GRANITE FALLS, Minn., May 9, 2023 – The second installment of “Minnesota’s Alt-Meat Revolution” will take a dive into the motivations behind PURIS, the largest processor of yellow pea protein in North America. The episode will be available on Friday, May 19 at www.pioneer.org/altmeat.
The concept for PURIS started in 1985 when Jerry and Renee Lorenzen believed they had the answer to what they saw as inefficiencies in meat-based protein consumption: switch to plant-based. They started experimenting with various sources of plant-based proteins on test plots in Iowa. The Lorenzen’s children, Nicole Atchison and Tyler Lorenzen, have since taken over the operations at PURIS as the CEO of PURIS Holdings and CEO of PURIS Proteins, respectively.
“[My dad’s] belief was that if people are gonna eat plants, then the plants need to taste good. And at a very young age, my brother and I, we really had to pull our weight,” explained Atchison. “We grew up working in the fields. We had test plots kind of all around the Midwest, maybe 10 acres, 20 acres, but they'll have thousands of varieties in them. And so we grew up actually making those varieties, so cross-pollinating plants to make new varieties.”
In 2018 and 2019, Cargill invested a combined $100 million in PURIS, which led the company on a path to Dawson, Minnesota. In 2019, PURIS purchased and retrofitted a facility in Dawson. The acquisition of the 200,000-square-foot building allowed PURIS to more than double their pea protein processing capabilities. This plant in Dawson is the largest operating yellow field pea protein processing facility in North America.
This episode features interviews with Atchison, along with Alex King, the R&D scientist of PURIS’ recently launched food line, Acremade. The episode also takes viewers to The Rusty Duck, a bar and restaurant in Dawson that recently started offering plant-based burgers. Co-owner Tom Beals and Kitchen Manager John Schneider talk about what inspired them to start offering the meat burger alternative on their menu. “It just seems like … people are looking for plant-based food and different things, even out here,” said Beals.
“Minnesota’s Alt-Meat Revolution” is a year-long video and print journalism collaboration project, looking into the roots and impact of the plant-protein phenomenon that’s exploding across the globe. The project is a partnership between Pioneer PBS, West Central Tribune and WORLD, with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Each video story will be accompanied by a newspaper article by Tom Cherveny of the West Central Tribune. The videos and articles will be available at www.pioneer.org/altmeat and www.wctrib.com/news/local/altmeat.
“Minnesota’s Alt-Meat Revolution,” together with WHRO’s “Against the Current,” a multiplatform series that will tell the story of rural residents’ lives as they live with, and adapt to, the effects of climate change in Virginia’s Eastern Shore, will be broadcast nationally and streamed under WORLD’s “Local, USA” umbrella as “My Home is Here: Stories of Rural America.”
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