[app_audio src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/smartpeoplepodcast/Episode_114_-_Josh_Tetrick.mp3″]

Josh Tetrick – A social entrepreneur who is solving our industrial farming problem one egg at a time! Josh is the CEO of Hampton Creek Foods, an amazing company that is creating better for you egg-like products using plant based ingredients.  These products are more healthful, sustainable, and humane – it’s a win, win, win!

Did you know that humans consume over 1 TRILLION eggs per year? How is that even possible? We have 7 billion people on the planet, which means that the average person eats over 140 eggs per year.  I know – I was shocked when I learned that too.  Sure, many people enjoy a nice omelet or scrambled egg every once in a while, but no way we can be eating that many eggs right? But when you think about it, eggs are in everything! They are in mayonnaise and cakes, ice cream and pasta, soups and bread….and pretty much anything else you can think of!

As you can imagine, this “egg dependency” really creates a problem and places a heavy burden on chicken farmers.  To keep up with demand, farmers have to use inhumane and unsafe methods to meet their egg requirement.  The hens spends their life stuff into tiny cages, unable to spread their wings, covered in their own feces, stuffed with antibiotics, never seeing the light of day.  And in the end, the thing we are eating EVERY DAY is merely a product of that crowded, dirty, diseased hens ovulation cycle.  There HAS to be a better way. This is the problem that Josh Tetrick saw, and he decided he could fix it.

Josh is the CEO of Hampton Creek Foods (HCF).  HCF has set out to lower the number of eggs consumed in the world by creating a plant based egg alternative.  Although at first this idea sounds far out there – in reality it’s no more crazy then our unbelievable reliance on eggs.  In fact, I would make the argument that it’s more normal for us to eat plants than it is to eat eggs in the first place.  Tune in this week to learn more about how HCF is using modern science to substitute plants for eggs in everything from mayonnaise to cookie dough and more.  For a fantastic visual demonstration of what Hampton Creek Foods is creating, be sure to see Josh’s amazing TedX talk below.

Josh has been involved with a variety of social causes that include a United Nations initiative in Kenya and teaching street children in multiple African countries as a Fulbright Scholar.  He earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

Interested in episodes on health and nutrition? We recommend Episode #1, #8, #61, #84,and #91!

Twitter info:
@joshtetrick
@hcfoods

—

This episode is brought to you by Terminology. Terminology is an app for anyone who loves words. A Universal app for iPad and iPhone, Terminology is part dictionary, part thesaurus, and part research tool. 

• Built from the ground up for iOS 7.
• Concise definitions and deep word relationships, like more and less specific words.
• Extensible through custom actions that let you easily browse your search on Wikipedia, Google or almost any other website.
• Store favorites and word history, with Dropbox backup.
• Universal iPad & iPhone app with iCloud sync.
• $2.99 on the App Store.