Paul Shapiro (author)

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Paul Shapiro
Paul-Shapiro-Chicken.jpg
Born (1979-07-03) July 3, 1979 (age 44) [1]
Nationality American
EducationBachelor's degree, Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, George Washington University
Occupation(s)Author and activist
Known forFounding Animal Outlook (formerly Compassion Over Killing)
Relatives Ryan Shapiro (brother)
Awards Animal Rights Hall of Fame (2008) [2]
Website www.paul-shapiro.com

Paul Shapiro (born July 3, 1979) is an American animal welfare writer who authored the 2018 book Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World. [3] [4] He's also the CEO and cofounder of The Better Meat Co. and the host of the Business for Good Podcast. He has delivered five TEDx talks relating to sustainable food and animal welfare. [5] [6] Prior to publishing Clean Meat, he was known for being an animal protection advocate, both as the founder of Animal Outlook (formerly Compassion Over Killing) and a Vice President at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). [7]

Contents

Personal life

Shapiro is married to Toni Okamoto, author of The Super Easy Vegan Slow Cooker Cookbook, Plant-Based on a Budget, Plant-Based on a Budget: Quick and Easy, and The Friendly Vegan. [8] [9] [10] The two reside in Sacramento, Calif. with their adopted pit bull Eddie. [11]

Clean Meat

Shapiro's book Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, published by Gallery Books in 2018 is the first book to explore the work of start-ups that are growing animal products without the use of animals. It was named as Washington Post bestseller in the week of January 7, 2018. [12] It was widely reviewed. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

A copy of Clean Meat is the first book to be bound in lab-grown leather. The book, bound in “clean” leather grown by biotech start-up Geltor, [19] was auctioned off on eBay on January 22, 2018 for $12,790. [20] [21] [22] Gallery Books is releasing an updated paperback edition of Clean Meat on April 9, 2024. [23]

The Better Meat Co.

Shapiro co-founded The Better Meat Co. in early 2018 and serves as its CEO. The company's goal is to help meat producers improve sustainability by blending in the start-up's plant-based proteins in their ground meat products. [24] In 2019. Perdue partnered with The Better Meat Co. and started using The Better Meat Co.’s plant-based formula in its blended line of chicken tenders, nuggets, and patties called Perdue Chicken Plus. [25]

In 2021, Hormel Foods Corporation announced a partnership with The Better Meat Co. in which the food company will develop alternative meat products using the start-up's fermented mycoproteins. [26]

In 2023, Maple Leaf Foods announced a similar partnership with The Better Meat Co. relating to its mycoprotein ingredient. [27]

In 2023, the Sacramento Business Journal named Shapiro one the “most admired CEOs” in the region [28]

Business for Good Podcast

Shapiro co-founded the Business for Good Podcast in 2018 and has been its host for six seasons.The show features businesses seeking to use commerce to address social and environmental problems such as climate change, deforestation, animal cruelty, and public health. [29]

TEDx Talks

Shapiro is a TEDx speaker, [30] giving talks on a number of topics, including:

Compassion Over Killing

When he was thirteen years old, Shapiro stopped eating meat as a result of learning about the methods of meat production. About one month later, he stopped eating eggs and dairy. [31]

While a high school student at Georgetown Day School [32] in 1995, Shapiro founded the animal advocacy organization Compassion Over Killing, and served as an undercover investigator and its campaigns director until 2005. [33] Compassion Over Killing became well known for its investigative work exposing conditions for farm animals on factory farms, at livestock auctions, and at slaughter plants.

Shapiro helped spearhead the campaign to end the use of the "Animal Care Certified" logo on egg cartons in the United States. In that case, the egg industry was labeling eggs from hens confined in battery cages as "Animal Care Certified." [34] After Better Business Bureau rulings, federal petitions, investigations at "Animal Care Certified" egg facilities leading to media exposés, and other efforts, in September 2005, the Federal Trade Commission announced that the logo would be removed from egg cartons nationwide.

Shapiro received a B.A. from George Washington University in 2001, where he majored in peace studies and minored in religion. [35] [36] He taught peace studies at a public high school in Washington, D.C. [37] He was profiled in a 2003 Washington Post Style section article entitled "Animal Pragmatism: Compassion Over Killing Wants to Make the Anti-Meat Message a Little More Palatable". [32]

Humane Society of the United States

From 2005 through 2016, Shapiro led many of HSUS's efforts to protect farm animals, including serving as Vice President of the organization's Farm Animal Protection campaign, including efforts to convince retailers, food service providers, and universities to end their use of eggs from battery-caged birds, pork from gestation-stalled pigs, and to expand their vegan options. [38] Additionally, the Farm Animal Protection campaign played a significant role in helping enact Proposition 2 in California, a 2008 ballot initiative that phases out veal crates, battery cages, and gestation crates in the nation's largest agricultural state. [39] The campaign was also central in Proposition 204, a successful 2006 Arizona ballot initiative that phases out gestation crates and veal crates, as well as Question 3, a 2016 similar Massachusetts ballot initiative. It has also helped pass laws to phase out gestation crates and other agricultural confinement practices in numerous other states.

n September 2016, female employees at HSUS filed a complaint with HSUS human resources representatives over a pattern of inappropriate sexual behaviour they had witnessed over the preceding six years. [40] A month later Shapiro moved to a different department to "advance HSUS' broader agenda." [40] It was reported that Shapiro left HSUS for unrelated reasons in 2018. [41] In a written statement to POLITICO , Shapiro commented, "I’ve taken responsibility for inappropriate behavior years earlier in my career, and apologized to those who may have been offended". [40]

