My first attempt went pretty poorly but I'm not giving up yet. I'm making some adjustments and will try again in 2026. 

This is great news and good timing! A few days ago I was wondering what your org was up to.

I'm afraid I'm quite unqualified to do this screw worm research myself but please let me know if there's any other way I can support this effort

Sounds great! Do you plan to release an audiobook of this?

Thanks! I genuinely appreciate that and will keep you posted.

This is an incredible first post! Thanks so much for sharing!

Would you mind shedding some light on why The New Roots Institute wasn't recommended this year?

Thanks so much for your time and consideration. And I'm very happy to hear this:

"Regarding your first question about whether alternative protein products are ready for large-scale production, we believe the answer is yes" 

And the other good news you shared about the European market. Btw I asked ChatGPT 5 to factcheck your guide "on plant-based foods and health" and it concluded it was "very accurate overall" :) Source: https://chatgpt.com/s/t_690d22d30ed8819196577cca4f47ab84 

So I dug all this and just wanted to say thanks again! I really appreciate your feedback!

"the general concept of UPFs is nonsense"

I can't argue with that! In case you're interested, GFI Europe "recently partnered with the Physicians Association for Nutrition to publish one of the most comprehensive, evidence-based guides on plant-based foods and health"* and it makes a very strong case that UPFs are overblown when it comes to concerns over plant based meat since that's usually healthier than conventional meat.

*Source: head of GFI Europe: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rGt4PADp65iN6zupG/scale-up-the-neglected-bottleneck-facing-alternative?commentId=AGgZmHLmTZ89KYFa8 

"But I'm also far from an expert on any of this, so on reflection I should have just skipped weighing in on this point at all."

Lol I'm glad you didn't skip it since your writing never fails to brighten my day. And your TED talk was great too btw! Thanks for all your hard work and reading and replying to my comment

I bet you know a lot more about alternative proteins than I do, so are more likely to be right, but are you sure about this?

"We’re at a stage where many alternative protein products are no longer just ideas or early prototypes. They’re ready, or very close to being ready, for large-scale production [!]... continued R&D funding is still necessary; taste and texture must keep improving if these products are to compete with conventional meat But the next phase, building the infrastructure to scale these products, is being neglected."

I also want more funding into scale up (and GFI :) but I'm not convinced that scale up is the main bottleneck and should be the top priority. Here's some examples of  why:

• Lewis Bollard just posted how many consumers are turned off by the "ultra-process"ing of many alternative proteins.
• I remember a few years ago Jacob Peacock posted his analysis of a study where majority of consumers declined alternative proteins even when they cost the same as conventional meats.
• And I bet I could pull up more sad stats with more time but I remember I found this post was also convincing and depressing.

I'd love to be corrected if I'm wrong andI really want to alternative proteins to succeed asap (and will continue to donate to GFI). But that's why I feel the need to be as objective as possible when assessing the challenges.