A quarter of the meat we produce in this country goes to pets, and when you look at the amount of pollution that these factory farms create, the amount of land usage, the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest — all just to grow crops to feed these animals — it’s a net negative.

Cleaning up how we produce food and protein starts with reducing the usage of animal agriculture and replacing it with more efficient plant-based and cell-based protein products, whether we’re talking about land usage, water usage, energy usage or CO2 production.

Nearly five years ago, I looked at what companies like Perfect Day and the Every Company were doing with plant-based and cell-based products for human food products. People were really starting to get excited about it — but I didn’t see anyone really pushing the envelope in terms of new, healthier products for our pets.

I asked myself, “Who would disrupt the pet food industry by transforming it with biotechnology?”

By creating plant-based and cell-based pet food with biotech, we can not only transform pet food to be healthier, sustainable and more cruelty-free, but we can force the industry to change itself. That’s my personal mission, and one I hope other business leaders will join me on.