Business for Good Podcast

Nearly none of the plastic we use—even what gets thrown in the recycling bin—actually gets recycled. One reason for that is that plastic manufacturers often include additives in their plastics which enhance the performance of the material, but reduce the recyclability of those plastics. But what if there were a natural additive that could mimic the performance improvements of conventional plastic additives while improving recyclability? That's what MadeRight is betting on. The Israeli startup, founded in 2022, is growing mycelium—the root-like structure of fungi—to produce extracts that can be pelletized and sold to plastic manufacturers, improving both performance and sustainability. Already, the company's raised $1.5 million USD from some big names in consumer packaged goods, hired half a dozen team members, and is making small amounts of its mycelial extracts as a proof of concept. CEO Rotem Cahanovitc got the idea for such a company while living in Ethiopia and seeing families simply burning all their plastic waste to get rid of it. Why not make better plastics that could just be recycled or even composted, he wondered. And it would be even better if you could grow the mycelium on industrial byproducts, which MadeRight is doing. The company's now focused on scaling up to bring its slice of the plastic pollution solution to the market. Discussed in this conversation Our past episode with compostable plastic-maker TIPA. Food Navigator on MadeRight's process. MadeRight was part of the Fresh Start incubator in Israel. New research (see Washington Post and NY Times) questions whether mycelium actually forms a "wood wide web." However, Rotem published this paper which sheds more light on the issue. Rotem recommends Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion and NLP Practitioner. More about Rotem Cahanovitc Rotem Cahanovitc is a mycology enthusiast innovating the use of fungi, the great recyclers of the planet, to support the transition to a flourishing, sustainable circular economy. He founded MadeRight envisioning creative ways to use fungi as a platform to produce the industrial materials of the future, starting with packaging made right.

What started with a small grant from the National Science Foundation to two twin science-y sisters barely out of college is now a startup employing dozens of people that's so far raised more than $13 million to revolutionize how we make clothing. Here's how it works: You already know that plants take in CO2 and convert it into biomass, which we humans often like to turn into clothing. But what if we could bypass the plants, and just capture C02 being emitted from a factory and convert it with enzymes into fabrics that we could then wear? Not only would this magical process take emissions out of the atmosphere, but they'd also prevent the need to pollute in order to make the clothing we currently buy. That's exactly what Rubi Labs is doing, displacing the need to grow cotton by harnessing the power of biotech fermentation to capture CO2 from factories and convert it into textiles. As you'll hear in this conversation, Rubi CEO Neeka Mashouf started the company with her twin sister Leila, and they've already partnered with major brands like H&M. Discussed in this episode Neeka recommends The World in a Grain and Rivers of Power. Neeka enjoys listening to the How I Built This podcast. Paul recommends the documentary Three Identical Strangers More about Rubi Co-Founders Neeka and Leila Mashouf were raised by the old-growth redwood forests and coasts of Northern California. Their family before them found refuge here after fleeing Iran in 1979, and told stories of how the walnut groves and sparkling shores reminded them of home. Neeka and Leila fell in love with trees and nature, the science of how they work, and the materials of which they are made -- both starting scientific research careers at age 15 and growing up to be scientists. At the same time, the twin sisters grew up immersed in the artistic world of fashion through their family's brand, Bebe Stores. They spent summers learning from merchants, designers, production experts, and manufacturers, magnetized by the beauty of fashion then later devastated by the environmental impact. Their unique upbringing inspired them to use science and invention to take action across the manufacturing industry to fight the destruction of our clean air, water, climate, arable land, and biodiverse ecosystems. They started Rubi in 2021 after inventing and prototyping the technology in a public biohacking lab, leveraging their deep scientific expertise in materials engineering and bioengineering.

