Ep.84: Cheryl Cronin & Carrie DeWitt – New Boston Landmark

Ep. 84: CEO – Cheryl Cronin and Director of Community Engagement – Carrie DeWitt of Boston Public Market Association.   -ft. cohost: Lisa Sebesta, founder of Sitari Capital and co-founder of Fresh Source Capital ||

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On episode 84 we’re live recording on-site from The Boston Public Market on Hanover St. in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.  The Boston Public Market is an innovative four season model set to evolve how we source and consume local food.  Today we’re welcomed by the CEO of The Boston Public Market Association Cheryl Cronin, and the Director of Community Engagement – Carrie Dewitt.
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The Boston Public Market launched in 2015 as a year-round indoor market with the mission of bringing seasonal and local food to Boston’s downtown crowd. Everything sold at the market initially comes from somewhere in New England. This includes everything from seafood to ice cream and fresh produce. It is operated by the Boston Public Market Association, a nonprofit organization born from the collaboration between the city of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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Cheryl Cronin is CEO of the Boston Public Market Association since January, 2016. Prior to her current work, she was an attorney for over 30 years. She served as the General Counsel for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Boston Public Library and on the Board of Sail Boston. Additionally,  Cheryl received the Eleanor Roosevelt award from the Massachusetts Democratic Party and the Abigail Adams award from the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus. She has been on Boston Magazine’s list of the 50 most powerful women.
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Carrie DeWitt is the Director of Community Engagement at the Boston Public Market Association. Carrie plans and implements a calendar of public and private programming and events that support the Market’s public impact and reach. Prior to her work at the Boston Public Market, Carrie worked as the Assistant Director of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, a 100 year-old outdoor Market featuring over 140 growers and producers. Carrie is a graduate of the Agriculture, Food and the Environment masters program at the Friedman School at Tufts University.
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Joining as co-host of our 40 minute conversation is Lisa Sebesta, founder of Sitari Capital.  Sebesta works with investors to evaluate and manage impactful, direct investments in private companies that align with their values.   She is also a Managing Partner at Fresh Source Capital – a General Partner investment fund focused on the sustainable food and agriculture sector.  Previously, Lisa served as a consultant to the Fair Food Fund, and spent 15 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager for investment firms Batterymarch Financial Management & Boston Advisors.

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Want to know what’s going on with the local food movement in the northeast – TuneIn.

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@BosPublicMarket

 

co-host:

Lisa Sebesta

  • Founder of Satari Capital
  • Managing Partner @ Fresh Source Capital
  • 15 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager
  • Participates on numerous boards throughout New England Food

@LisaSebesta

 

 

Ep.83: Kristofor Lofgren – Responsible Sushi

Ep. 83: Kristofor Lofgren, Sustainable Restaurant Group CEO, and Founder.   -ft. cohost: Scott Soares, former Mass Ag Commish & shellfish farming leader  ||

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For episode 83 of Sourcing Matters we welcome CEO & Founder of Sustainable Restaurant Group and Bamboo Sushi – Kristofor Lofgren.  Sustainable Restaurant Group (SRG)’s mission-focused concepts aim to conquer the environmental disaster that is the worldwide fishing industry today. Bamboo Sushi and QuickFish will never put a fish on their menus that is endangered or on Seafood Watch’s ‘Red List.’ With nine total restaurant locations across Portland, OR and Denver, CO, the company will be expanding Bamboo Sushi this coming September with three new locations in the San Francisco Bay Area – Seattle and Arizona will follow shortly after, eventually making its way to the East Coast.

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In 2008 Bamboo Sushi became the world’s first Marine Stewardship Council-certified sustainable sushi restaurant. Since, under Kristofor’s leadership Bamboo sushi has been promoting responsible fisheries and sustainable management practice for the betterment of the environment and his patrons.   TuneIn to our 40 minute discussion to learn what’s happening to our seas, and to our seafood.  To understand how we can take a lead role in determining the health and stability of our oceans through the food choices we make.  And to hear how this entrepreneur is building a sustainable business model focused on benefiting diverse stakeholders ranging from his fisherman, processors, employees, investors and consumers.

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Joining today’s conversation is Scott Soares – former commissioner of Massachusetts Agriculture, and served as the Director of USDA Rural Development for Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for the Obama administration.  Scott has 15 years of fishery and aquaculture experience prior to that – including early in his career serving as the 1st Massachusetts coordinator of aquaculture for nearly a decade. Recently, along with a few ventures promoting the bounty of New England’s waters to broader audiences – Soares has taken on the role of the Mass Shellfish Initiative coordinator.

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@KSLofgren

 

co-host:

Scott Soares

  • Former Commissioner MA Agriculture 
  • Dir. USDA Rural Dev Northeast for Obama administration
  • 15 years of fishery & Aquaculture experience
  • Served as 1st MA coordinator of aquaculture for a decade

@SjSoares65

 

Ep.82: Richard Stavis – Think globally, act locally

Ep. 82: Richard Stavis, Chief Sustainability Officer at Stavis Seafood  -ft. cohost: Scott Soares, former Mass Ag Commish & shellfish farming leader  ||

