This piece first appeared in Down to Earth, the Guardian’s climate and environment newsletter. Sign up here to read more exclusive pieces like this and for a digest of the week’s biggest environment stories every Thursday
As I fumbled with my chopsticks, I could feel the eyes of the four executives circled around me watching closely. Seated at the head of the table in a room tucked between a commercial kitchen and a laboratory, I had just been treated to a tour of the Finless Foods facility in San Francisco – and this was the finale.