If you listen to this show, you probably already think that we need to slash human emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. In many ways, our species has been engaged in a massive, uncontrolled geoengineering project that's heating up the planet to the point where wildlife extinction, massive floods and fires, and other tragedies are now simply routine. So far, humanity's geoengineering has largely been limited to heating the earth up. But what about purposeful geoengineering to actually cool the planet down? In other words, while we're waiting to get our act together on emissions, why not reflect some of the sunshine beaming onto our pale blue dot back into space, so we can shade ourselves and keep cooler in the meantime? The idea's been discussed in sci-fi literature for decades, and is even being researched by the federal government right now. (See here, here, and here, for example.) But one serial entrepreneur decided to take the earth's climate into his own hands and start his own geoengineering company, Make Sunsets. The idea is simple: When volcanoes erupt, they spew sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, reflecting a small amount of sunlight back into space, thereby tangibly cooling the planet temporarily. So, figured Make Sunsets CEO Luke Iseman, why not just put the sulfur dioxide in the stratosphere himself? So Luke bought a balloon on Amazon, filled it with helium to make it rise along with a couple grams of sulfur dioxide as payload, and he let it go. Fast forward a year later, and his launch has been condemned by many around the globe as irresponsibly hubristic, yet also praised by many who see such geoengineering as the best of a list of bad options. If he could do the same thing as the initial launch but orders of magnitude greater, he could meaningfully cool the planet down to prevent some of the worst effects of climate change, at least for a year or two, unless he was continually doing it. As Luke says, "Every day that we don't inject sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere as responsibly as the state of the science will let us and as much as we can economically, species are needlessly going extinct and people are dying." So far Make Sunsets is still a tiny startup: two employees with about a million dollars of venture capital raised, though from some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. They're already selling cooling credits—think carbon credits, but instead of removing CO2 from the atmosphere they're just cooling the planet down without actually altering CO2 levels. He's clear that sulfur dioxide injections into the stratosphere are a means of simply buying ourselves time to get our emissions under control, not a replacement for emissions reduction. So, see what you think. Is Make Sunsets a planetary savior or an well-intentioned but potentially apocalyptic idea? I really enjoyed talking with Luke and I think you'll enjoy listening. Discussed in this episode The controversy caused by Make Sunsets has been covered on CNN, NY Times, CNBC, The Guardian, Washington Post, and more. Luke was inspired to start Make Sunsets after reading Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. Paul learned of Make Sunsets via the Wall Street Journal's podcast. Luke's initial launch caused the Mexican government to act against him. Luke recommends How to Blow up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm, The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, and The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Paul mentions Snowpiercer, a story about a global winter unexpectedly befalling earth after a project similar to Make Sunsets. Our past episodes with philosopher Peter Singer and carbon capturer Graciela Chichilninsky. Interestingly, Peter Singer recently endorsed the idea of at least researching geoengineering. Luke maintains a list of companies he'd like to build, and one idea in particular he just can't get out of his head. More about Luke Iseman Luke Iseman is cofounder of Make Sunsets, a startup that launches reflective clouds to fight global warming. They have deployed over 3000 ton-years worth of cooling for paying customers, and their mission is to Cool Earth by 1C before 2030. Previously, Luke was founder of several hardware startups and Director of Hardware at Y Combinator.

Every piece of plastic you've ever used still exists somewhere on the planet, from the ziplock bag of leftovers to the bag of chips to the packaging holding in all the grapes you picked up at the store. We used to ship all of our plastic waste to China, but in 2017 they stopped taking it, so the vast majority of our plastic, including what we put in the recycling bin, at the very best just ends up in a landfill, and at the worst ends up in the ocean. Enter TIPA, an Israeli startup promising to revolutionize plastic packaging by making it fully compostable. That means you could take the bag your grapes come in and just put it in your backyard compost. That's a big deal, because a lot of packaging labeled "compostable" is actually only compostable under industrial composting conditions which are much higher heat than what you'd typically get in a home composting system or if the product ends up in nature. TIPA's already raised $130 million USD in venture capital funding, employs more than 60 people in Israel, the US, and Europe, has developed numerous plastic replacement products that are now sold on several continents, recently acquired another startup in the space, and is working feverishly scale further so they can turn off the faucet of plastic pollution humanity is dumping into our environment every year. TIPA is Hebrew for "droplet," and in this conversation with TIPA's founder