Ash Kalra — Ash Kalra’s opening remarks for the alternative protein committee hearing: he identifies himself as chair and explains that the committee is meant to inform legislative work and can generate policy bills or budget items. He highlights that this is the first committee of its kind in the nation, reviews California’s $5 million investment in UC alternative protein research and the resulting centers at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and UCLA, and emphasizes the long-term value of student engagement and workforce development. He then notes ongoing consumer-education and sector challenges, explains the public comment process, invites any final remarks before beginning, opens the first panel, references related legislation on plant-based alternatives in public institutions, and checks that witness Megan Jones is ready to testify virtually.
Ash Kalra — Addressed as Chairman Kalra in thanks to the committee leadership.
Ash Kalra — Thanked for leadership and passion on the topic.
Ash Kalra — The speaker expressed appreciation to Ash Kalra twice in the course of the discussion: first for taking the lead on the issue at the state level, and later for chairing the hearing and supporting the committee.
Kayla Rabinovitz — Identified as the chief of staff for Assemblymember Isaac Bryan.
Isaac Bryan — Referenced as a committee member whose chief of staff is present.
Isaac Bryan — Represented by staff who spoke in support of Chair Kalra's leadership.
Scott Wiener — The chair says Senator Scott Wiener will shortly join the hearing.
Pete Angelese — Introduced as Associate Vice Chancellor of Housing and Hospitality at UCLA.
Pete Angelese — He is introduced again as Associate Vice Chancellor of Housing and Hospitality with UCLA and begins his presentation.
Dr. Michelle Wood — Introduced as being with the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Dr. Michelle Wood — Dr. Michelle Wood of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health was introduced as the final panelist and then delivered her testimony to the Assembly Select Committee on Alternative Protein Innovation, thanking the committee for the invitation and concluding her remarks with appreciation while discussing the county’s plant-based food initiative.
Megan Jones — Megan Jones is introduced as a virtual presenter and senior policy advocate for school food policy with Friends of the Earth, then confirms she is on the line and ready to testify. She opens her remarks by identifying herself and explaining that Friends of the Earth is a national nonprofit working for a healthier and more just world. She then describes the organization’s California climate-friendly school food program, which helps K-12 schools shift toward healthy, delicious, plant-forward menus.
Megan Jones — She concludes her testimony, emphasizing policy change, technical support, and the need for multi-pronged strategies for plant-based K-12 menus.
Friends of the Earth — Friends of the Earth describes its California climate-friendly school food program as beginning in 2017 and later expanding from an initial five districts to more than 85 districts statewide, where it now provides plant-based technical assistance, peer-to-peer learning networks, and microgrants.
AB126 — The speaker says AB 126, signed into law earlier this month, could address ultra-processed foods and school meals, including processed meats.
Alvis Spence — Identified as the Director of Nutrition Services, quoted praising the strong demand for plant-based food.
Mark González — Thanked for the opportunity to share the department's work; name appears transcribed as 'Calra' and is questionable.
Jesse Gabriel — Referenced for work to root out ultra-processed foods from schools; name is likely Jesse Gabriel but appears only as 'Gabriel' in transcript.
Dr. Angeles — Asked about cost differences between plant-based foods and traditional options.
T.K. Pillon — T.K. Pillon is introduced and acknowledged as the Senior Advisor at Beyond Meat and former co-founder of Veggie Grill, with the chair referencing him again as the Beyond Meat representative in the same panel introduction.
Daniel Gertner — Daniel Gertner is introduced virtually as the lead economic and industry analyst for the Good Food Institute.
Daniel Gertner — Daniel Gertner introduced himself as the lead economic industry analyst at the Good Food Institute and then explained that the organization is a nonprofit, science-driven think tank, setting up the broader presentation.
Zach Weston — Zach Weston is introduced as a virtual witness and founder of Bioscale Consulting, then introduces himself and explains his work on scaling alternative protein technologies. He argues that financing is a market failure in the alternative protein supply chain, especially for high-CAPEX factories facing uncertain demand, and says government support can be catalytic in these conditions. He highlights transferable production and investment tax credits, loans, loan guarantees, government procurement, and long-lead advance contracts as useful demand- and financing-support tools. He notes that advance procurement is already helping plant-based foods and ingredients and should also extend to fermentation- and cell-culture-based products. He closes by urging the committee to design feasible, whole-value-chain policies and to use traditional economic development incentives to support a robust alternative protein sector.
