ep.115: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Eric Soubeiran

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

– six-part miniseries –

FORCES OF NATURE

talk show series -ft. leaders from food & climate

Eric Soubeiran

Executive Director of Climate and Nature Fund

& VP Business Operation Sustainability at Unilever

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.6-part miniseries

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Eric Soubeiran · Forging a Stronger Value Chain · episode 115

.6-part miniseries

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

A PERPETUAL DANCE BETWEEN

VALUE CREATION AND A SUPPLY CHAIN

SOURCING MATTERS

With over two decades of international work experience in sustainability, general management, sourcing, and M&A, Eric Soubeiran is a leading force behind Unilever’s massive value chain. In his role as the VP Business Operation Sustainability, Eric manages the environmental impact of one of the largest CPGs companies in the world. Soubeiran is also the Executive Director of the € 1 billion Climate and Nature investment fund that Unilever launched to take decisive action, and support the collective efforts of their 400 in-house brands seeking to protect the health of the planet.

3.4 bl. people in 190 countries rely on Unilever daily

Eric focuses on building multi-stakeholder environments and uses his convening capacity to bring key stakeholders together to drive transformation and establish impact at scale. Leadership skills that he’s picked up throughout the years from mentors like Alan Jope and Emmanuel Faber. Prior to Unilever, Soubeiran was Chief Sustainability Officer and VP of Nature and water cycle at Danone, and he’s currently a non-executive director of the Carbon Trust and The Gold Standard Foundation.

Listen-in to episode #115 to hear how one of the biggest CPG / retail food companies in the world is taking to help save the planet, and meet contemporary consumer demands.

COMPLETE VIDEO TALK SHOW SERIES AVAILABLE ON:

WATCH: the live recorded video conversation w/ Eric Soubeiran on SMs ep. 115

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A BILLION EURO CLIMATE & NATURE FUND

To accelerate climate action, Unilever’s brands will collectively invest €1 billion in a dedicated Climate & Nature Fund. These resources will be allocated over the next ten years to take meaningful and decisive action, with projects (likely) to include landscape restoration, reforestation, carbon sequestration, wildlife protection and water preservation.

Soubeiran explains the potential impact of Unilever’s Climate & Nature fund in this way, “The climate & nature fund is to transform some of the key ingredients that we use in our products to a more sustainable manner. The objective is to fulfill the promise that the brands have to the world. We want to create a movement around this fund so that we’re attracting the right partners along the journey.”  

“Unilever has a very large value chain. We buy about €35 billion of stuff a year, and therefore we believe that within some of the most critical areas that we can play the role of a catalyst; where 1+1 can equal more than two.”

– Eric Soubeiran, Unilever Climate & Nature Fund ED

THE UNILEVER CLIMATE & NATURE FUND HAS COMMITTED TO:

  • Net zero emissions for all products by 2039
  • A deforestation-free supply chain by 2023
  • Empowering a new generation of farmers and smallholders to protect and regenerate their environment – ongoing
  • A new Regenerative Agriculture (REGEN) Code for all their suppliers
  • Water stewardship programs to 100 locations in water-stressed areas by 2030

SUSTAINABILITY AT SCALE

Last year, the UN published its Global Land Outlook in which it noted that 52% of agricultural land was degraded and that, if we continue business as usual, by 2050 an additional 16 million square kilometers would have a similar fate. That’s an area the size of South America. Things need to change, and leading consumer product good (CPG) companies are in a unique position to influence how we use the planet’s resources to stay within planetary boundaries. It’s done by empowering smarter purchases. Unilever recognized this opportunity to do well by doing better, and two years ago appointed Eric to helm sustainability advancements on products that touch 3.4 billion people daily.

“I see it as an (elegant) dance between value creation and a supply chain.”

– ERIC SOUBEIRAN in FORCES OF NATURE

“The value in the supply chain is moving. This is an opportunity to revisit how we’re sourcing a lot of our ingredients and materials. You know, I always mention the ingredients, and I never talk about commodities. I think that is one of the issues here. All ingredients have value; they add value to our business and a consumer’s experience. They’re not commodities. So, this dance is really all about how do you articulate the value along the supply chain and how that correlates to benefit partners and consumers,” says Soubeiran.