and CEO, Daphna Nissenbaum, we chat about her journey from a software engineer to a plastic revolutionary, what the difference between biodegradable and compostable is, what her alt-plastic is actually made of, and more. Most entrepreneurs dream of having the success Daphna's had so far in terms of fundraising and product launches, so it was fun to hear her story. Discussed in this episode TIPA raised a $70M USD Series C financing round. Inc Magazine on Daphna's fight to make all plastic compostable. TIPA acquired Bio4Pack in $8M USD deal. You can see a range of TIPA's compostable packaging here. Many products sold in the US come in TIPA alt-plastic, like these. As an example, you can see what a TIPA bag looks like by checking out these Sunrays brand grape bags. As you can see it really looks just like a normal grape bag! Plastic-eating microbes could help degrade current plastics. More about Daphna Nissenbaum Before launching TIPA®, Daphna was CEO of the Caesarea Center for Capital Markets and Risk Management at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. Previously, she held various management positions at SPL World Group Ltd, a provider of revenue and operations management software, prior to which she held the position of project manager at Whelty Lager Ltd., located in Boston MA, USA. Daphna holds an MBA specializing in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from IDC Herzliya (graduated with honors) and a BA in Economics and Software Engineering from Bar Ilan University. She graduated the elite Israel Defense Forces software engineering program (Mamram) and served in the Israeli Navy software unit as an officer (ranked Captain). Today, Daphna is leading the TIPA® team in the movement to revolutionize packaging systems and rid the world of plastic pollution. TIPA® fully compostable flexible packaging replaces conventional plastic, turning waste into resource, a crisis into an opportunity.

Did you know about the correlation between declining smoking rates and increasing hummus consumption? It's true—a decade ago, as American smoking rates were falling, hummus consumption began ascending, leading numerous tobacco growers to convert their fields to chickpea production instead. Hummus is also a favorite of those seeking to eat plant-based while still getting a satiating snack or meal. In fact, in the Middle East, the birthplace of hummus, it's not eaten as a dip like it is here in America, but rather hummus itself is the bulk of the meal, enjoyed literally by the bowlful as I've personally witnessed—and enjoyed—while in Israel. Some people even think that hummus may be among the key ways to unite the Middle East, where various cultures have been enjoying hummus for thousands of years. But one place where hummus hasn't been enjoyed for millenia: North America. But one Israeli company set out to change that, Sabra, which has caused an explosion of interest in hummus since it entered the market, especially since the company sold half of its shares to Pepsi. Since then, Sabra has rapidly accelerated hummus' popularity here in America. Today, Sabra sells hundreds of millions of dollars of tubs of hummus and is by far the largest player in the sector. In this interview, we chat with Sabra CEO Joey Bergstein about all things hummus, including why he thinks hummus is such a force for good in the world—including why chickpeas are the OG of regenerative crops—and how Sabra can do even better. Discussed in this episode The switch from tobacco growing to chickpea growing. NuCicer, a cool startup breeding a higher protein chickpea. Joey recommends listening to Revisionist History podcast. Long before Joey was CEO, in 2014 Sabra petitioned FDA for a standard of identity for hummus, something about which Joey says in this interview the company is no longer concerned. TODAY Show ranking of 10 hummus brands, with Sabra ranking #1. Some past episodes of ours on plastic include Footprint, Radical Plastic, AMP Robotics, Plastic Bank, Notpla, and Outlander Materials. The myth of plastic recycling, via NPR. More about Joey Bergstein Joey Bergstein joined Sabra in August 2021 as President and Chief Executive Officer. He and the Sabra team are on a quest to unit and delight the world around planet positive food. Prior to joining Sabra, Bergstein led Seventh Generation as Chief Executive Officer since 2017 following successive leadership roles since he joined in 2011. Together with his team, he transformed the business through sustainability-driven product innovation, advocacy-led marketing, and deep partnership with retailers. This combination more than tripled revenue during his tenure, all while building a purpose-driven culture and pursuing the company's quest to transform the world into a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable place for the next seven generations. A graduate of University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business, Bergstein began his career at Procter & Gamble where he held marketing leadership roles over ten years across North America and in Europe. He then took on leadership roles in the beverages industry, serving as VP beverages industry, serving as VP Global Business Development and then VP Marketing at Molson and then as Senior Vice President of Global Rum at Diageo where, Joey led a global team that doubled the rum business to over $1 billion, transforming Captain Morgan into the fastest growing premium spirit brand in the world. Joey has been recognized by CERES for his leadership addressing Climate Change receiving the 2020 CERES BICEP CEO Award and by his fellow Ivey Alumni receiving the 2020 Ivey Alumni Achievement Award. Joey and his wife, Andrea, founder of Scribblitt.com, now live in New York City.

