Our Story
New Harvest began as a vision of a world where animals need not be farmed for food.
Founded by Jason Matheny in 2004, the original stated purpose of the organization was “to advance technologies for the production of in vitro cultured meat so as to provide a healthier, less polluting, and more humane food source”.
For ten years, without any staff, New Harvest was powered exclusively by a grassroots community of individual donors and volunteers from around the world.
Thanks to the support of these individuals, the New Harvest community was able to onboard an Executive Director in January 2013, New Harvest’s first employee.
The ~300 visionary individuals at our first ever New Harvest conference, 2016 in San Francisco. Many have gone on to become pioneering entrepreneurs, scientists, and investors in the field.
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe.”
— Carl Sagan
The ~300 pioneering individuals at our last ever New Harvest Conference, 2022 in New York City. The theme, “Elephant in the Room” tackled neglected topics and criticisms of cellular agriculture’s development.
Realizing that “in vitro meat” was a massive technological feat beyond what one laboratory, one company, or one university could accomplish, the scope of the organization was broadened.
Inspired by Carl Sagan, if we wished to make cultured meat from scratch, we must first invent the universe where cultured meat exists.
That meant empowering the people who would need to come together to make this happen: scientists, entrepreneurs, funders, policymakers, moving toward a shared goal. Biotechnology as a movement.
From our humble roots, we’ve built a new field of science spanning sectors, regions, and disciplines: cellular agriculture.
Our impact has been tremendous.
As this field continues to take on a life of its own, within it, we have built an approach to keep the mission of cellular agriculture alive.
We defined a purpose for New Harvest: Cellular Agriculture for the Public Good.
“When the goal is to create something that is beneficial for the world, rather than beneficial for the market, everything gets reconsidered. [...]
Practicing philanthropy as a vision, not an intervention, means we question every rule, examine every outcome and discard any process that no longer serves our core [purpose].”
— 50 Shades of Green. (2019). This short book was written by employees and grantees (including New Harvest) of the Shuttleworth Foundation.