How to Grow Plant-Based with Michele Simon: The Policy Challenge

michelehead.jpg

Listen Now

Eat For The Planet is available on the following platforms

About Michele Simon

Michele Simon is a public health lawyer who has been researching and writing about the food industry and food politics since 1996. She has written extensively on the politics of food, and her first book,Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back, was published by Nation Books in 2006. 

After years of researching and writing about what’s wrong with the food system, Michele decided to offer her services to food and beverage companies trying to do the right thing. She offers legal advice on federal regulatory compliance for labeling and marketing, among other services. She is also executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association, a trade group representing the nation’s leading plant-based foods companies. She is admitted to practice law in California, working “of counsel” to Handel Food Law. Simon has a master’s degree in public health from Yale University and received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Why You Should Listen

Michele Simon is the executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association. She has a background as a public health lawyer and there are few people who understand the nuances of the challenges and opportunities in the plant-based food space better than she does.

Our conversation today centers around policy issues, which tend to often get ignored in favor of all the positive news around new product releases and investments in the plant-based food world.

We discuss:

  • recent efforts by the meat and dairy industry to keep plant-based products from being labeled as “milk” or “beef.”

  • The upcoming Farm Bill and what are the most pressing issues for the plant-based food industry.

  • How we can all get involved to help strike down harmful food legislation and actively support the growth and expansion of the plant-based food industry.

I hope you find this conversation interesting and extremely informative.

People/Companies/Resources Mentioned in This Episode