There are several dozen startups, including one that I cofounded, laboring to scale mycelium fermentation to a point where it can start making a dent in demand for animal meat. One company though, has been doing this for decades: Quorn Foods. While most alt-meat is made from pea, soy, or wheat, Quorn dominates the portion of the market made from mycelium, controlling more than 99% of the mycoprotein-based alt-meat sector. Partnered with companies like KFC, Quorn is the number one alt-meat brand in the EU, even though it's still a smaller part of the US market. That may be changing soon, though. In this conversation, we hear from Quorn's CEO Marco Bertacca about where the company's been and where it's going, including its plans in the US. He reveals which fungi protein startup Quorn recently invested in, whether Quorn intends to build its own fermentation assets in the US, when the company intends to remove all egg whites from its products, and why he thinks Quorn seems better suited as a chicken alternative than beef. Interestingly, he also claims that Quorn is already competing on cost with some chicken products today. I was impressed by Marco's humility in this interview, including when he's talking about where he thinks Quorn has come up short in some of its expansion plans. Interestingly, he and I also chat about why he felt it was important for him, when starting as CEO four years ago, to work for weeks undercover as a factory worker in a Quorn plant before getting behind a computer. The job, Marco claims, has been very gratifying for him, noting that he's married to someone who never eats meat, and he's become someone who eats meat only once per month. Marco even notes that his children are more proud of him today than ever before because of his work to create a more sustainable food system. I think you'll appreciate that sentiment even more after listening to this conversation with the man at the helm of the fungi fermentation revolution—enjoy! Discussed in this episode Paul's new talk on the TED website about fungi fermentation. Paul's favorite Quorn products are the Spicy Chiqin Patties and Fish Sticks. The history of Quorn. Quorn was acquired in 2015 for $831 million by Monde Nissin. Monde Nissin's 2021 billion-dollar IPO for Quorn. Quorn's 2021 announcement that it would invest $335 million in the US market. Marco's first weeks on the CEO job were spent as a factory worker. The Fungi Protein Association, of which Quorn is a founding member Our recent episode with Prime Roots CEO Kimberlie Le. More about Marco Bertacca Marco Bertacca joined Quorn Foods as CEO in January 2020, bringing over 25 years of global food and drink experience to the company. Prior to moving to the UK to undertake the role, Marco was based in the Philippines where he was the Managing Director of Alaska Milk Corporation, a Friesland Campina Company, for over three years. He first moved to South East Asia in 2013, taking the role of Business Development Director in Singapore for Friesland Campina. He went on to hold a number of MD roles across Singapore and Thailand. Before joining Friesland Campina Marco was President of Europe at CSM Bakery Products, and began his career working for Unilever for 10 years, leading the company's supply chain operations. Marco joined Quorn Foods with the ultimate goal of encouraging more sustainable diets, for the health of both people and planet. Under his leadership, the business announced it will be the first major food brand to roll out carbon labelling on its products, and has committed to achieving Net Positive status by 2030, by which time he has set the ambition to serve 8 billion servings of Quorn a year, the equivalent of one serving for every person on the planet.

