Meat of the Future - Association for Women in Science
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feature
pioneers in food science
These Women Are Making the Plant-Based
Meat of the Future >
Kimberlie Le, CEO and Laura Kliman, Senior Food Scientist, Cynthia Betterson, Innovator at
Co-founder, Prime Roots Impossible Foods Everything Legendary
Reprinted with permission from LIVEKINDLY | livekindly.com
By Kat Smith, guest writer
I
n December 1903, physicist and computer in the 1940s and made her a of women and men in the field.
chemist Marie Curie became the figurehead for women in technology. According to data from the National
first woman in history to earn a West Virginia-born mathematician Science Board, women make up just
Nobel Prize, for her breakthrough Katherine G. Johnson’s work was 28 percent of the STEM field. Breaking
research in radioactivity. Augusta critical to the first U.S.-crewed that down even further, white women
Ada King, the daughter of poet Lord spaceflights and has been recognized hold the majority of those jobs.
Byron and better known as Ada as one of the first African-American
Lovelace, is referred to as “the first women to work for NASA. The American Association of University
computer programmer.” The British Women points to a few reasons why this
mathematician’s translation and These are just a few examples; women may be the case. The belief that men
personal notes on Charles Babbage’s have long been pioneers in the field of are innately superior at understanding
Analytical Engine—a prototype for science, technology, engineering, and math and science remains persistent.
a mechanical computer—inspired mathematics (STEM). But, there’s still This feeds into another reason, which is
Alan Turing’s work on the first modern a huge disparity between the number that many people still believe that girls
32 association for women in science
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pioneers in food science
Women are leading innovators in the food tech space. | Impossible Foods
are “just not that interested” in science Women in Food Tech The more diversity we see in the food
and math. Shelley Correll, a professor Food technology is a fast-growing tech space—particularly in positions
of sociology at Stanford University, field that’s increasingly being of leadership and job creation—
has extensively studied and spoken recognized for its potential to address directly leads to more representation
on how these beliefs are linked to the a wide range of global issues, ranging overall.
underrepresentation of women in STEM. from the climate crisis to food
insecurity. Like many other STEM Across the broad scope of food tech—
The third reason is linked to issues industries, it’s largely dominated from cell-based meat innovations
in the workplace. Women are more by white men. But, as with much of to developing plant-based protein
likely to encounter the “motherhood history, women are leading innovators to bioengineering—women are
penalty”—being less likely to be hired in the space. influencing the future of food. And
if they are married with children. And they all deserve their moment in the
implicit biases such as viewing STEM And the representation of women in spotlight. This is our first in a series on
fields as traditionally “masculine,” tech is growing. A reason why we’re women in food tech.
continue to hinder women. Sexism seeing more women starting food
that’s so ingrained in our culture that tech companies, investing in food LIVEKINDLY spoke with three women
the white cis heterosexual patriarchy technology, innovating with plant- from the field of food science about
may fail to realize is there. A 2020 recent based proteins, launching brands, and their love for innovation and their
study from New York University found researching better science to make journey to their careers.
that men are more likely to be seen as us all healthier comes down to one
“brilliant,” which is likely to hold women factor: representation.
back from certain career choices.
awis magazine • summer 2021 33
feature
pioneers in food science
>
“I think the stat that really
woke me up was how animal
agriculture accounts for more
greenhouse gas emissions
than all transportation
combined,” Le says.
Prime Roots
Kimberlie Le, CEO and Co-founder, the environmental impact of animal sake, and soybeans and wheat into
Prime Roots agriculture until she began studying soy sauce.
Kimberlie Le is the CEO and co- microbiology at the University of
founder of Prime Roots, a Bay Area, California, Berkeley. “I think the stat Le’s first memories of koji go back
California-based company that makes that really woke me up was how to when she was just five-years-old,
plant-based proteins like bacon, beef, animal agriculture accounts for more helping her mother ferment rice wine
and chicken. greenhouse gas emissions than all and other rice products. So, koji had
transportation combined,” she says. always been familiar to her, and when
The daughter of two restaurateurs, Le Le began thinking about how she
tells LIVEKINDLY that she has had a So, Le began looking for more sustain- could recreate foods people love, it
connection to food since a very young able alternatives to meat and found quickly moved to the forefront.
age. “Some of my earliest memories the number of direct replacements to
are just me sitting next to boxes of the foods she loved the most, such as Koji naturally grows into long, stringy
produce and boxes of food that were bacon. Like many people in the world, fibers that resemble the strands of
bigger than me,” she says. Le didn’t grow up vegan or vegetar- muscle fiber in meat, like chicken
ian—the meals she and her family breast. When it’s used to make miso,
Having such a close relationship with enjoyed put meat at the center of the koji is placed on the soybeans. Over
the restaurant industry also gave her plate. Getting people to eat less meat time, it transforms the soybeans into
an appreciation of food. She learned would mean taking matters into her an umami-rich paste.
how to chop food from her mother, a own hands.“And so I just wanted to
chef, and was always “very intimately make things for myself,” says Le. Prime Roots feeds the koji nutrients
involved in the creation of food.” (mostly simple sugars) so that it
Le found her answer in koji, a fungi grows into fibers, “and then we can
Le learned about where food came that has been used in Japanese take those fibers and turn them into
from as her family interacted directly cuisine for thousands of years to everything from bacon to seafood to
with farmers. But, she didn’t realize ferment soybeans into miso, rice into chicken,” Le explains.
