{"id":58306,"date":"2026-04-24T06:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/?p=58306"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:18:17","slug":"op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Protein is having a moment with good reason. It is a fundamental building block of life, shaping muscle strength, metabolism, and overall health. Beyond its role in muscle synthesis, proteins give rise to bioactive peptides that are being explored for their potential to influence diverse biological pathways, including those related to satiety and metabolic regulation, such as GLP-1 signaling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the same time, how we produce protein has profound implications for the planet. From agricultural systems to processing methods, protein sits at the intersection of human and ecosystem health. I walked into the 2nd Protein Summit expecting to hear talks and panels centered exactly on this. While health and sustainability were certainly key drivers of the conversation, it kept circling back to something more experiential\u2014taste.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food enterprises have long understood the power of taste. They have cultivated for it in fields and formulas by sometimes sourcing the most delicious ingredients from regenerative farms and sometimes by optimizing for fat, salt, and sugar in ways that drive overconsumption and contribute to poor health outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conversation here felt different. We\u2019re amid a value-based and health-based global protein transition, reshaping what we produce, how we produce it, and how we deliver it at scale for the health of people and planet. Tyler Lorenzen, CEO of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.puris.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Puris<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, stated it clearly: Taste is the on-ramp to healthier habits. As a former NFL player, a target market for performance nutrition, he deeply understands protein foods for muscle synthesis. Yes, leucine may be the key amino acid for muscle growth, but muscles can\u2019t tell where amino acids come from. People, not muscles, choose foods and they choose for taste. More than 80 percent of Americans are estimated to prioritize taste when making food choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food enterprises across the protein spectrum from regenerative beef ranchers to fermentation, insect, plant-based, and blue food innovators are converging on this realization: We cannot compromise on taste, convenience, or affordability if we want health and sustainability solutions to scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beneath this transition sits a deeper scientific question: How do we ensure protein quality, and can we make it delicious? For decades, protein has been measured through total protein that we see at the back of a nutrition label. More recently the dialogue has expanded to amino acids and digestibility. Yet these measures do not fully capture <\/span><b>protein quality<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, defined by the diversity and interactions of proteins with the food matrix, human physiology, and the environment, including: biomolecular diversity, including bioactive peptides; food matrix interactions that influence digestion and function;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">functional properties that shape texture, stability, and nutrient release; bioavailability, digestibility, and metabolism; and biological responses across pathways such as muscle synthesis, inflammation, and gut health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Critically, proteins shape taste.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peptides contribute to flavor including umami. Interactions within the food matrix determine how flavors are released and perceived over time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next frontier of protein is moving from crude measures to high-resolution data that drives desirability in our psyches and mouths, and functionality in our bodies. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/foodperiodictable.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> maps food molecular diversity, revealing how protein quality, and more broadly <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/ppp3.70197\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how food quality varies across crops, environments, and production methods<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/full\/10.1021\/acsnutrsci.5c00061\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recent study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> led by PTFI Center of Excellence <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.javeriana.edu.co\/inicio\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Javeriana University<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/alliancebioversityciat.org\/future-seeds\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Future Seeds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> gene bank makes this clear across bean varieties. Beans are often treated as uniform protein sources, valued for accessibility, soil-enhancing properties, and low ecological footprint. This study reveals that different bean varieties carry distinct protein and enzyme profiles, and links to metabolic pathways that influence ecological resilience, nutrition, health, and taste.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This points toward a new way forward. There is no single best protein. There is a landscape of protein diversity that meets each of our values, desires, and microbiomes. Within this diversity is the potential to design foods that deliver on function and flavor with precision. And this knowledge must translate into food environments where the most desirable protein choice is healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where new AI tools bridge the gap upstream, removing the burden from the consumer. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/heritable.ag\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heritable Agriculture<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> uses AI to design and breed healthier, more resilient crops. PTFI\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swap It Smart<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> tool led by the American Heart Association in collaboration with UC Davis and funded by a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bezosearthfund.org\/news-and-insights\/bezos-earth-fund-announces-30-million-in-ai-grand-challenge-awards\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bezos Earth Fund AI Grand Challenges Award <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">uses AI to optimize meal quality across ecological sustainability, nutrition, health, affordability, and taste. In parallel, advances in sensory modeling, including efforts led by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nectar.