The Good Food Institute

Advancing the science of plant-based and cell-based meat is one of GFI's primary focus areas. In 2018, GFI launched a competitive research grant program to fund open-access research for the development of these technologies.[10] Three million dollars, split among 14 research projects, were awarded in the 2018 funding cycle.[11]

GFI's State of the Industry Report showed that more than $16 billion has been invested in U.S. plant-based meat, egg, and dairy companies over the past 10 years, with $13 billion of those investments made during 2017 and 2018 alone.[12] GFI commissioned custom data on the U.S. retail sales of plant-based products designed to replace animal-based products from market research firm Nielsen Corporation in 2017 and 2018. The 2018 data release showed U.S. retail sales of plant-based products grew 17% to over $3.7 billion, measured over a 52-week period ending August 11, 2018.[13] Plant-based meat sales grew by 23%.[14]

According to GFI's State of the Industry Reports eleven new cell-based meat companies were founded in 2018, making total number of publicly announced companies 27.[15] In September 2018, GFI released the results of a consumer survey assessing various names for cell-based meat on the criteria of differentiation, descriptiveness, appeal, and purchase intent.[16] Working with research firm Datassential, GFI surveyed 1,004 consumers to test the terms "clean meat," "cell-based meat," "craft meat," "cultured meat", and "slaughter-free meat." Overall, the term "slaughter-free meat" performed best across the established criteria.[17]

Nonprofit research firm Faunalytics partnered with GFI to measure consumer attitudes towards clean meat when presented with information about its environmental and societal benefits. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they would try clean meat; 53% would eat it instead of conventionally produced meat; 46% would buy it regularly; 40% would be willing to pay more for it.[18][19]

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.'"[22]

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[23] 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.[24] 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.

In August 2018, GFI, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, and Tofurky filed a civil rights action against the state of Missouri,[25] challenging a law that prohibits "misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry." Violating the statute is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by jail terms of up to one year, a fine up to $1,000, or both.[26] GFI argued that this law infringes on freedom of speech and is anticompetitive, citing Missouri legislator Senator Sandy Crawford's comment: "We wanted to protect our cattlemen in Missouri and protect our beef brand."[27]

Similar to Missouri, in 2019 Arkansas passed Act 501 "To Require Truth in Labeling of Agricultural Products that Are Edible by Humans" which prohibited product labels to use terminology for foods traditionally associated with animal products such as "veggie burger". In July 2019, the Good Food Institute, American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, and Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the law on behalf of Tofurky, a brand that creates meat replacement products from wheat protein and tofu.[28]

In September 2016, the Open Philanthropy Project awarded GFI a $1,000,000 grant for general support.[31] In 2017, OPP renewed this grant for general support at $1,500,000.[32] These grants were 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.[33]

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) named GFI as a Top Charity (the charity watchdog's highest ranking) in its annual animal charity recommendations in November 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.[34] The 2018 ACE review lists GFI's strengths as its potential to decrease demand for animal products—possibly much more rapidly than moral arguments—as well as its leadership and strategic vision. Its weaknesses, according to ACE, include GFI's relatively short track record and the unknowns in the timeline for commercializing cost-competitive cell-based meat.[35]

Double Up Drive, a donation matching challenge organized as part of the Effective Altruism Foundation's Raising for Effective Giving project, selected GFI as one of ten "highly impactful" charities to receive matching funds during their 2017 and 2018 campaigns.[36][37]