OUTCOMES THAT IMPROVE

THE VALUE CHAIN

& ENHANCE SOURCING PRACTICE

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RADICAL TRANSPARENCY

Soubeiran talks about pioneering transparency, “It’s about knowing where you are sourcing things from. We are investing quite a lot of time in traceability because our value chains are quite complex, and most of the world’s supply chains are very complex too. For this to work you must do it in collaboration and with suppliers. We are dialoguing with our suppliers to put in place our climate action programs.”

“Last year we piloted transparency initiatives with a group of 60 diverse suppliers. We looked at how we could connect our value chain -with- their value chains.

This is being very transparent with key stakeholders; we all have to share what you know and what you don’t know.

The program has been successful and we’re scaling it up to 300 suppliers next year – which represents 65% of our carbon footprint.”

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– Eric Soubeiran, VP OF SUSTAINABLE SOURCING

Unilever products are used by more than 3.4 billion people every day in over 190 countries. In 2022, Unilever had a total turnover €60 billion and employed 150,000 people. Unilever has more than 400 brands sold around the globe – with 14 reaching sales over €1 billion, and 81% of all brands being in the top two in their respective markets.

THE

CURRENCY OF

SUSTAINABILITY

IS TO

HAVE

IMPACT

ON

PEOPLE

&

PLANET

“What I’ve noticed over the past five years is that there’s been a significant professionalization of sustainability candidates for us to hire. Previously, you had a lot of people that were doing it by strong conviction, which was brilliant, but more and more you see business experts trying to use their strengths to improve sustainability everywhere. It’s become a good mix.” – SOUBEIRAN, ep.115 #SMs

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SEEK TO INFLUENCE AND NOT CONTROL

“We learn a lot from our mistakes. If I look at the last two years, I think you never take enough time to deeply understand the connections of your value chain. The other big learning is that – I think you need to accept not to control things. More and more we’re in a networked environment. And, if you’re in a large organization you can’t use a lot of your energy trying to control things. Your energy could be better spent in trying to influence things instead.”

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– Eric Soubeiran, episode 115 guest

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Eric Soubeiran

FORCES OF NATURE

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ep. 115: FORGING A STRONGER VALUE CHAIN

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CALL TO ACTION

Eric Soubeiran tells us that it’s only just begun,“There’s a lot of things cooking in our Unilever kitchen. You will hear us on the progress that we’re making on the deforestation commitment that we’ve been taking for 2023 – it’s a very important milestone for us. We’re also working with many of our brands on activating some sustainability credentials, commitments and deliverables on many fronts with more to come in coming months.”

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t: @SoubeiranEric / @Unilever

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photo credit:  Eric Soubeiran Social Media | Unilever

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FORCES OF NATURE – series

As part of the FORCES OF NATURE series, in this episode you’ll hear from inspiring folks making good things happen to benefit the world.

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until the next drop…

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Benedikt Bösel – Pioneering Land Use
Henk Ovink – World Water Czar

series catalog >>

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ep.112: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Jennifer Hashley

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

– episode guest: Jennifer Hashley

FORCES OF NATURE

miniseries

Jennifer Hashley

New Entry Sustainable founder & Local Farming Pioneer

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6-part series

.6-part miniseries

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Jennifer Hashley · Friendly Neighborhood Superhero · episode 112

.6-part miniseries

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

A LOCAL FOOD SUPERHERO

SOURCING MATTERS

Rooted in the Tufts Friedman School of nutrition, the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project is one of the first initiatives nationwide to help immigrants and refugees develop commercial farming opportunities. Change-agent Jennifer Hashley grew New Entry into a sustained effort while she was getting her Master’s in Agriculture and Public Policy at Tufts. The goal since the beginning has been to help farmers thrive in the fields, the office and within their communities. Today, 25 years later and New Entry has established a framework that will teach anyone that’s ready to learn how to operate a successful sustainable farming business.

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New Entry is teaching an approach to farming that could eventually become the model that everyone uses to produce food in the future. A model that is smaller scale, regional, diversified and using production that is bathed in ecological best practice.

