FORCES OF NATURE:

ep. 114: Sara Farley · The Rockefeller Foundation

Forces of Nature is a talkshow miniseries featuring dynamic leaders from across food & environmental movements. Tune-in for a dose of optimism.

FOOD AS CLIMATE & SOCIAL ACTION

w/ host: Aaron Niederhelman

ep. 113: Benedikt Bösel · Land Use Pioneer

Forces of Nature is a talkshow miniseries featuring dynamic leaders from across food & environmental movements. Tune-in for a dose of optimism.

ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN LAND USE

w/ host: Aaron Niederhelman

ep. 112: Jennifer Hashley · Friendly Neighborhood Food Superhero

Forces of Nature is a talkshow miniseries featuring dynamic leaders from across food & environmental movements. Tune-in for a dose of optimism.

LOCAL FOOD SUPERHERO

w/ host: Aaron Niederhelman

ep. 111: Volkert Engelsman · Marketing Mastermind | Guru of Differentiation

Forces of Nature is a talkshow miniseries featuring dynamic leaders from across food & environmental movements. Tune-in for a dose of optimism.

FOOD FULL OF THOUGHT

w/ host: Aaron Niederhelman

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THE KAYAK OF REGEN INCENTIVES In an effort to establish financial rewards for the positive externalities derived from regenerative land management, Volkert has initiated the Business Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (BARA). The objective of BARA is to work with existing initiatives, and suss-out new reward structures that incentivize more stakeholders for ecosystem health and the social benefits tied to regenerative agriculture. 

COALITION OF THE WILLING  Eighty (80) initiatives and companies from all over the world have come together to launch BARA. At October’s kick-off gathering held at EOSTA’s home office in Waddinxveen, Netherlands, cohosts Climate Farmers of Berlin and EOSTA defined seven working groups to build upon: Carbon Methodologies, Policy Engagement, Trading Positive Externalities, Sharing & Exchanging Experiences, Consumer Awareness & Retail Storytelling, Setting up Farms & Transforming Regions, and Organic Meets Regenerative. A next BARA conference is scheduled for 2023. It's been designated to review initial working group findings, and to continue to move the ball.

For decades, Volkert has used a unique marketing prowess to differentiate better quality foods grown in healthy soils as acts of climate & social action. The Nature-&-More platform and now BARA are intuitive POCs that are ripe to translate the positive impacts of food with the UN's 17 SDGs.  It is palatable action in every mouthful that benefits people and the planet. 

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“Tomorrow’s profit will include externalities, and social and environmental costs – which is precisely what is happening right now in Europe. In fact, you see it everywhere this is gradually descending into the DNA of financial markets, taxonomies, and fiscal incentives. The definition of profit is changing.”  - Volkert Engelsman

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CALL TO ARMS Volkert Engelsman has a call to action for us all in food / planetary movements...    get out there and Dream, Dance and Deliver. According to Engelsman, we need more skilled and ambitions (big) dreamers on this stuff.  We learn that if you really want to make change happen – it’s on you – so, you'd better learn how to dance. Figure out how to make nice with others, how to choose partners, and how to keep dancing. This creates results. Often smaller wins, but more results. It’s consistency of those small wins that gets us to tackling those big dreams.

ep. 110: Henk Ovink · World Water SuperAgent 

Forces of Nature is a talkshow miniseries featuring dynamic leaders from across food & environmental movements. Tune-in for a dose of optimism.

QUARTERBACKING A WATER SMART PLAYBOOK

w/ host: Aaron Niederhelman

Water is a fundamental part of all aspects of life. Yet, today, 40% of the world’s people are affected by water scarcity; 80% of wastewater is discharged untreated into the environment, and more than 90% of disasters are water-related. And despite all of these real concerns – we still suck down 70% of available freshwater to lavishly manage antiquated cropping systems chock full of chemical externalities. The long and short of it – we need awareness of the problems and more solutions for the vast water crises enveloping the planet. So, to find out what should be done to manage water better in the future – we’ve turned to the guy that the United Nations has asked to quarterback their big 2023 Water Conference. We welcome Henk Ovink. How we all decide to consume will play a major role in eradicating pressing water concerns. Spurring on more awareness and incentivizing change in stakeholder behavior is ultimately what’s needed to evolve our relationship with nature. Food seems a logical place to begin taking action, and from my POV it’s all about good storytelling that'll be the remedy here. Tune-in to hear what this Force of Nature has to say about the future of water and our shared future.   - Aaron 

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BIO: HENK OVINK

Henk Ovink was appointed by the Dutch Cabinet as the first Special Envoy for International Water Affairs in 2015. As the Ambassador for Water, Henk is responsible for advocating water awareness around the world, focusing on building institutional capacity and coalitions among governments, multilateral organizations, private sector and NGO’s to address the world’s stressing needs on water and help initiate transformative interventions.

