By Paul Shapiro Five years after its 2011 founding, Impossible Foods had raised hundreds of millions of dollars, was valued by its investors at $800 million, yet was essentially still pre-revenue. Was this all just VC fantasyland, asked The Counter at the time. …

By Paul Shapiro Often when alt-protein advocates make the case that biotech food startups can succeed with products like Perfect Day’s non-animal whey and Clara Foods’ non-animal egg proteins, the widespread displacement of rennet in cheese is Exhibit A. For millennia, calf-based rennet was used to make cheese, and now…

By Paul Shapiro If you were to argue a case before the Supreme Court today, you’d notice something a bit unusual. At your desk, the highest court in the land would have laid out before you pens should you need to write something during the proceedings. What’s unusual about these…

By Paul Shapiro In his riveting new book about the founder of America’s first animal welfare organization, historian Ernest Freeberg does a magnificent job detailing the problems animals faced in 19th- century America and the campaigns of those who crusaded on their behalf. Favorably reviewed already in the Wall Street…

By Paul Shapiro Supply chains for any product can be messy, but it’s hard to imagine one messier than how diabetics before the ’90s got their insulin. …

The below is a reprint of an obituary published on January 2, 2015 by Paul Shapiro, a long-time friend and coworker of author and animal advocate Norm Phelps’. Norm Phelps: 1939–2014 It’s with a heavy heart that I report that one of the best friends animals have had, Norm Phelps…