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Each and every food purchase from these farms is a circular dollar spent in local economies. Jobs are created, and in using this production approach the land, natural resources and nature are looked after in more responsible manner. New Entry farms are also beneficial in dealing with food waste, water and this healthy farmland sucks down and stores carbon. Additionally, farming the landscape to combat climate change is real, and as a whole local food is significantly less taxing on the environment as compared to conventional. The biggest win of all is the opportunity for more community members to eat more fresh and nutrient dense foods from nearby farms.

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For others, with current geo-political instability and what was exposed as weak spots in global food supply chains during COVID, local food from regional production is actually all about guaranteeing food security for the future. More New Entry farmers on local lands helps with food surplus for any region or community. Local food is also about stability. After all, “Every society is (only) three meals away from chaos.”

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The long and short of it, New Entry brings contemporary farmers up to speed. Jennifer has developed a system that is chock-full of creative ways to gain land access, grants and funding programs. She help farmers work with multipliers, to figure out distribution and value-ad, and they offer a network to help with staffing. This all adds up to capacity building of local and regional food production. Here we have a trained workforce that is champing at the bit to work their butts off. What’s needed is access to good land, some capital, and a community commitment to make it all grow. New Entry is infrastructure that will change food system by serving the needs and interests of this vested communities of eaters. So, tune in to hear how Jennifer is making it all happen…

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WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN – VIDEO TALK SHOW SERIES

live recorded video conversation w/ Jennifer Hashley

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KICKING BUTT FOR A QUARTER CENTURY

Jennifer Hashley is the Trisha Pérez Kennealy and Michael Kennealy Director for New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP). Prior to becoming Director in 2006, Jennifer was the New Entry Project Coordinator for five years. Jennifer is a leader expert in local food systems work focusing specifically on beginning farmer development.

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Jennifer Hashley initiated the MA ‘Choose Fresh & Local’ license plate

“Food security, civic engagement, social welfare, local dollars spent, fresher and higher-value nutrient dense foods (which is preventative health care, of course) and smart land use in your area is all being wrapped up by a movement of food as climate action. It’s right at the threshhold for local food,” explains Hashley.

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Hashley’s role at New Entry has included building community partnerships, developing new programs and services, mentoring and supporting project staff, securing sustainable resources for all program operations, writing grants, strategic planning, and overseeing incubator training farm site infrastructure and a multi-year sustainable agriculture training curriculum in specialty crops and livestock production for limited resource farmers.

Where most see only the obstacles, Jennifer views hope and potential in the future of food. Jennifer is nothing short of an inspiration and a true force-of-nature.

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INSIDER’S CORNER: institutional investors, public & private endowments, patient capital and family offices – owning the land that could be farmed by New Entry trained management teams is an investment opportunity of a lifetime! It’s a triple-bottom line impact investment that helps communities, and offers monitory reward via capital appreciation of the land, and cash-flow from differentiated products hitting the market. There are all kinds of wins for stakeholders supporting New Entry farms and farmers.

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local neighborhood food SUPERHERO

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FOOD PRODUCTION OF TOMORROW

For four years we’ve been on a listening tour with Sourcing Matters discussions. We’ve welcomed some of the greatest minds and innovators to chat about how to best manage the planet with future food production. We tapped into all kinds of diverse fields of study and focus areas. Every episode we’ve talked about food, agriculture, resource management and planetary stability. The consensus for how to move forward may not be what you’d expect. As it turns out, most agree that the future of food production must become based on more local foods coming from regional farms. That’s it. That’s the arena for food systems change.

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Jennifer Hashley has joined many of these conversation as a Sourcing Matters co-host. Her breadth of knowledge, nuanced understanding of the current state of affairs and a vision for the future is welcomed as trusted voice with the chops of getting things done. For more from Jennifer Hashley – lend an ear to these select episodes:

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ep. 44: MARION NESTLE: Waste not, Want Not

ep. 67: GOV. CHRISTINE WHITMAN: EPA & Fluid Politics

ep. 78: PAUL RICE: Fair Trade for all

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BETTER FOOD FOR A BETTER LIFE

With her husband Pete, Jennifer oversees a diversified pasture based livestock operation on the the renowned Codman Community Farm in Lincoln MA. They’ve also built the recognized brand ‘Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds’ known for supreme quality, clean production, humane treatment and for delivering all around delicious proteins.