Ovink is also Sherpa to the High Level Panel on Water, installed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and President of the World Bank Jim Kim with 10 Heads of State / Heads of Government including Prime Minister Rutte from The Netherlands, in a effort to catalyze change in water awareness and implementation. Henk is Principal for REBUILD BY DESIGN – an innovation competition that would forever change how natural disaster clean-ups look at resilience. Ovink is also a founding father of the Dutch-founded public-private partnership “Water as Leverage”.

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SUPERSTORM SANDY REBUILD:

In 2012, Henk Ovink was appointed by President Obama and the Secretary of HUD, Shaun Donovan, to become the special envoy of Water to the US. He was directly responsible for launching the HUD & Rockefeller funded program REBUILD BY DESIGN – a global crowdsourcing initiative of top designers and planners to pool the best ideas which would rebuild using federal resources after Hurricane Sandy. The program was such a success it reformulated the approach the US government used for federal payouts on natural disasters, and became the linchpin for commitment to “resilience” in infrastructure rebuilds following future incidents.

ep.108: ‘Repurposing Subsidies for Favorable Outcomes’ 

Guest: Todd Barker of Meridian Institute

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Favorable Outcomes

In this episode you’ll hear that when subsidies are dolled out based on positive outcomes instead of crop type – good things happen.   You see, according to a Sept 2021 UN FAO briefing, agriculture contributes a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of biodiversity loss and 80% of deforestation across the globe. And, it’s also true that nearly 90% of the $540 bn in global subsidies given to farmers every year are “harmful.” It’s true that the majority of well-intentioned agricultural support now damages human health, exacerbates the climate crisis, dwindles nature and drives inequality by excluding smallholder farmers. For real food systems change, support needs to be better aligned with favorable outcomes. To learn more about this whole ball of wax we connected with Meridian Institute CEO Todd Barker on the myriad ways that the organization is bringing together stakeholders in the U.S. and around the world to take action.

Incentivizing Collaborative Efforts

“Interest in food systems has never been greater. As challenging and controversial as the problems are, we at Meridian are seeing that while issues about partisanship, polarization, and conflict are capturing media headlines – the hunger for collaborative solutions to these problems has never been higher,” explains episode 108 guest Todd Barker.

A Novel Angle at US Crop Insurance

The AGree Economic and Environmental Risk Coalition (AGree E2 Coalition) advocates for federal policy improvements to drive broader adoption of conservation practices on working lands. Conservation practices such as cover crops, no-till, and other recognized good farming practices can reduce farm risk to extreme weather events while improving environmental outcomes and soil health. Meridian Institute launched the AGree Initiative more than 10 years ago after more than two years of collaboration with a diverse group of food and agriculture stakeholders.

Multi-Stakeholder Initiative (MSI) Juggernaut 

Meridian is a mission-driven, nonprofit consultancy that has helped clients and partners develop and implement solutions to complicated, often controversial problems—big and small, global and local—for over two decades. They do it with an innovative approach that brings together a deep understanding of the issues at hand, as well as the people, politics, and power dynamics that surround them. Meridian not only shapes meaningful consensus and action in the near term, but also builds partners’ capacity for cooperation that often continues for years, even decades.

Finding Common Goals to Drive Change

The Meridian Institute offers five key services: collaboration, implementation, strategy, research, and philanthropic support. Meridian has a dedicated team of 80 experts and an ability to foster constructive discussions, manage decisions, and support actions that shape the world for the better.

facilitating change: Todd Barker

Todd Barker is CEO of Meridian. He currently leads projects that focus on agriculture, food systems, water, climate, big data, and clean energy. A highlight of his over 20 year tenure at Meridian has been the AGree Initiative, which successfully advocated and lobbied for changes in the 2018 farm bill that support soil health. He also has extensive international experience, including current work with the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Todd cut his teeth as a mediator, facilitator, and strategist over 20 years ago, working on the cleanup of Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility. He is a trusted advisor to foundations and funder collaboratives working on agriculture and food systems. He serves on the board of the DendriFund and chairs the board for the Clean Energy Group.