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NECTAR<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, are predicting how molecules translate into flavor. Together, these efforts move us toward shaping desirable food systems grounded in data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We must start with what we want to experience. We can build food systems where place-based biodiversity is celebrated, protein is understood in its complexity, and where the foods that enable us to thrive are the foods we crave and can access. The future of protein is delicious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement?\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/Join?swcfpc=1\"><em>Become a member today by clicking here<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo courtesy of Shayda Torabi, Unsplash<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If we want to shift diets at scale, we have to start with taste. As science reveals how protein quality shapes flavor and function, taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16670,"featured_media":58310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[878,310,930],"tags":[4953,3106,926,4429,10741,983,12995,12994],"class_list":["post-58306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-tank","category-nutrition","category-op-ed","tag-ai","tag-food-quality","tag-nutrition","tag-protein","tag-ptfi","tag-research","tag-swap-it-smart","tag-the-periodic-table-of-food-initiative"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Food Tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFoodTank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Selena Ahmed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@foodtank\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@foodtank\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Selena Ahmed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Selena Ahmed\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/131ee15885daf3ceaa3fe97cadcb1844\"},\"headline\":\"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":857,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AI\",\"Food Quality\",\"nutrition\",\"protein\",\"PTFI\",\"research\",\"Swap It Smart\",\"The Periodic Table of Food Initiative\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Food Tank\",\"Nutrition\",\"Op-Ed\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/\",\"name\":\"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Op-Ed\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/category\\\/op-ed\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Food Tank\",\"description\":\"The Think Tank For Food\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Food Tank\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Foodtank-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/Foodtank-Logo.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Food Tank\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TheFoodTank\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/foodtank\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/FOOD_TANK\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/daniellenierenberg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/131ee15885daf3ceaa3fe97cadcb1844\",\"name\":\"Selena Ahmed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Selena Ahmed\"},\"description\":\"Selena Ahmed, PhD, FAHA, is the Global Executive Director of The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) and Dean of Food EDU based at the American Heart Association.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/foodtank.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/selena-ahmed\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank","description":"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank","og_description":"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.","og_url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/","og_site_name":"Food Tank","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFoodTank","article_published_time":"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Selena Ahmed","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@foodtank","twitter_site":"@foodtank","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Selena Ahmed","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/"},"author":{"name":"Selena Ahmed","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#\/schema\/person\/131ee15885daf3ceaa3fe97cadcb1844"},"headline":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed","datePublished":"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/"},"wordCount":857,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg","keywords":["AI","Food Quality","nutrition","protein","PTFI","research","Swap It Smart","The Periodic Table of Food Initiative"],"articleSection":["Food Tank","Nutrition","Op-Ed"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/","name":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed &#8211; Food Tank","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-24T11:00:23+00:00","description":"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/protein-Periodic-Table-of-Food-Initiative-PTFI-nutrition.jpg","width":1500,"height":900,"caption":"As we consider the future of protein, we must understand that taste is the on ramp to healthy diets from sustainable food systems."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/2026\/04\/op-ed-the-future-of-protein-is-delicious-and-data-backed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Op-Ed","item":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/category\/op-ed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Op-Ed | The Future of Protein Is Delicious and Data-Backed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/","name":"Food Tank","description":"The Think Tank For Food","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#organization","name":"Food Tank","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Foodtank-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Foodtank-Logo.png","width":300,"height":200,"caption":"Food Tank"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheFoodTank","https:\/\/x.com\/foodtank","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/FOOD_TANK\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/daniellenierenberg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/#\/schema\/person\/131ee15885daf3ceaa3fe97cadcb1844","name":"Selena Ahmed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Selena-Ahmed-96x96.png","caption":"Selena Ahmed"},"description":"Selena Ahmed, PhD, FAHA, is the Global Executive Director of The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) and Dean of Food EDU based at the American Heart Association.","url":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/news\/author\/selena-ahmed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16670"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58311,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58306\/revisions\/58311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foodtank.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}