Mr. West — Thanked for detailed policy recommendations.
Good Food Institute representative — Confirmed presence and readiness to present slides.
Zach — Referenced as having just mentioned several policy ideas that could support the sector.
Zach — Asked to comment further on subsidies affecting the traditional meat industry and plant protein.
Good Food Institute — Praised for leadership in advancing the economic case for alternative protein investment.
T.K. Pillen — T.K. Pillen introduced himself and outlined his career path: he studied engineering and later earned an MBA at UCLA, moved into food-system work after early experience in the dot-com era, co-founded Veggie Grill in 2006, launched PowerPlant Ventures in 2015, invested in more than 20 companies including Beyond Meat, and joined Beyond Meat as a senior advisor in 2020.
Judy Mancuso — Identified as being present and able to speak; affiliated with Social Compassion in Legislation.
Judy Mancuso — Public commenter who thanked Assembly Member Kalra and described her group's legislative work.
Daniel — Asked to comment further on subsidies affecting the traditional meat industry and plant protein.
Beyond Meat — Cited as an example of a company innovating but manufacturing elsewhere.
Upside Foods — Cited as an example of a company innovating but manufacturing elsewhere.
Dr. Amy Rohat — Dr. Amy Rohat gave a continuous overview of UCLA’s alternative food research and workforce-development efforts. She described the growth of the program across multiple departments and schools, its focus on understanding the molecular, cellular, and engineering traits needed to scale future foods, and the importance of food safety, consumer trust, and collaboration with partners such as the Resnick Center and UCLA Dining. She then explained how the team designed a training program through interviews, surveys, and review of existing models, emphasizing three core components: leadership development, communication and community-building, and interdisciplinary mentorship. She highlighted the need for students to work across academia, industry, community, and policy settings, noted the importance of belonging and persistence for trainees, described selecting fellows from different disciplines, and concluded by stressing training from local to global scales and the University of California’s role in research and workforce development for future foods.
Corinne Smith — Introduced as the Future Food Fellow at UCLA.
Corinne Smith — Corinne Smith is introduced as the next witness, and then she begins her testimony by introducing herself as a bioengineering PhD student working on cultivated meat. She explains her background and interest in alternative proteins.
Dr. Janet Tomi Yama — Introduced as a professor in the Department of Psychology at UCLA.
Amy Roet — Introduced herself as a professor of Integrated Biology and Physiology and faculty director at UCLA.
Professor Janet Tomiyama — Professor Janet Tomiyama is introduced as a colleague who will speak further about what drives people's food choices, and she is then referenced again as part of UCLA Dining-supported research efforts. Across the overlapping mentions, the discussion consistently centers on her research and its connection to understanding food-choice behavior.
Professor Michael Roberts — Identified as an expert in regulation of novel foods.
Diana Winters — Identified as an expert in regulation of novel foods.
Jack Bobo — Named as executive director and science communication expert brought in to support the program.
Jack Bobo — Identified as the RFA director and an expert in science communication who worked with the fellows.
Cecee Cohen — Identified as a Future Food Fellow giving a talk at a symposium.
Erica Lars Lopez — Named as one of the fellows present and available to meet later.
Dr. Amy Roetzlam — Named as Corinne's PhD advisor or lab context; spelling is uncertain.
Dr. Janet Tomiyama — Dr. Janet Tomiyama presented research on consumer acceptance of alternative proteins, explaining that many people—including a substantial share of meat eaters—are too disgusted to try cultivated meat. She described testing a naturalness/animal-framing message that reduced disgust compared with a control, especially among meat eaters, whom she identified as the key market. She then shifted to gender norms, noting that meat eating is often seen as masculine and that more gender-conforming men tend to eat more beef, suggesting cultivated meat may appeal to this demographic if framed appropriately. Finally, she discussed terminology research from a representative survey, finding that terms like "plant proteins," "complementary proteins," "cultivated meat," and "cultured meat" were relatively well accepted, while "fake meat" and cell-prefixed terms performed poorly, underscoring the importance of language in shaping consumer acceptance.
Lisa Calderon — The speaker thanked Assembly Member Calderon for the hearing; the transcript says 'Calra,' which appears to be a transcription error.