Episode 107:  Animal Centric Agriculture

Host: Aaron Niederhelman Guest: Øistein Thorsen, CEO of FAI Farms

Did you know that across the globe we process 70,000,000,000 (billion) land animals every year?! That includes nine billion food animals each yr. in the U.S. alone. And yet, it’s still difficult to find good meat! That’s so out of sync with where consumer trends are headed. Why isn’t better meat more of the norm? Elevating practices to reap the benefits at market is very feasible in (better quality) meat production. In this episode we hear more from upstart leader Øistein Thorsen of FAI Farms about the opportunities there are for evolving production practice and scaling supply of better quality animal proteins.

With some tweaks and strategic investments into the well-being of the animal producing meat, fish, eggs and dairy – FAI thwarts impending supply chain concerns for big food companies while aligning with buying behaviors of contemporary consumer interests. As insurance & marketing tilth – it’s a no-brainer for these food companies with large scale needs. Investments that will benefit the eater, the producer, the environment and the planet all by improving farm animal qualify of life.

Based out of Oxford, U.K., for twenty years the Food Animal Initiative (FAI) has been developing systems that improve the supply chains of big food companies through investments into the well-being of the food animal. Rich in knowledge and deep in insight, they’ve honed “animal-centric” operating models for each food animal category.

As you’ll hear from Øistein, more commitments to elevate production practice in meat, dairy, farmed fish and eggs is is a tent post in repairing the broader broken food systems. And, since new growth in conventional meat and animal protein production proves more unsustainable with each passing year, the notion that this old system can manage more production load on top of the current through-put just seems irresponsible to plan around. Right?! Thorsen argues that the market opportunity for pushing the holistic view of personal well-being, planetary stability, and benevolence has a pinnacle in meat production. So, is the well-being of food animals the foundation for large scale food systems change? #Tunein to get more on that from Øistein.

Getting us to Animal Centric Meat Production

The reality is that people are going to eat meat in the future. A lot more of it as new folks adopt western lifestyles. In fact, experts say that 2050 demand for animal proteins will increase by 70%. Could you imagine what 2/3s more load would do to the impact of conventional meat? Leaders have arisen with new approaches to raise food animals and produce enough protein to meet this increased demand – while still respecting planetary boundaries, and tapping into those current POVs.

Øistein Thorsen of FAI Farms is one of these upstart pioneers that’s instigating a values-based food system through focus on improving in the health and well-being of food animals. In our conversation Thorsen explains the approach as “Animal Centric Meat Production”. He describes it this way, “to keep a shrinking planet fed and nourished for decades to come – it all begins with respecting the food animal today.”

Animal-Centric Food Systems in the Future

The French expression Noblesse Oblige translates to “nobility obliges”. It effectively means that with power and privilege that we’re obligated to look out for the wellbeing of others that are less fortunate. Thorsen tells us that a bit more respect is needed here for the animals that sustain us. To clean-up the food system, this animal-centric mantra actually taps that obligation that is seeded in us all, while also fueling actions of consumer empowerment that will help sway consumer behaviors.

Something like – knowing how we manage sentient animals that produce meat, eggs, and dairy will evolve everything about the food system – because we become more empowered eaters through deeper connection with these animals and nature. Animal Centric food production may actually scratch a primal itch to do better for all creatures, including those that sustain us. We are indebted. What do you think?

Q: How much of the holistic continuum impacts your current food buying decisions?

Q: Will you evolve your behavior if you knew of the direct impact?

Q: Are you obligated?

As we hear from Øistein, not only is this evolution the ethical thing to do, but the reality is the resulting food products are significantly better for you and your surroundings than anything coming from conventional streams. In fact, according to Thorsen – this good meat, dairy and eggs from healthy animals living in more natural environments is better than anything coming to market – especially all this newly concocted lab-grown protein derived from processed and artificial means. We need better meat and less of it.

Despite all the buzz behind those plant-based / lab-grown proteins, or new noise from conventional climate-friendly propaganda – the only silver-bullet solution to big global problems like malnutrition, hunger, supply-chain disruption and even climate instability comes from doing a better job shepherding the regenerative natural resources underpinning the production of our food. So, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater; it’s not the cow that’s the problem, but the how we raise the cow for dairy and meat. Let’s start there. “It has mutually beneficial outcomes in which all stakeholders win,” explains Thorsen.

A Holistic Approach to Producing Good Meat

Farm Animal Initiative (FAI) Farms was founded in 2001 at the Oxford University farm estate. 20 years later they remain a ground-breaking research and advisory firm on a mission to help the food sector overcome key challenges and implement better practices on land and at sea. Utilizing their “3E” (Economic, Environmental, Ethical) approach, FAI works with farmers and many of the world’s largest food companies to implement practical solutions for climate and food security concerns in a contemporary world.