Jennifer has earned leadership awards for her food systems work, was selected as an Environmental Leadership Fellow, and an Eisenhower Agriculture Fellow. Along with those Master’s degrees from Tufts University – she holds a Certificate in Management of Community Organizations from Tufts University, a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture from UC, Santa Cruz, and a B.S. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Indiana University.

She serves on the board of the Carrot Project, a small-farm financing nonprofit, and on the board of the Urban Farming Institute of Boston. Jennifer is also an advisor to many state and regional food systems projects addressing agricultural policy issues.

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We are a beginner farmer training program. We can get people excited,  they are passionate, they see a vision, they want to grow food, they want to steward the land, they want to feed their community.  They want to contribute to society, but they burn out because they are not making enough money to live.  To me, that is very scary.  What are we doing to change that?!”

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– Jennifer Hashley, episode 112 guest

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FORCES OF NATURE

Jennifer Hashley

Local Neighborhood

Food SuperHero

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CALL TO ARMS

Jennifer is optimistic for the future. She wants you to share in her vision of stability through focus on production of good local food. Her call to action is to simply support the things that we believe in. Use your purchasing power of this good local food as a way to exercise those beliefs. When more of this is done in your community, more folks that you care about will benefit. That’s actually true for any community that gets a New Entry farmer to start farming for them. She’s got the IP to train a workforce and drive food systems change. So, time to break some bread with Jennifer and find out how to light this local food candle! Who wants in?

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twitter: @JHashley

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photo credit:  Angela Klempner || NESFP || TUFTS ||

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FORCES OF NATURE – series

As part of the FORCES OF NATURE series, in this episode you’ll hear from inspiring folks making good things happen to benefit the world.

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–

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until the next drop…

Benedikt Bösel – Pioneering Land Use
Eric Soubeiran – Forging a Value Chain

series catalog >>

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ep.111: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Volkert Engelsman

– guest: Volkert Engelsman

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

FORCES OF NATURE

miniseries

Volkert Engelsman

CEO @ EOSTA

Nature & More founder

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6-part series

.6-part miniseries

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Volkert Engelsman · Marketing Mastermind · episode 111

.6-part miniseries

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

FOOD FULL OF THOUGHT

SOURCING MATTERS

Volkert Engelsman is CEO of EOSTA, the EU’s largest importer of organic and biological fruit. Volkert is nothing short of a mastermind when it comes to marketing product differentiation, and amplifying how those differences benefit each stakeholder involved. In this conversation we hear what it’s taken for Engelsman to become a leading force connecting the worlds of healthier food and thriving soils. 

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“When you commoditize products, you anonymize origin and backstory,” explains Engelsman in describing why he launched food integrity platform: Nature & More.

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The Nature & More “Sustainability Flower” is used to evaluate, manage and communicate the net positive environmental impact and social welfare achievements of organic growers and supply. It’s a sticker that validates production and sourcing claims on each piece of fruit, and a robust platform behind it all that gives it the integrity to make the storytelling stick with consumers.

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If you’re a grower, retailer or consumer like us all – listen-in to this episode to hear how we’ll get to a point of food full of thought.  

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WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN – VIDEO TALK SHOW SERIES

live recorded video conversation w/ Volkert Engelsman

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ABSOLUTELY MONEY

The UN calculates that there are $2.8 Trillion of environmental externalized costs, and $2.1 Trillion in social damage tied directly to extractive models of conventional agriculture. Engelsman says that’s about the equivalent of the total revenues of all food products from around the world. The good news, you’ll hear that the tides are finally changing. “Every contemporary report worth its salt is showing that organic food is not too expensive, but rather conventional food is just too cheap,” – explains Engelsman.

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Growers and suppliers can no longer externalize social and environmental costs that have remained unregulated or unvetted for decades. Simply, the market will no longer allow it. Good food is now being looked at as not only an investment in personal wellbeing, but also as acts of climate & social action. We hear that equitable pricing based on these values of food and its production are to become the new norm to adhere to. With more folks realizing that equitable pricing of food is a surefire way to realize gains in SDG goals – we’re also seeing top level air coverage from political and NGO leaders supporting the production of good food like never before.

