I am thrilled to have Josh Balk on my blog. He is the director of food policy for the Humane Society of the United States farm animal division. He also co-founded Hampton Creek, a food company which produces 100% plant-based food products, including Just Mayo and Just Cookies. The company is backed by Bill Gates and other prominent investors.
I sat down for a private conversation with Josh, who was warm, kind and completely genuine—a trait I often find in plant-powered movers and shakers!
Tell me what you’re up to.
I’ve been working with corporations to eliminate the worst factory farm practices, such as veal crates and battery cages. I’m also working with companies to get more vegetarian options on the menu.
As an example of our progress, we’ve gotten nearly every major food company to eliminate gestation crates within their supply chain. We’ve banned gestation crates in 9 states. We were close to number ten but Governor Christie vetoed a bill in New Jersey that would’ve banned gestation crates in spite of the fact that more than 90% of state’s Republicans and Democrats supported the bill.
It’s pretty clear he did this because he has plans for the presidency. The Iowa governor has been lobbying Christie to veto the bill as did the pork industry’s trade association based in Iowa. While vetoing animal cruelty bills is never a good thing, Christie’s action was somewhat a blessing. His action got more media attention on gestation crates that perhaps any time in history. It’s been on John Stewart for two different segments, and CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, LA Times, and countless other outlets. It’s been a PR backfire for the pork industry.
With all of the opposition toward gestation crates from customers and retailers, that practice is clearly on its last leg.
What is your take on the current trends in plant-based eating?
Here’s what the statistics say: While the number of vegetarians and vegans hasn’t risen considerably, the number of people who regard themselves as flexitarian, or follow Meatless Monday has gone up significantly. The number of animals raised and killed for food was going up and up after World War II, but in 2007 it started going down and down. Millions of people are continuing to go down the path to eating more plant-based food. That’s a good sign.
I’ve been a vegan since 2002, and the grocery store section for plant-based items looks dramatically different now. We’re finding these plant-based meat options at more grocery stores than ever before. We’re seeing all these restaurant chains adding more veggie options, such as Chipotle Grill’s Sofritas and White Castle’s veggie burger.
What do you think is influencing people to eat more plant-based?
I read a book called Veganomics, which goes over data on why people reduce meat consumption or become vegetarian or vegan. According to this book and other studies, most of this movement comes down to health. There’s a smaller percentage of people doing it for animal reasons, and fewer people doing it for environmental reasons.
These days there’s a lot more media about plant-based eating. President Clinton is lobbying Americans to eat more plants and VIPs are investing in plant-based companies. Bill Gates, Peter Thiel (co-founder of Paypal), Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google), Jerry Yang (co-founder of Yahoo), and other influential people are all investors in these businesses and it shows that smart people are in this for reasons even beyond animals. It’s the direction we are going as a society.
There are three reasons that these influential people are investing in plant-based food companies: 1) They believe this is the way to feed a growing population because it’s more efficient to eat plants directly than to feed plants to animals. 2) They are concerned about the greenhouse gas emissions that come from animal agriculture. 3) They are fans of innovation. The meat and ag sectors are such archaic industries. These influencers believe innovation is key, which is why they invest in all of these plant-based companies; it’s the same reason why they create hybrid technologies for cars and spaceships that go to Mars. It’s the future.
What do you believe is the most harmful animal agriculture practice today?
The greatest suffering in animal agriculture has to do with chickens who are raised for meat. They are genetically selected to grow so quickly they’re full size at about 42 days. Essentially, all our chicken meat comes from baby chickens. By the end of their life, they have been in constant pain from growing so fast; they have heart and lung problems and their legs can’t carry their bodies. They’re forced to sit in their own waste for the last part of their lives, are unable to get up because they are too big, and they get burns on their skin from the ammonia.
Aside from the animal welfare problems of their rapid growth, they live in giant warehouses where most of what they do is eat and sleep. When they’re sent for “processing”—as the industry says—they’re packed into cages and transported to the slaughterhouse for their gruesome final moments. Because chickens are excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act the industry is permitted to shackle these birds while fully conscious.
The life and death of chickens is the worst part of animal agriculture from a suffering and numbers standpoint. The size of the animal means that more of them have to be raised to produce the same amount of meat as larger farm animals. As an example, one cow might feed a family of four for a month. But one chicken might feed a family for one meal.