Twenty years ago, Jason Matheny was a public health student who in his spare time was crusading to create a meat industry that would be less reliant on animals. In 2004, after he founded New Harvest to popularize cultured meat, his fame grew. The New York Times profiled him in its annual "Ideas of the Year" feature in 2005. That same year Discover magazine named cultured meat one of the most notable tech stories. For the next several years, Jason was the face of the movement to grow real meat without animals, traveling the world to persuade governments and food companies alike that they should be investing in a future where people would eat meat, but not animals. By 2009, now armed with his BA, MBA, MPH, and PhD, Jason began turning his attention toward preventing the more immediate and potentially catastrophic risks humanity faces. After leaving New Harvest, he eventually rose to become the director of Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), a federal agency that develops advanced technologies for national intelligence. Running the federal intelligence agency would eventually lead Jason to helm a national security center at Georgetown University, followed by a high-profile national security role in the Biden White House, to now being the CEO of the Rand Corporation. He was even named one of Foreign Policy's "Top 50 Global Thinkers." As you'll hear in this interview, Jason shifted from his work on cultivated meat toward national security as he became convinced that technology can vastly improve both human and animal welfare, and that the only real threat to technological advancement is an apocalyptic catastrophe like a synthetic virus or asteroid. He still cares about the welfare of those of us living today—human and nonhuman alike—but Jason's primary preoccupation has become reducing civilization-threatening risks so that our species can keep progressing into the deep future. I think you'll find this conversation with this leading thinker as riveting as I did. Jason even talks about what technologies he hopes listeners will pursue to mitigate existential risks, so be sure to listen closely! Discussed in this episode Jason recommends reading The Precipice by Toby Ord. Jason passed the New Harvest torch onto Isha Datar, who was our guest on Episode 42. Our Episode 89 with Rep. Ro Khanna regarding his legislation relating to national security implications of losing the alt-meat race. Paul's thoughts in The Hill on government funding for alt-meat. More about Jason Matheny Jason Matheny is president and chief executive officer of the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. Prior to becoming RAND's president and CEO in July 2022, he led White House policy on technology and national security at the National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Previously, he was founding director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University and director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), where he was responsible for developing advanced technologies for the U.S. intelligence community. Before IARPA, he worked for Oxford University, the World Bank, the Applied Physics Laboratory, the Center for Biosecurity, and Princeton University. Matheny has served on many nonpartisan boards and committees, including the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, to which he was appointed by Congress in 2018. He is a recipient of the Intelligence Community's Award for Individual Achievement in Science and Technology, the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He was also named one of Foreign Policy's "Top 50 Global Thinkers." Matheny holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University, an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University, an M.B.A. from Duke University, and a B.A. in art history from the University of Chicago.

You probably already know that using animals to make materials like leather has a lot of downsides. But using petro-chemicals and intensive crops like cotton, while better than animal products, is still pretty suboptimal for the planet. Keel Labs thinks it has a better idea. Rather than relying on animals or terrestrial plant agriculture, it's seeking to use kelp—yep, seaweed—to make the next generation of materials. Kelp grows much more quickly than land-based plants, sucks C02 out of the air, requires no water, fertilizer, or pesticide inputs, and generally speaking makes the oceans healthier. Conceived by undergrad students in 2017, the company has now raised nearly $20 million from venture capitalists betting that kelp will be the next big thing, has two dozen employees, and is making kelp-based yarns at its North Carolina headquarters. In case you're as maritime-challenged as I am and don't know what "keel" means, a keel is the structural spine of a ship, from the bow to the stern, functioning to create balance between the ocean and to keep a ship's momentum moving forward. The B2B company doesn't intend to sell its own kelp clothing as much as it intends to produce the natural yarn that fashion designers can use to create humane, climate-friendly materials. Are the tides turning for sustainable materials? Keel Labs co-founder Aleks Gosiewski thinks so and sees an ocean of opportunity in kelp. Enjoy hearing her inspirational story. Discussed in this episode Keel won the Biodesign Challenge competition. Keel Labs went through the Indie Bio accelerator. Horizons Ventures invested in Keel Labs. Keel Labs was once housed in the same space as Modern Meadow. Modern Meadow spun off the cultivated meat company Fork and Good. Our past episode with Pinatex (leather from pineapple leaves). Aleks recommends reading Bio Design, Material Ecology, Shoe Dog, and Steve Jobs Aleks thinks you should attend the Design Indaba conference in South Africa After the interview, Aleks confirmed that the organisms that Kelsun is exposed to during composting or landfilling are much more varied (and suited to use carbohydrates as food) and numerous than the organisms present during regular wear or use of Kelsun. She says Keel has further validated this by conducting in-house vermicompost tests and official marine and landfill biodegradation tests. More about Aleks Gosiewski Aleksandra Gosiewski is the Co-Founder & COO of Keel Labs, an innovation platform expanding the potential of the ocean to accelerate the planet's development towards a more sustainable future. With a background in fashion design and economics, Aleks is driving the development of Keel Labs' business and R&D operations to scale the production of Kelsun, the company's flagship product. As a systems thinker, Aleks connects the dots between supply chain logistics, financial planning, and business development. Aleks is a Forbes 30 Under 30 member, a testament to her unique and pioneering perspective on the intersection of science and design.

