The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a U.S.-based
501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes plant-based
meat, dairy, and eggs as well as clean meat
(also known as cultured meat and cell-based
meat), as alternatives to the products of
conventional animal agriculture.
The organization launched in February 2016
with the vision of creating a healthy, humane,
and sustainable food supply.
GFI targets scientists, policymakers, and
entrepreneurs to promote plant-based products
and cellular agriculture.The group has conducted
activities in Washington D.C., which include
filing lawsuits against the FDA and the USDA.GFI's
promotion of plant-based and cell-based meat
has been featured on various news outlets
including the Washington Post Magazine and
VICE.
According to Co-Founder and Executive Director
Bruce Friedrich, “it's likely that, in a
few generations, animal slaughter for food
will be extremely rare in the developed world.”
== 
Advisors ==
Among GFI's 31 advisors are entrepreneurs,
food industry experts, CEOs, scientists, authors,
and financial advisors, including:
Suzy Welch, American author, television commentator,
business journalist, and public speaker
Uma Valeti, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Memphis
Meats
Mark Post, M.D., Ph.D., professor at Maastricht
University who produced the first "clean meat"
hamburger, which was funded by Google co-founder
Sergey Brin
Josh Balk, Hampton Creek co-founder
Ryan Bethencourt, IndieBio co-founder
Derek Sarno, senior global executive chef
of Whole Foods Market
Liz Specht, PhD, senior scientist and Fellow
with University of Colorado at Boulder Sustainability
Innovation Lab
== 
Lawsuits ==
=== 
Against the FDA ===
In June 2016, GFI filed a lawsuit in a D.C.
federal court demanding that the FDA turn
over all records related to its regulation
of the term "soy milk," after the agency failed
to respond to several Freedom of Information
Act requests GFI submitted in April 2016.
According to Politico's Morning Agriculture
report, GFI wants the FDA to formally "allow
the use of the term 'soy milk,' and says the
agency's inconsistency on the matter has led
to 'consumer confusion and an uneven competitive
landscape.'"
=== Against the USDA ===
After filing three Freedom of Information
Act requests to obtain documents from the
USDA related to its open investigation of
the American Egg Board's allegedly anti-competitive
actions against egg-free Mayo company, Hampton
Creek, GFI sued the agency on Monday, August
8, 2016, for failing to respond to the requests
in full.
According to an article on Vice Motherboard,
GFI filed FOIA requests in December for meeting
minutes and budgetary documents from the Egg
Board, but was only given access to documents
that had already been made public.
== Open Philanthropy Project grant ==
In September 2016, the Open Philanthropy Project
(OPP) awarded GFI a $1,000,000 grant for general
support.
The grant was made under OPP's farm animal
welfare effort, which is one of their major
focus areas given the large number of farmed
animals subject to considerable suffering.
== Effective altruism ==
GFI has ties with the effective altruism (EA)
movement, as helping farmed animals is one
of EA's major cause areas.
GFI was founded as a sister project of Mercy
for Animals, one of EA organization Animal
Charity Evaluators' top charities, and GFI
Executive Director Bruce Friedrich spoke on
EA Global 2016's panel on "Rethinking Meat
and the End of Factory Farming".
In 2016, effective altruist Michael Dickens
wrote an essay explaining his decision to
donate $20,000 to GFI, arguing it was among
the most promising targets for donors interested
in maximizing impact.
=== Animal Charity Evaluators review ===
In November 2016, Animal Charity Evaluators
(ACE) named GFI as one of its Top Charities
in its annual animal charity recommendations.
The ACE review lists GFI's strengths as its
potential to decrease demand for animal products—possibly
much more rapidly than moral arguments—and
the focus of GFI's leadership on effectiveness.
Their weaknesses, according to ACE, include
its short track record, the difficulty of
developing cost-competitive "clean meat",
and the possible difficulties with finding
and hiring the right staff.ACE estimates that
GFI could use $500,000 to $1 million more
in 2017 than it did in 2016.
These funds would likely go to filling their
operating reserve and hiring new staff.
== See also ==
New Harvest
Timeline of cellular agriculture
Timeline of animal welfare and rights