Selected publications

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Paul Shapiro - Facebook - About". Facebook . Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame". Animal Rights National Conference. Farm Animal Rights Movement. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  3. ↑ Paul Shapiro (January 2, 2018). Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World. Gallery Books. ISBN   978-1-5011-8910-4.
  4. ↑ "Plant-based 'dairy' products aren't new. Neither is the U.S. dairy industry's hostility". Washington Post. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  5. ↑ Shapiro, Paul (December 12, 2017). "We Are Better than How We Treat Animals" . Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ Shapiro, Paul (January 3, 2018). "Clean meat: the clean energy of food | Paul Shapiro | TEDxSouthLakeTahoe" . Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Paul Shapiro". Humane Society of the United States. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ "Toni Okamoto wants to teach you how to live a 'plant-based' life". NBC News . August 14, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Toni Okamoto wants to teach you how to live a 'plant-based' life". NBC News. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  10. ↑ "The Friendly Vegan Cookbook: 100 Essential Recipes to S…". Goodreads. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  11. ↑ Evelyn, Kenya (March 30, 2020). "Shuttering of animal shelters prompts surge in pet fostering amid pandemic". the Guardian. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Washington bestsellers: Hardcover nonfiction". Washington Post. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Scully, Matthew (January 5, 2018). "Review: 'Clean Meat' Could Make Livestock Obsolete". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 23, 2018– via www.wsj.com.
  14. ↑ King, Barbara J. (January 2, 2018). "Clean Meat, Via Lab, Is On The Way". NPR. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Clean Meat Will Revolutionize Our Meals and the Entire World". Psychology Today. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  16. ↑ Beres, Derek (November 28, 2017). "Lab-Grown "Clean Meat" is Almost Here. Will You Eat It?" . Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Meat, Without All of the Blood and Guts". November 6, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  18. ↑ "CLEAN MEAT by Paul Shapiro - Kirkus Reviews" . Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Home - Geltor - Conscious Biodesign for Advanced Proteins".
  20. ↑ "World's First-Ever Book Bound in Real Leather -- Grown Without a Cow - eBay". eBay. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  21. ↑ McKinnon, Mika. "This Book Is Bound in Lab-Grown Jellyfish Leather" . Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  22. ↑ "World's First-Ever Clean Leather-Bound Book!". January 16, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  23. ↑ Shapiro, Paul; Harari, Yuval Noah (April 9, 2024). Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World (Reprint ed.). New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi: Gallery Books. ISBN   978-1-5011-8909-8.
  24. ↑ "The Meat co". August 22, 2018.
  25. ↑ "Perdue gets into plant-based food with blended Chicken Plus line". Food Dive. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  26. ↑ "Hormel Foods to Partner with The Better Meat Co. for Food Forward Alternative Protein". Hormel Foods. October 6, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  27. ↑ Coyne, Andy (January 4, 2023). "Maple Leaf targets alt-meat growth via tie-up with The Better Meat Co". Just Food. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  28. ↑ Oxford, Lindsay. "Introducing this year's Most Admired CEOs". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Paul Shapiro - Author of "Clean Meat" and Co- Founder of The Better Meat Co". ideamensch.com. July 28, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  30. ↑ "paul shapiro | Search Results | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  31. ↑ Shapiro, Paul (2003). "Paul Shapiro - A VegFamily Interview" (Interview). Interviewed by Doh Driver. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2012. I stopped eating meat at 13, and then quit eggs and dairy about one month later, after learning more about the cruelties involved in all sectors of animal agribusiness.
  32. 1 2 Montgomery, David (September 8, 2003). "Animal Pragmatism: Compassion Over Killing Wants to Make the Anti-Meat Message a Little More Palatable". The Washington Post . p. C01. Archived from the original on December 3, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  33. ↑ Becker, Elizabeth (December 4, 2002). "Advocates for Animals Turn Attention to Chickens". The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2012. ... Paul Shapiro, the 23-year-old founder and leader of Compassion Over Killing ...
  34. ↑ Barrionuevo, Alexei (October 4, 2005). "Egg Producers Relent on Industry Seal". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  35. ↑ Lin, Doris. "Biography of Paul Shapiro, Guest Author". About.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013. Shapiro received a bachelor's degree in peace studies from George Washington University.
  36. ↑ Huffman, J. Ford (March 26, 2014). "Building a More Humane Society". GW Magazine. George Washington University. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014. My voice is basically trying to halt the war we wage on animals. Most farm animals are tormented their entire lives.
  37. ↑ Rhoads, Anai (June 2003). "D.C. Organisation Educates Public on Hen Abuses". Athens, New York: All-Creatures.org. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2013. Paul Shapiro holds a bachelor's degree in peace studies from George Washington University and once taught peace studies at a public D.C. high school.
  38. ↑ Rafferty, Steve (January 19, 2011). "University Dining Services Halts Use of Caged Eggs". The Hoya . Georgetown University. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2013. We starting working with some of the students in June of 2005
  39. ↑ Shapiro, Paul (2008). "Making History for Animals: YES! on Prop 2". About.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013. When passed, Prop 2 will phase out some of the most extreme confinement systems we force upon farm animals, including battery cages for laying hens, veal crates for calves, and gestation crates for breeding pigs.
  40. 1 2 3 "Female Employees Allege Culture of Sexual Harassment at Humane Society". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle resigns amid sexual misconduct investigation". ABC7 News. February 2, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  42. ↑ "Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture". routledge.com.
  43. ↑ Shields, Sara; Shapiro, Paul; Rowan, Andrew (May 1, 2017). "A Decade of Progress toward Ending the Intensive Confinement of Farm Animals in the United States". Farm Animal Welfare Collection.
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