Gendelman of Daring Foods
2021 was supposed to be the year of plant-based chicken: nuggets, strips, patties were all the rage. CEO and Founder of Daring Chicken, Jeff Gendelman, takes us through the highs and lows of the plant-based chicken trajectory and the chances for success of the category. Subscribe! For plant-based...
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What Is the State of the American Farmer? Deputy Under Secretary, USDA, Sanah Baig
What is the state of the American Farmer? Is food insecurity in the US on the rise? What initiatives are upcoming to address feeding more people with fewer resources? What does the USDA science data tell us? Deputy Under Secretary of the USDA, Sanah Baig, is here for the big knowledge drop just...
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Is 2025 the Year for Financing Food Fast? With Ambassador Ertharin Cousin
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture and Executive Director of the Food Systems for the Future, Ertharin Cousin joins CEO of VegTech Invest to discuss the pivotal year of 2025 for food and other systems shifts. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding...
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Is Nutrition A New Investing Theme? Tufts Research Fellow Suzi Gerber
Chef and USDA-NIFA National Needs Research Fellow at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Suzi Gerber, talks about the new research paper with FAIRR on Nutrition and Protein. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at...
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Outlook for Q4 2025 & 2026 for Food Systems Transformation
Elysabeth discusses her outlook for Q4 of 2025 and the next two years in the plant-based sector. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit ElysabethAlfano.com. For more information, visit...
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Friends of the Earth Discuss Who Funds the Most Environmentally Damaging Sectors
Monique Mikhail, Senior Program Manager, Climate and Agriculture Finance Program, and Kelly McNamara, Senior Research and Policy Analyst, at Friends of the Earth reveal some shocking environmental statistics from the banking industry's funding of animal agriculture. Bull in the Climate Shop…
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Owning Your (Dairy-Free) Legacy with CEO of Edlong, Laurette Rondenet
CEO and Owner of Edlong, Laurette Rondenet, talks about how dairy-free and plant-based dairy flavors are nothing new, but that Edlong has taken the industry to new heights. We discuss Owning Your Legacy, the podcast and the vision. Get comfortable for an inspiring podcast. Subscribe! For...
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Meet Mattson Co's New AI Agent and Change-Maker in Food Innovation with Steve Gundrum
Meet Leo from Mattson: Innovation for the Food & Beverage Industry's new AI Agent and Change-maker in Food Innovation. Chief AI Officer Steve Gundrum joins me to take LEO out for a spin and show us the future of food. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach...
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Elysabeth Alfano and Brittany Damico Recap US SIF 2024
CEO of VegTech Invest and host Elysabeth Alfano is joined by Brittany Damico of O-Six Impact Partners to recap their time at the US SIF conference 2024 in Chicago. The former Florida congressman mentioned in the podcast was Carlos Curbelo. The article Brittany referred to is:...
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What Are the Bright Lights in Sustainable Food? Lisa Keefe of Alt Meat Magazine.
Lisa Keefe, Editor in Chief at Alt-Meat joins Elysabeth Alfano at the Future Food Tech conference in Chicago where they discuss what Lisa is seeing in the alternative protein market and her predictions for the plant-based sector. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public...
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Bezos Earth Fund Recipient: North Carolina State University's William Aimutis and Rohan Shirwaiker
Rohan Shirwaiker and Bill Aimutis, Co-Directors of the Bezos Earth Fund Bezos Center for Sustainable Proteins at North Carolina State University share the news about the new $30M grant for the center and its true and fast/slow approach to partnership, marrying food and science and addressing...
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Can We Impact Energy Consumption with Food Systems Shift? With Rob Du Boff and Rob Barnett
Robert Barnett, Bloomberg Intelligence Energy Analyst, and Robert Du Boff, Bloomberg Intelligence ESG Analyst, join Elysabeth Alfano to discuss the overlap of energy use and food systems and how shifting one can shift another. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public...
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Will Precision Fermentation Shift the Global Food Supply System? With Maria Cho of Triplebar
CEO Maria Cho of Triplebar joins me on The Plantbased Business Hour. We discuss the protein supply chain benefits provided by precision fermentation and when scaling will take place. If this topic sounds down in the weeds, you need to tune in to learn about the shifting building blocks of the...
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Why are Institutional and Philanthropic Investors Focusing on Food? With Caitlin MacLean and Holly Freishtat of The Milken Institute
Senior Director of Innovative Finance at the Milken Institute, Caitlin MacLean and Senior Director at Feeding Change, Holly Freishtat join Elysabeth on the Plantbased Business Hour to discuss blended capital and why institutional and philanthropic investors are focusing on food. Subscribe! For...
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Future of Protein Production 2024
On this week's episode, Elysabeth was on a panel at the Future of Protein Production conference. She was on the panel discussing investing in food systems transformation with Aleh Manchuliantsau, Founder and CEO or Planetarians, Fengru Lin, CEO and Co-founder of TurtleTree and Alex Shirazi,...
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What is the Future of Cultivated Meat? With Davide Dukcevich
Lots of good information and lots of misinformation is swirling around about the future viability of cultivated meat. The former owner of Daniele prosciutto and now cultivated meat investor, Davide Dukcevich discusses the outlook for cultivated meat AND the outlook for meat. Subscribe! For...