34 association for women in science
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pioneers in food science
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pioneers in food science
Everything Legendary
<
“This is exciting
work for me
and creates
something
exceptional for
consumers.”
says Cynthia
Betterson of
Everything
Legendary.
as a pastry chef and starting her own conventional meat, companies that “It has always captivated me that
catering company. In 2016, she read produce plant-based food have the chemistry is literally everywhere, and
an article about Impossible Foods on ability to upgrade and improve their humans have experimented with
NPR. “It was the perfect combination recipes. different ways of preparing foods
of the three things I loved most: since we first came into existence.
chemistry, sustainability, and cooking,” “So we continue to innovate and Now we have the ability to understand
she says. She began working for the come out with brand new products those experiments at the molecular
company that year. and improved versions of our current level, and use that knowledge to
products,” she says. make delicious foods that will save the
“I had been focused on solving planet!”
problems related to energy, when “We not only have the ability to
actually the most energy-intensive understand the specific chemical Cynthia Betterson, Innovator at
and inefficient technology humans reactions that are going on when we Everything Legendary
use today is producing food from cook food—we can also uncover what Cynthia Betterson’s love for science
animals,” Kliman explains. the most important flavor compounds started curiosity and a love for
are for the best sensory experience. problem-solving.
At Impossible Foods, Kliman has led Then we can modify our products
the R&D teams that developed the in order to select for those delicious “Growing up my mother was
2.0 version of the company’s flagship flavors, or remove an undesirable extraordinarily healthy for the time,”
product, the Impossible Burger, as well flavor,” Kliman explains. Betterson tells LIVEKINDLY. Her
as the development of the Impossible household was stocked with fruits and
Sausage that’s now available in a Applying this same strategy, Kliman vegetables but processed snacks, not
Starbucks breakfast sandwich. says that you could even create meat so much. Soda, except for a very rare
that tastes better than anything we occasion, was right out, but it’s the
Kliman has also worked on what have tasted from animals. sweet, bubbly beverage that sparked
are called “product extensions, like Betterson’s fascination with how food
developing the specific format for is made.
the patties we sell in retail.” Unlike
36 association for women in science
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pioneers in food science
“[My mother] would split an 8 ounce
>
“I wasn’t interested in the Cuban on ABC’s Shark Tank, who
can amongst me and my 5 siblings,” remarked on the flavor and texture.
Betterson reminisces. “I recall on culinary aspect of foods
one occasion, she gave us 7 Up. My “Everything Legendary is coloring
portion was just a little more than an but the scientific one. I was outside of the lines, they are charting
ounce, but when I drank it, my mind curious how the bubbles their own path to something
went wild!” extraordinary,” says Betterson.
were formed in the soda.
It was in that moment that Betterson She adds that she loves the fast-paced
told herself that she needed to learn I was interested in how nature of working for a small company
to make soda herself. And so, she (“The approval process includes no
followed her curiosity into the kitchen:
a clear beverage that more than five individuals.”)
“I wasn’t interested in the culinary resembled water could
aspect of foods but the scientific one. And better, yet, she gets to see her
I was curious how the bubbles were taste so delicious. I was impact firsthand, and she loves the
formed in the soda. I was interested in challenges that come with working for
how a clear beverage that resembled curious how they got the the maverick startup.
water could taste so delicious. I was
cream inside of the middle
curious how they got the cream “The company is made up of
inside of the middle of the Twinkie. of the Twinkie. individuals who are not from the food
Questions like this hit me all of the industry, a group of young millennials
time and I would go into the kitchen who are saying let’s change the
as a young child 7 and 8 years old products to market. Her connections world. Everything Legendary team is
and conduct experiments, trying to eventually led her to a job posting at unaware of the ‘how things are done’
recreate these things. Always failing Everything Legendary. in the food industry. This creates a
miserably but never quitting.” blank slate that challenges me as a
“Chef Jumoke [Jackson] reached out food industry veteran to push the
In high school, Betterson excelled to his LinkedIn network in search of boundaries of our work in an effort to
at math and science, leading her to a food scientist,” she says. The Largo, make new and great things.” =
architectural engineering. But it wasn’t Maryland-based startup had created
quite what she was looking for and a plant-based burger made from soy, Kat Smith is the managing editor of
so she paid a visit to her University of but it sought to convert it to a pea- LIVEKINDLY and writes about sustainable
Minnesota college advisor. “I told her based version. food, fashion, and food technology. They
that I wanted to wear a white lab coat, have a BA in Cinema and Culture Studies
have a clipboard, and see food moving “Chef had the culinary angle nailed, from Stony Brook University.
across a conveyor belt. She advised but needed a solve for the texture
me that I wanted to be a food scientist issues that come with a pea-based
and I promptly changed my major.” burger. He went to college with my
cousin and when she saw his request,
Betterson’s resume includes 25 years she pointed him in my direction,” says
of working for some of the world’s Betterson. The brand’s pea-based
top food brands—The Kraft Heinz burger is already on the market—and
Company, ConAgra, the Campbell it helped the scrappy startup nab
Soup Company, and Perdue Farms—, a $300,000 investment from Mark
where she brought innovative new
awis magazine • summer 2021 37You can also read
