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In addition to being our co-founder and CEO, Paul Shapiro is the author of the national bestseller, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, and the host of the Business For Good Podcast.

In 2023, Paul was named as a Most Admired CEO by the Sacramento Business Journal.

A five-time TEDx speaker,‍ (you can see his 2023 talk here!), he has twenty years of experience as a nonprofit executive and has published more than a hundred articles on food sustainability, from daily newspapers to academic journals. In addition, of course, to his wife Toni and their very friendly pit bull Eddie, he’s an avid lover of three As: animals, astronomy, and athletics.

Drawing on more than two decades of agriculture sustainability public policy experience, Paul co-founded The Better Meat Co. in 2018 and employs a team of more than 20 scientists, engineers, and chefs who've created Rhiza mycoprotein to satiate humanity's collective "meat tooth." The Better Meat Co. offers its products to meat processors and foodservice providers as a meat enhancer or animal-free meat replacement. 

A leading authority on agriculture and sustainable food systems, Paul's been interviewed by hundreds of news outlets from CNN to StarTalk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson as an authority on food and agriculture sustainability. He’s also published hundreds of articles in publications ranging from daily newspapers like the Washington Post to pop-sci publications like Scientific American to magazines like FORTUNE to academic journals.

Paul's book, Clean Meat, details the "Second Domestication" of animals and how industry leaders are working to develop sustainable meat experiences without slaughtering animals.

He holds a bachelor's degree in peace studies and conflict resolution with a minor in religion from The George Washington University.