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Will Investors Embrace Food Systems Transformation? With Mahesh Roy of IIGCC
Will Investors Embrace Food Systems Transformation? Mahesh Roy, Investor Strategies Programme Director of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, discusses the IIGCC perspective on investing in food systems transformation to combat Climate Change and partake in the potential growth…
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Bloomberg Intelligence's Jen Bartashus at the Farm, Food, & Fuel Summit
Senior Research Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Jen Bartashus, joins host Elysabeth Alfano on Awesome Vegans at the Farm, Food, & Fuel Summit. They discuss conference and their panel experiences as well as their predictions for the sector in the next five to ten years. Subscribe! For…
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Plant-based Innovation In Napa Valley with Chef James Corwell
In this episode of Awesome Vegans, Elysabeth discusses the future of food with Chef James Corwell at the Culinary Institute of America's event in Napa Valley. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more…
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The Investment Thesis Behind Food Systems Transformation: Lombard Odier's Thomas Hohne-Sparborth
Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, Head of Sustainability Research at Lombard Odier Investment Managers in Switzerland joins the Plantbased Business Hour. Host Elysabeth Alfano discusses with Thomas who pays and who benefits from food systems transformation. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding...
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New Products and Innovation at Expo West
This week Elysabeth comes to you from Expo West in Anaheim, California. She discusses the state of the plant-based sector with Noah Hyams, Founder of Vegpreneur, and Rodd Willis, Director of Natural and Specialty at Dot Foods. Hear about what kinds of products Elysabeth saw at Expo West and what...
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What You Need To Know Before You IPO: George Khalife of TSX
George Khalife, V.P. of U.S. Capital Formation on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) joins Elysabeth to discuss taking Plant-based Innovation brands public on the exchange. They breakdown what you need to know before you IPO. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking,...
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Beyond Meat: Examining the Stock Surge and Sink After the Earnings Call
On this episode of Awesome Vegans, Elysabeth discusses the recent rise in stock price for Beyond Meat after their Q4 2023 earnings call. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit...
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How to Raise Capital in this Economy: Jeffrey Harris of Green Venture Advisory
How can you raise capital for your start-up or existing company in this restrictive economy? It is what is on almost every founder's mind. Jeffrey Harris, CEO of Green Venture Advisory, joins Elysabeth today on the Plantbased Business Hour to talk about the three things you need to know.…
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How To Get Your Food Business Acquired with Yves Potvin
Three-time founder, Yves Potvin, discusses the current state of Plant-based Innovation sector and how to grow a food business to be acquired. Having sold gardein to Conagra and Yves Veggie Cuisine to Hain Celestial, Yves is now championing Konscious Foods with a plan to be acquired. Learn from…
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James Robinson: Who Is Eating Plant-based Options?
While traveling in India, Elysabeth asks her friend James Robinson about his plant-based journey and what products he enjoys to get insights into what consumers like him want out of the sector. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at...
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Biodiversity Loss Even In Sri Lanka
Elysabeth recaps her time visiting Sri Lanka. She discusses all the incredible animals she saw but also the devastating effects of biodiversity loss due to climate change. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For…
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Greg Steltenpohl, CEO of Califia Farms
When will plant-based milks be 50% of the milk category? Greg Steltenpohl of Califia Farms calls it on the Plantbased Business Hour. We also discuss 1) the necessary creativity in plant-based foods, 2) the hurdles he didn't see coming, 3) the synergy between plant-based production and the...
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How Do We Fight for the Planet? George Monbiot Weighs In
George Monbiot, author, journalist, and environmental activist, joins Elysabeth on the Plantbased Business Hour to discuss how to best fight for the planet and how to take no prisoners when it comes to taking on the meat industry and its lobby. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting...
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Food Systems Predictions for 2024 with Sonalie Figueiras of Green Queen
Sonalie Figueiras, Founder of Green Queen, and I discuss sustainable food systems predictions for 2024: the good, the bad and the ugly. We get into it. Join us and bring your questions. The Plantbased Business Hour with Elysabeth Alfano kicks off 2024. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding...
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2023 Recap and Beyond
This week on Awesome Vegans, Elysabeth recaps 2023 and shares her predictions for 2024. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at [email protected]. For more information, visit ElysabethAlfano.com. For more information, visit...
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Can We Have A Sustainable Future? With Roger Spitz of Techistential
Roger Spitz (M.Sc., FCA, APF) is an international bestselling author, a celebrated futurist, the president of Techistential (Climate & Foresight Strategy), and the chair of the renowned Disruptive Futures Institute, based in San Francisco. On this episode of The Plantbased Business Hour we…
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COP28: A Focus on Food Systems Shift
In this episode, Host Elysabeth Alfano recaps her time at COP28. This was the first COP to focus on food systems transformation, connecting the food system to climate change. Elysabeth shares all the highlights throughout the week, focusing on the finance discussions of blended capital to further...
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What is the BioP2P Network? With Mathias Cousin of Monitor Deloitte
Managing Director of Monitor Deloitte, Mathias Cousin, shares the advancements of the BioP2P network that is ensuring the health of the bio-manufacturing sector for sustainable food systems transformation. It's another fascinating episode of The Plantbased Business Hour. Subscribe! For…
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Protecting Biodiversity with Glenn Hurowitz, Founder of Mighty Earth
Glenn Hurowitz of Mighty Earth shares one of the best ways to protect the earth's biodiversity: alternative proteins. How? Why? When? We get into it all on The Plantbased Business Hour with Elysabeth Alfano. Subscribe! For plant-based media/branding consulting and public speaking, reach out at...
About this show
Welcome everyone to my podcast Awesome Vegans with Elysabeth Alfano. This podcast will feature in-depth interviews with plant-based celebs, politicians, athletes, entrepreneurs, influencers, environmentalists, doctors, chefs, animal activists and so much more! I am dedicated to exploring how certain individuals are making the world a better place for themselves, those around them, our environment and our animals through their food choices, practices and businesses. I really do believe if we change what we eat, we change the world!
Hosted by
Elysabeth Alfano
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