The Stanford Alt Protein Project

Learn more about our work

The Stanford Alt Protein Project strives to build a healthy, sustainable, and ethical food system by creating a diverse, inclusive, and impact-driven community for alternative protein education, research, innovation, and awareness. We expect to serve as a resource for interested members of the Stanford community by helping students find research, education, and entrepreneurship opportunities, working with faculty to integrate discussion of alternative proteins into new or existing courses, and hosting events to promote awareness of alternative proteins.

I. Research
One of our goals is to facilitate students pursuing alternative protein research and careers. For example, we want to be able to recommend professors, postdocs, and/or research projects for students that are interested in these opportunities. We’re also currently working on building a centralized database of alternative protein internships that interested students can apply to.

II. Education
We also hope to work with faculty to increase the amount of courses and educational offerings related to the development of alternative proteins. For example, we’re currently collaborating with David Lobell, the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment. He serves as our faculty advisor for our speaker series called Rethinking Meat (ESS 103/203). We have successfully completed our second year of the class with over 300 students enrolled.

III. Awareness
We hope to increase awareness of alternative proteins at Stanford by hosting events. For example, we host speaker events with researchers in food science and founders of alternative protein startups, and (if approved for funding) plan to host cooking workshops—to demonstrate how alternative proteins can be integrated into recipes, especially from traditional cuisines—and field trips, for example to alternative protein companies and manufacturing facilities in the area.