left: photo by bryan watt
Let’s Fix This
Close the Energy Loop In 2018, voters in Portland made history by overwhelmingly passing the Portland Clean Energy Fund, which generates approximately $50 million a year for projects focused on clean energy, energy efficiency, and climate justice. The funding comes from a 1% surcharge on corporations that generate more than $1 billion in revenue. One of the chief petitioners for the fund was Adriana Voss-Andreae ’94, a longtime leader in Portland’s climate movement. She’s a cofounder and longtime chair of 350PDX, the local affiliate of 350.org.
Meat without Animals
Kinari Webb plants mangrove trees as part of a restoration project on the beach in Sukadana.
The Rain Forest Needs People As a junior at Reed, Kinari Webb ’95 trekked through the swamps of Borneo to study orangutans—and soon discovered that the vitality of the rain forest depends on the people who live in it. Villagers often cut down rare hardwood trees to pay for expensive and substandard health care. She shifted gears, became a doctor, and returned to the rain forest to start Health in Harmony, a nonprofit
24 Reed Magazine march 2021
dedicated to the notion that human and environmental health are essentially connected. Today HIH supports a medical center that treats thousands of patients every year and promotes the health of the forest through organic farming, chainsaw buybacks, and goats. The organization has grown to 100+ staff, impacted the lives of countless people, and protected thousands of acres from deforestation.
Biochemist Ron Shigeta ’86 is an entrepreneur in the future of food. He has worked on several biotech startups that focus on meatless proteins such as plant-based seafood, eggs without chicken, and even vegan dog food. (The secret ingredient? Yeast.) But his latest project may be the most radical idea yet: cell-based meat. That is to say, meat cultured from animal cells, rather than butchery. Raising and slaughtering animals is a notoriously wasteful way to produce protein and a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and soil degradation. Ron is convinced that new technology will make cell-based meat a realistic alternative. “Make no mistake,” he says. “Animal free, labgrown, cultured meat is coming sooner than you think.”
