New Harvest is 20 Years Old! And We're Sharing Our New Strategic Plan

Twenty years ago, at exactly 4:57pm ET to the date, New Harvest was born.

Jason Matheny and Vladimir Mironov were the founding directors of the first organization of its kind: a nonprofit focused on “advancing technologies for the production of in vitro cultured meat (meat that is produced in a cell culture, rather than an animal) so as to provide a healthier, less polluting, and more humane food source.”

Since then so much has changed: So many other organizations, companies, and institutions have spelled out similar goals, so much funding has been directed to this cause and so many people have focused their careers on it.

And who says “in vitro” anymore?

But so much remains the same: we are still years away from realizing these advanced technologies and their benefits for the world.

Celebrate 20 Years of Progress: Donate Today!

If you were lucky enough to catch my live recording of the Cultured Meat & Future Food Podcast with Alex Shirazi this morning, you will have heard my hopes and concerns for the years ahead. Concerns of a “tragedy of the anti-commons” and loss of mission in cellular agriculture. And hope that we, collectively, can do something about it.

Today, we’re sharing our new strategic plan with you.

It outlines where we’re coming from, the way we see the cell ag world today, and how we’re going to address threats and leverage opportunities as New Harvest, the 20-year-old non-profit, to advance cellular agriculture for the public good.

Here’s what’s different: We’re sharing this plan to seek your input.

Read & Review Our Strategic Plan

As a practitioner in the field, as a donor to this organization, and as a fan, first adopter, or future-eater of cellular agriculture products you are all invested in our shared success.

Let us know what you think. Did we miss the mark on how we perceive the field today? Are there gaps in our analysis of the threats and opportunities? What did we get wrong? And what did we get right?

The crux of the plan is sharing where we want to be as an org. We’re small but mighty, and we feel after years of consistency, trust-building, and targeted approaches to ecosystem building, we’re in a great position to focus on facilitative leadership: the kind of leadership that maximizes the intelligence of a community towards collective action for the public good.

Take a look at our draft plan here and let me know what you think – good, bad, all of it. Add public comments directly to the doc, or just shoot me an email at isha@new-harvest.org with your thoughts.

Happy Birthday NH! Make a gift.

And if you’re feeling celebratory, please give New Harvest a gift!

As a nonprofit, our sustainability is dependent upon the strength of our family of supporters.

We can’t make it to the next milestone without you. We’d be so grateful if you would consider making a birthday gift of any size.

Cheers to all of your for getting us to 20 years. The journey isn’t over until our collective mission is achieved.