Joining for episode 82 of Sourcing Matters is Richard Stavis – Chief Sustainability Officer of the Iconic New England Brand – Stavis Seafood.  Stavis Seafoods has been an anchor of the international seafood industry for 90 years. From its origin Stavis quickly grew from a clam company to a one-stop-source for high quality seafood, now delivering more than 1000 seafood items nationwide from more than 48 countries around the globe.
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Stavis is also a leading importer into the Florida seafood market specializing in fresh seafood from Central & South America.  Stavis Seafoods recently launched seafood line ‘SeaTru’ that comes in tow with the tagline of “high-quality seafood that is completely traceable, socially responsible, and sustainably sourced.”
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Richard Stavis wants the industry to shift from talking about what’s “sustainable” to what’s “responsible” – and not just tracing fish but also ensuring that fish is what sellers say it is. Richard is well known for his vision for the near future in the industry when emerging technologies allow for standardized platforms – like how any bank card works at an ATM – so consumers/ retailers/ restaurant chains can get the information they need about the fish they eat and sell, through information-sharing.
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Joining for our 45 minute discussion is the former commissioner of Agriculture in MA and the Rural Development Agent for New England with the USDA – Scott Soares.  During our lively conversation we cover the stability of the oceans, the health of our fisheries and the industry that serves it, and the well-being of its consumers.   TuneIn to hear what’s going on with our changing waters.

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@StavisSeafoods

co-host:

Scott Soares

  • Former Commissioner MA Agriculture 
  • Dir. USDA Rural Dev Northeast for Obama administration
  • 15 years of fishery & Aquaculture experience
  • Served as 1st MA coordinator of aquaculture for a decade

@SjSoares65

 

Ep.81: John Piotti – No Farms, No Food

Ep. 81: John Piotti, CEO & President of American Farmland Trust, Washington D.C. ||

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On episode 81 of Sourcing Matters we welcome John Piotti of American Farmland Trust.  American Farmland Trust (AFT) is an organization that works to protect and conserve farmland throughout the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C, – AFT is staffed and governed by farmers, policy experts, researchers and scientists.  With the call to action of “Join the Movement”, “Save a Family Farm”, and “Stay Informed” – American Farmland Trust seeks to engage diverse stakeholders in evaluating: What will happen to the nation’s food supply if we continue to wastefully develop our best farm & ranch land?
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By the late 1970s, Peggy Rockefeller, a passionate farmer and active philanthropist, had become frustrated that none of the major environmental or agricultural organizations were effectively applying the emerging tools of land conservation to agriculture. She pulled together a brain trust to explore what could be done. This first-of-its-kind analysis of how and why America was losing farmland had recently been completed by USDA and the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. The group recognized the serious threat posed by farmland loss and concluded that our nation needed a new kind of organization, one that stood at the intersection of agriculture and the environment. It would take a unique and highly innovative organization to operate effectively in this previously unexplored realm. But there was clearly a void that needed to be filled. They formally chartered American Farmland Trust in 1980.
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John Piotti joined American Farmland Trust as president and CEO in July 2016, bringing more than 25 years of executive management and public policy experience to the organization.  Prior, John served as president and CEO of Maine Farmland Trust for 10 years. Under his leadership, Maine Farmland Trust became an award-winning statewide nonprofit organization, helping over 500 Maine farms remain viable. Piotti has earned a reputation as a nonpartisan problem-solver; as a Statesman, an Eisenhower Fellow – and – as a leader in future food that has helped stabilize a regional dairy industry, and procure funding to protect working waterfronts & our natural lands. John holds three degrees from the MIT, in engineering, public policy, and management.
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TuneIn to our 50 minute conversation to hear more about how the practice of American Farmland Trust has now cast over 6,500,000 acres of farmland in the United States into perpetual conservation.  With John’s focus on conservation (regenerative) agriculture practice of these lands, and more  – AFT will remain a pillar in American farmland access, and its management for the foreseeable future.

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@FARMLAND

 

 

 

 

Ep.80: Lawrence Haddad – Great Global GAIN

Ep. 80: Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of Global  Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) – Geneva Switzerland ||

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For Sourcing Matters episode 80 we welcome Dr. Lawrence Haddad – Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) was launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with diverse global partners, GAIN aims at making healthier food choices more affordable, more available, and more desirable.
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Dr. Lawrence Haddad became the Executive Director of GAIN in October 2016. Prior to this Lawrence was the founding co-chair and lead author of the Global Nutrition Report from 2014 to 2016. From 2004-2014 Lawrence was the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the world’s leading development studies institute. Before joining IDS in 2004, he was Director of the Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) from 1994 to 2004. An economist, Lawrence has a PhD in Food Research from Stanford University.  Most recently, in June of 2018 – the World Food Prize Foundation awarded Dr. Haddad the 2018 World Food Prize.
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THE FACTS: According to Global Nutrition Report, about 88% of countries suffer from two or three forms of malnutrition. Every day, 815 million people are going to bed hungry, up from 777mm in 2015. 1 in 3 people lack key micronutrients, like iron and vitamin A, needed to grow properly, live active lives, and raise a healthy family. At the same time, 2 billion adults are overweight or obese and 41 million children are overweight.  Malnutrition now undermines billions of people’s health and leaves 155mm children stunted every year.  In speaking to the outcomes that come to stunted children “without proper nutrition – children’s hardware and software is not  developing properly” – explains Haddad.
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GAIN has its sights set on addressing these far reaching concerns with both an air and ground attack.  Led by Haddad and his impressive teams across the world – GAIN uses boots on the ground and strategic influence to introduce nutrition as a framework of change to more.  TuneIn to our 50 minute conversation to hear about how this agent of change is tackling malnutrition throughout global societies being underfed, and overfed.

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