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A missing component for large-scale adoption is infrastructure with a track-record for supporting and incentivizing stakeholders to partake in this decommoditization of food. As it turns out, some of the wins from the the Nature-&-More Sustainability Flower (above) ain’t such a bad thing to parlay into preserving more values in all different types of food production. Does the Sustainability Flower have the chops and street cred to work on everything, everywhere? Well, with Volkert pushing it forward – I’d put my money on it.

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DON’T HATE THE PLAYER – HATE THE GAME

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. 

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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, and is designated to review initial working group findings.

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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 17 SDGs.  It is palatable action in every mouthful to benefit people and the planet.  Want to know how – listen in.

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Marketing Mastermind

Guru of Differentiation

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SOIL-UTIONS

in 2015, Engelsman launched a viral initiative to engage everyday citizens, VIPs, and political leaders to “Save our Soils”. With 30 football fields of soil being lost every minute to irresponsible farming practices, this UN-backed Save-Our-Soils initiative aimed to inform consumers about the urgent need to halt the loss of irreplaceable topsoil.

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To amplify the impact Engelsman employed ambassadors like Prince Charles, Julia Roberts, King of the Netherlands, Dalai Lama, Bishop Desmond Tutu, activist Vandana Shiva and conservationist founder of North Face Douglas Tompkins to support efforts in preserving precious soils, and promoting cleaner food production through a fresh look at the true cost accounting of that food. Today, as the world has now awoken to “Soil Health” as a defense against climate change, biodiversity loss, malnutrition and hunger – Volkert has long-since been ahead of the times and keen to embrace the interests of early adopters. Soil Health is nothing new, but maybe our approach to embracing it can be?

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Tune in to hear what Volkert has to say about all the soil health chatter nowadays.

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BETTER FOOD FOR A BETTER LIFE

The Better Life Index aims at comparing the world’s well-being beyond traditional, material measures like GDP. It’s an interactive visualization and a new way of thinking that scorecards performance of countries, or groups of people, based on key indicators that are baked into key lifestyle choices.

The Better Life Index is a matrix of 11 social indicators, “housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, work-life balance” used to assess someone’s expected well being. Taking the outcomes of these nuanced social determinants of health and then harmonizing that with 20 sub-indicators – via averaging and normalization – you get a real fungible score carding framework to assess and impact global well being. You should hear where food fits into this recipe.

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“Tomorrow’s profit will include realities of externalities, and those social and environmental costs – which is precisely what is happening right now in Europe. In fact, you see it (happening) everywhere. This new definition for profit in the future has already been gradually descending into the DNA of financial markets, taxonomies of money, and fiscal incentives of its management. The definition of profit is changing.”

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– Volkert Engelsman, episode 111 guest

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FORCES OF NATURE

Volkert Engelsman

Mastermind Marketer

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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. And friend, 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 small wins, but then more results. It’s consistency of those small wins that gets us to tackling those big dreams.

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twitter: @Nature&More

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photo credit:  EOSTA || EW Magazine || Food Inspiration Magazine || Climate Neutral Group

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FORCES OF NATURE – series

As part of the FORCES OF NATURE series, in this episode you’ll hear from inspiring folks making good things happen to benefit the world.

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–

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until the next drop…

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Benedikt Bösel – Pioneering Land Use
Eric Soubeiran – Forging a Value Chain

series catalog >>

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.8: ft. Agnes Kalibata – Join the Conversation

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE EIGHT:

Join the Conversation:

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Guest: Dr. Agnes Kalibata, UN Special Envoy for Food System Summit

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.8:

What better way to finish off the UN FSS Pre-Summit than to listen to the last episode of the Laying Down Tracks series with guest and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata.  This episode touches on a lot of ground but focuses on the importance of the summit being a “people’s summit” and on the significance of having all voices be part of the Summit process to achieve true food systems transformation and meet all 17 SDG’s.

Whatever problem a country or community is struggling with there is a solution to match. “The fact that too many people are going hungry does not mean that we aren’t producing enough. The challenge is in the inequities that live in our food systems. Through the solution clusters we have been able to mobilize and identify game changing ideas that have been consolidated into 52 solutions,” says Dr. Kalibata as she describes how these innovative solutions can help solve specific challenges in Food Systems.

Don’t miss this last episode on the importance of all actors coming together for true food system transformation and learn more about Dr. Kalibata’s journey on how she came to be so passionate about helping bring this change. 

