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A living reading list: the courses, articles, videos, and podcasts our members return to as they explore alternative proteins.
Plant-Powered Physicians (Podcast)
Evidence-based conversations on plant-based nutrition from Dr. Tracy Cushing and Dr. Eden English, two practicing physicians. Episodes run 13 to 34 minutes and cover protein myths, anti-inflammatory eating, and lifestyle medicine — accessible enough for a newcomer but grounded in clinical evidence. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio.
Plant-Powered Physicians (Substack)
The newsletter companion to the podcast, with recipes, resources, and written deep dives that do not make it into episodes. A good low-effort way to keep plant-based nutrition evidence in your inbox between meetings.
The Protein Transition — Free Online Course (GFI)
GFI's free, self-paced course covering the sustainability case against conventional meat, then the science of plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated proteins across five video modules. Completing it earns an EIT-accredited certificate, which makes this the single highest-value item on this page for anyone considering alt protein work.
GFI Student Resource Guide
The recommended first stop for students new to alternative proteins. Orients you to the field and points toward the courses, careers, and research paths that follow.
The Science of Plant-Based Meat (GFI)
GFI's reference hub on how plant-based meat is actually made, with deep dives on crop development, ingredient optimization, and end-product formulation and manufacturing. Written for people who want the technical picture rather than the marketing one.
The Science of Cultivated Meat (GFI)
The companion hub on growing meat from cells, with separate deep dives on cell lines, culture media, scaffolding, and bioreactor design. These four topics are where most of the field's unsolved problems live, so this is the place to understand why cultivated meat is hard.
The Science of Fermentation (GFI)
Covers microbial fermentation's role in alternative proteins — precision fermentation, biomass fermentation, and mycoprotein. The least publicly understood of the three main approaches, and arguably the one with the nearest-term commercial traction.
GFI State of the Industry Reports
Annual reports on plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy — investment figures, company counts, regulatory progress, and technical milestones. The standard citation for anyone making factual claims about where the industry stands.
Reimagining Protein Newsletter (GFI)
GFI's biweekly newsletter tracking developments across science, policy, and industry. The lowest-commitment way to stay current without following the field full time.
GFI Teaching Library
Slides, lecture material, and course content on alternative proteins, free to use. Useful if BUPB runs its own workshops or fellowship sessions, or if a member is pushing for alt protein content in a BU course.
Alternative Protein Company Database (GFI)
A searchable directory of companies working across the alternative protein sector, filterable by technology and geography. Good for job hunting, for finding speakers, and for seeing who is actually building what.
GFI Solutions Database
A catalog of open technical and commercial problems in the field, framed as research ideas and innovation priorities. Effectively a menu of unsolved problems — worth browsing if you are looking for a thesis topic or a venture idea.
Collaborative Researcher Directory (GFI)
A database of researchers working in alternative protein fields worldwide. The practical use is finding a lab: if you are considering a master's, PhD, or postdoc in this space, start here.
GFI Startup Manual
A guide to founding a company in the alternative protein space, covering the path from idea to funded venture. Pairs directly with the Innovate@BU programs on the Opportunities page.
Alt Protein Career Portal (GFI)
GFI's job board for the alternative protein sector, spanning science, policy, business, and communications roles. The obvious starting point for internships and post-graduation work.
GFIdeas Community
GFI's global network connecting people working on and interested in alternative proteins, with events and discussion. Useful for meeting people outside BU who do this professionally.
The Alt Protein Project (GFI)
GFI's global student movement, made up of university chapters accelerating alternative protein research and education on their own campuses. Directly relevant to BUPB — this is the network the Brown-led Alt Protein Fellowship sits inside.
GFI Research Grant Program
Funds open-access alternative protein research and publishes resources for investigators. Relevant to graduate students and to faculty a student group might be trying to recruit into the field.
Research Funding Database (GFI)
A curated list of grant opportunities for alternative protein research beyond GFI's own program.
Talist
An independent job platform for roles across the alternative protein and food systems space. Worth checking alongside GFI's career portal, since the listings do not fully overlap.
Animal Advocacy Careers — Skills Profiles
Detailed profiles of the skills that make people effective in animal advocacy and food systems work, including paths through policy, research, and operations. Not all of it is alt protein specific, but the policy career guidance is among the best available.
Meat Without Animals: The Future of Food — Bruce Friedrich (TEDxGateway)
The standard 15-minute introduction to why alternative proteins matter, from GFI's co-founder. If a member has time for exactly one thing on this page before a meeting, this is it.
The Next Global Agricultural Revolution — Bruce Friedrich (TED)
A six-minute version of the same argument, framed around the technological shift rather than the ethics. Good for sharing with skeptics who will not watch anything longer.
How We Could Eat Real Meat Without Harming Animals — Isha Datar (TED)
Datar coined the term cellular agriculture and runs New Harvest. This is the clearest short explanation of the cultivated meat premise from someone who helped define the field.
Is Meat Really That Bad? — Kurzgesagt
A 12-minute animated explainer weighing the environmental and health case around meat consumption. Well sourced and unusually even-handed, which makes it useful for tabling and outreach where a more partisan video would not land.
How Impossible Meat Is Actually Made
A 21-minute look inside the production of the best-known plant-based meat product. Useful for demystifying what "processed" actually means in this context.
Factory Farming: What It Is and Why It's a Problem — The Humane League
A 10-minute read establishing the baseline problem that alternative proteins are proposed to solve. Assigned as mandatory Week 1 reading in the Alt Protein Fellowship.
Cultured Meat: A Comparison of Techno-Economic Analyses
A rigorous comparison of the competing cost projections for cultivated meat, including where the optimistic and pessimistic analyses disagree and why. Include this one deliberately — a learning page that only carries advocacy material is easier to dismiss, and members who can discuss the cost objections credibly are more persuasive than members who cannot.