Parendi Birdie has spent most of her career in biotechnology — specifically, the science and business of the cultivated meat supply chain. With roots planted deeply in Kansas, however, she envisions a practical path toward a more non-meat-based diet for Americans in the largely untapped market in blended proteins. By combining conventional meat products and non-animal sources of proteins, change-resistant consumers can more easily incorporate alternative proteins into their meals; the key to blended success, she tells MeatingPod, is as much in the marketing as in the science.