Within the egg industry, most chickens are confined in cages so small they’re unable to spread their wings. Each bird is given less space than an iPad to live for her entire life.
To reduce suffering, we can work with consumers to move away from eating as many chickens and their products we currently do. With global chicken intake rising we’re in an important moment in human history to slow down and reverse this trend.
Meatless Monday offers reasonable steps most of us can take that would make a big impact for animals, and it allows a transition in a way that’s sustainable. I get a lot of hope from everyday people like my dad in Pennsylvania who used to eat meat at every meal, but he is choosing more plant-based options, and he finds them delicious and feels better for it. You can find any grocery store in the country that sells soy or almond milk, and there are lots of plant-based meats, like veggie burgers, sausages, and hot dogs out there. And of course tons of delicious fruits and veggies that we need to eat more of.
I think it’s a lot easier today to eat more humanely and healthier. Most people don’t want to eat unhealthy foods or contribute to environmental or inhumane conditions. When people align their ethics and values with food choices we’ll be in good shape. We can help by making those choices the easy thing to do.
Does choosing humanely raised animal products make a difference?
It’s important we’re always honest. Moving animals out of cages is definitely a good step in the right direction. But even then animals are still dehorned, their tails are cut off without anesthetic, beaks are cut off, and other inhumane amputations are forced upon them.
I think we should all favor steps that improve conditions for animals. As an example, we’re moving the egg industry to cage-free conditions where animals are not in cages, and have areas to peck, scratch, nest, and can run around. Those are important behaviors chickens can do in cage-free systems, though sadly most of these birds do not have outdoor access and their flock size is too large. We think it’s necessary to make good steps in the right direction while being honest that improvement can always be made.
Even if you have broiler chickens who are given outdoor access in a beautiful farm in Nebraska, that genetic breed is the exact same as on a factory farm. Even though they won’t be confined, they’ll suffer the same type of problems associated with fast growth. That doesn’t change.
For consumers, unless you visit the farm, you don’t know how the animals are raised. And we still have to keep in mind that when we go to restaurants and grocery stores, most of the animal products served come from factory farms.
While the U.S. is taking lots of strides regarding farm animal welfare, it’s getting worse in other countries. India, with such a rich vegetarian tradition, is eating more meat, eggs, and dairy. China is doing the same thing. We always want people to move out of poverty, but we have to be careful that it doesn’t lead to increased factory farming.
Humane Society International is helping food ethics align with societies as they grow past poverty. They have a campaign in India to help consumers stay vegetarian as they earn more income.
I’ve visited China several times and conditions there are pretty bad for animals. There’s not a very strong viewpoint that animal welfare is a serious concern, but they are open to plant-based meats, perhaps even more so than Americans. Meat-eating is on the rise in China, but they do have a strong tradition of eating plant-based foods such as tofu as part of their diet. In American, tofu is usually geared to vegetarians or vegans. In China, there’s hope because mainstream society is very open to these foods.
Hampton Creek has been doing so well. Tell us about it!
Yes, Hampton Creek just launched a new product, Just Cookie Dough, in Southern California Whole Foods locations. People like to eat their cookie dough raw, and now you can do it safely because it doesn’t have eggs! Just Mayo is available at nearly every major retailer in the country, and even in Hong Kong, and soon in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Just Cookies is available through Compass Group, which has been shifting their cookies over to Hampton Creek.
I was inspired to start Hampton Creek because of what I learned working at the Humane Society since 2005 and working with large food corporations. It’s been clear that food companies are not for battery cages and veal crates, or any cruelty to animals. They are made of good people and when they see animals in these conditions they’re not happy, and they don’t want to be a part of it.
Big food companies are totally on board to switching to cage free, but because of budgetary reasons they may only able to switch a small percentage of eggs. We have a food industry made of people who don’t support a practice but feel forced to because the system is so inexpensive. And the functionality of ingredients must also be maintained, so they just continue to buy the old product.
With plant-based foods, they have to ask the same questions. Does it have the same taste, texture, functionality, and cost? If it does people will buy it. So, I approached my good friend with an idea to create Hampton Creek, and we went forward with it.
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