In 2021, a lengthy analysis was published by a now-defunct online news outlet concluding that cultivating animal cells at commercial meat industry scale was simply a pipedream. Josh March didn't really disagree. But he thought if you could bioengineer the animal cells to get more comfortable at production scale, and add those finished cells into otherwise plant-based meats, you could both commercialize meat cultivation and make animal-free burgers taste even better. Not only did March persuade himself of it, but he persuaded investors, too. In 2022—a very difficult time for startups to raise VC cash—March's startup, SciFi Foods, raised $22 million to bioengineer better animal-free beef. Of course, many in the cultivated meat world shy away from talking about or practicing bioengineering for fear that it will turn consumers off. But not March. He's betting big that technologies like bioengineering and CRISPR are actually the only path to success in this field, so he's going all in. In this interview, we talk all about Josh's story, including two previous startup acquisitions, his motivations for doing this work, and what he sees as the future of meat. Discussed in this episode Josh became interested in cultivated meat after reading The Singularity is Near and Player of Games We discuss the 2021 Counter story on cultivated meat's prospects Josh recommends reading How to Get Rich Paul recommends reading Tender is the Flesh Josh is currently reading Mythos Paul references Circe as a female-centered retelling of Greek mythology BTW, Josh is the author of Message Me: The Future of Customer Service in the Era of Social Messaging and Artificial Intelligence More about Josh March Joshua March is the co-founder & CEO of SCiFi Foods, on a mission to disrupt the $1.2T meat market by leveraging the power of genetic engineering to make cultivated meat (real meat grown from cells) a commercial reality. He was previously the Co-founder & CEO of Conversocial, a digital care platform for messaging that works with many of the biggest brands in the world (acquired by Verint).

The Business of Being an Author and Influencer with Toni Okamoto of Plant-Based on a Budget This is a special episode of this podcast, because the guest is not only an entrepreneur making money by making the world a better place, but she also just happens to be my wife. Toni Okamoto is the founder and CEO of Plant-Based on a Budget, and she has her fourth cookbook coming out right around the time that this episode drops! Long-time listeners will recall that Toni was actually the co-host of this podcast for the first 20 episodes, and medium-time listeners will recall that she was an interviewee two years ago on episode 51 when her last book came out. It was a fun interview that I recommend going back and checking out, but this is even more fun and doesn't require knowledge of the first episode to enjoy. When Toni and I first met, Plant Based on a Budget was just a passion blog she did in her free time. Fast forward to today, and with no external investment, just through revenue generation alone, Plant-Based on a Budget is now a profitable company employing five people and reaching millions with a message of how to save money by eating in a way that's better for you and for the world. In addition to talking about Toni's latest book, Plant-Based on a Budget Quick and Easy, we also talk a lot about the business of being an influencer, how being the CEO of a profitable company that puts her in the spotlight has changed her life, and more. I had fun doing this interview, and I hope Toni did too. You be the judge. Resources discussed in this episode You can get Toni's new cookbook here. Our past episode 51 with Toni. Toni recommends listening to the Food Blogger Pro podcast, including a recent episode with Toni about her business. Our past episode with Moby and his new documentary Punk Rock Vegan Movie. Alfonso Revilla's stellar photography. Paul recommends following science and engineerinfluencer Mark Rober. Vox's story on the trend of kids wanting to be influencers. Investor Seth Bannon's tweet arguing that influencers aren't creators, but rather entertainers. More about Toni Okamoto Toni Okamoto is the founder of Plant-Based on a Budget, the popular website and social media platform that teaches millions how to save dough by eating veggies. She's also the author of the Plant-Based on a Budget Cookbook, and the co-host of The Plant-Powered People Podcast. Okamoto's work has been profiled by NPR, NBC News, Parade Magazine, and she's a regular presence on local and national morning shows across the country, where she teaches viewers how to break their meat habit without breaking their budget. She was also featured in the popular documentary What the Health. When she's not cooking up a plant-based storm, she's spending time with her husband and their rescued dog in Sacramento, CA.