Ricardo San Martin

I am a lifelong inventor, entrepreneur, and professor of biotechnology and plant-based ingredients used by the food industry. Since 2017 I am the director of UC Berkeley�s ALT:MEAT lab, a unique educational hub where students learn food science and entrepreneurial principles, to develop the next generation of plant-based foods. I fervently believe that plant-based foods will not change the world unless they drive us to stop seeing nature as a source of limitless resources. Solutions must ethically encompass all aspects of making the food more sustainable: from minimally processed local plants, to the final packaging used. This is a discovery journey about human behaviors and passions around food. That is why it is so complex and challenging. I do not have any magical answers. I can only facilitate this discovery process for our students and this new generation that urgently needs to change our food systems.