304. Atarraya’s Daniel Russek on real sustainability, innovation in aquaculture and bringing food production back to its natural cycle

Innovation in the agbiosciences is foundational to life – and it’s only accelerating. From biotech to production, food is transforming; and today’s guest is leading the charge on a new way of producing protein. Daniel Russek, CEO of Atarraya, joins us to talk the idea of sustainability, what it actually is and thinking long-term to achieve meaningful outcomes in this space. From greenwashing to social media allowing people to be “kind of informed” about the state of the planet, Daniel says sustainability has to coexist with strong economics. He dives into how he sees the future of food and Atarraya tackling the fastest-growing source of protein: shrimp. Atarraya’s innovation in aquaculture has been evolving for over a decade at this point and Daniel talks about the best resource for developing their technology: conversations with people. And it’s paid off. TIME Magazine named Atarraya one of the top 200 inventions of the year. The team also was a gold recipient of The Edison Award; with all this momentum, where do they go next? Daniel talks expanding production, the importance of partnerships and bringing food production back into its natural cycle.