The Growing Footprint of Animal Centric

A purpose driven company committed to providing solutions to climate and food security, FAI offers services led by science, data, and the practice of holistic food production. FAI’s world leading multi-disciplinary team work in partnership with major food brands to create a high welfare, equitable and regenerative food system. FAI is headquartered in Oxford, UK, with representation in the USA, Norway, Brazil, New Zealand and partners in China.

a next generation pioneer in food animal production: Øistein Thorsen

As CEO of FAI, Øistein is responsible for the company’s growth and impact strategy, and new business development. He joined FAI in 2012, working with global partners including IKEA, Ferrero, McDonald’s and KFC, before leading the company through an MBO in August 2020.

Øistein grew up in shuttle between Sudan, Norway, and Ethiopia. He holds an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA in African Studies and Development Studies from SOAS. Before joining FAI he followed in his parents’ footprints pursuing a career in international development. He worked for VSO and Oxfam, focusing on community engagement, global agricultural trade policy, and humanitarian advocacy at the United Nations.

Thorsen is the associate producer of “Black Gold”, a Sundance Film Festival feature-documentary film about coffee growers in Ethiopia’s place in the global coffee market.

Øistein lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

DO YOUR PART: Stabilize the Planet by Investing in Animal Centric Agriculture

With the huge uptick in global consumption of proteins over the next few decades, current conventional practice and cutting-edge tech will only continue to send natural systems out of whack. When scaled with proper knowhow, Animal Centric agriculture food solutions can have positive and lasting impact on the planet and all of its inhabitants. We learn that when animals are put in the middle and given due respect throughout food production – it becomes the tent pole to build the new food system, to return to natural order, and to benefit each involved party. Starting with the quality of life of the food animals themselves.

As part of the Core Food Systems Change series, in this episode you’ll hear that when Animal Centric Agriculture becomes part of our collective consciousness it’s the best opportunity that we’ve got for a stable future.

www.SourcingMatters.show

Episode 106:  Standard Bearer of Favorable Seas - MSC

Host: Aaron Niederhelman Guest: Rupert Howes, CEO of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)

Rupert Howes explains it this way, “MSC is the standard setter. We have no ability whatsoever to influence the outcome of an independent certification.. That’s done by an independently accredited certifier. The science is independently peer-reviewed. There’s an independent objections process. We (MSC) have no financial interest or ability to influence any of that. The only time we generate an income, is if the market chooses. Once a fishery is certified, once the entire supply chain has a chain of custody audit, only then do we generate a modest fee for use of the MSC logo in the marketplace.”

Sustainable Seafood from Stable Seas

The Marine Stewardship Council(MSC) is a global, independent non-profit organization which sets a standard for sustainable fishing. MSC works with partners in an effort to make the world’s seafood markets sustainable. With credible standards for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability MSC seeks to increase the availability of certified seafood. The organization’s distinctive blue ecolabel recognized by consumers as the sustainable option.

MSC’s vision is of the world’s oceans teeming with life, and seafood supplies safeguarded for this and future generations. MSC collaborates with fishers, retailers, processors, consumers, and others to drive change forward. They never compromise on the standards. MSC leads the world in wild capture fishery certification, with the most trusted, recognized, and credible seafood ecolabel.   

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Rigorous Objectives Build Favorable Seas

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard defines fishery sustainability on the basis of the guidelines of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) code of conduct for responsible fisheries, and strives to incorporate internationally-established best practice and best available science.

Rupert Howes - two decades at the helm:

From an early age, Rupert Howes was passionate about nature. Influenced by conservationists like David Attenborough, he was determined to make the world more sustainable. Although he ultimately became an economist instead of a marine biologist, he never strayed from his childhood passion. He worked with environmental organizations, wrote a book on motivating industries to improve environmental performance and championed corporate responsibility. In 2004, he became CEO of Marine Stewardship Council.

Rupert has been internationally recognized for his work to promote sustainable fishing practices. In 2014, Rupert was awarded a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award, which recognizes leaders in sustainable social innovation. In 2009, he received the World Wildlife Foundation’s “Leaders for a Living Planet” Award, which recognizes individuals who make a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development. He also received a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2007 for his contributions in establishing the MSC as the world’s leading fishery certification and ecolabelling program.

www.SourcingMatters.show