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks

 

 


credits: 

 

‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep. 7: Paul Polman & Chantelle Nicholson – Good Food For All

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE SEVEN:

Good Food For All

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Guest: Paul Polman, Co-founder & Chair at IMAGINE
Guest: Chantelle Nicholson, chef owner at Tredwells and All’s Well

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.7:

“If you work in silos you will never get these changes implemented because the farmer can’t afford it, but if big corporations come to work together across the value chain; you create value at a different level,” says influencer, businessman and campaigner, Paul Polman (IMAGINE & Unilever). This latest episode is all about how to build a food system that’s dedicated to nutrition and health of people and the planet.

Joining in this conversation  is Chef, writer, and regenerative food system advocate, Chantelle Nicholson, who talks about  the importance of consciousness as the first step and asking questions on where do you buy your food and how many plants are you eating a week, as something we can all do to bring in more good food for all.

Listen to this conversation with Paul, Chantelle, and Aaron as they discuss how we can achieve good for the people and planet, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks


credits: 

 

‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep. 6: Food for all Corners

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE SIX:

Food for All Corners

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Co-host: Ruth Richardson, Executive Director for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Chair of Food Systems Champions Network
Guest: Helianti Hilman, Founder and Executive Chairperson at Javara, and a Food Systems Champion

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.6:

Hope and true collaboration will help drive food system change and stabilize our planet. “Different people have different ways of thinking of food systems and that’s why I am such an advocate on building these systems on values and principles. This is what is going to lead us to a much more hopeful future,” says the Co-host and Executive Director for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Chair of Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson. This latest episode is all about diverse interests coming together to produce food for all corners of the planet. Food system transformation requires a true multi-stakeholder initiative to really make it work.

Joining in this conversation as guest is the Founder and Executive Chairperson at Javara, and a Food Systems Champion, Helianti Hilman who talks about the importance of building the whole supply chain on true collaboration, diversity, inclusion, and respectful relationships with farmers and producers to create true system change.

Listen to this conversation with Ruth, Helianti and host Aaron Niederhelman as they discuss how food systems connect us all and must be built on values to lead us all to a much more hopeful future, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks


credits: 

 

‘Laying Down Tracks’ special episode: Food Solutions for the Forcibly Displaced

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

SPECIAL EPISODE:

Food Solutions for the Forcibly Displaced

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Guest: Valerie Newsom Guarnieri, WFP Assistant Executive Director
Guest: Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner of Operations at the UNHCR
Guest: Malish James, WFP Storyteller refugee

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ special episode:

It’s World Refugee Day and we are bringing to you a special encore episode to tune into. This episode touches on the importance of creating an environment of self-reliance for the more than 80 million people displaced worldwide – approximately the population of Germany. “People leave their home because of food insecurity and then results in even more food insecurity because they cannot produce anymore,” says the Assistant High Commissioner of Operations at the UNHCR, Raouf Mazou.

Episode guest and WFP Assistant Executive Director, Valerie Newsom, similarly echoes the importance of creating self-reliance: “A big problem for a lot of refugees is access to land. One exciting solution we have been working on is adapting a low-tech hydroponics technique that allow people to grow food in impossible places. Whenever there is an opportunity with a little bit of land for refugees to grow some of their food needs, we take that opportunity.”

Listen to this conversation with Raouf, Valerie, and WFP Storyteller refugee Malish James as they discuss who the forcibly displaced really represent and why we are seeing such an increase in number, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks

 

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep. 5: ft. Nate Mook – CEO, World Central Kitchen – System Resilience

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE FIVE:

System Resilience

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Guest: Nate Mook, CEO of World Central Kitchen

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.5:

What better way to celebrate Sustainable Gastronomy Day than to listen to the latest episode of Laying Down Tracks? This episode touches on the importance of bringing resilience into food systems transformation as one of the most vital things to enable communities to bounce back from a crises and environmental shock.

“Food too often is seen as a commodity, as an object. It is often seen as a logistical problem. But it is about sharing a fresh nourishing plate to uplift spirits and make people feel like things will get better,” says CEO for World Central Kitchen, Nate Mook, who discusses with host Aaron the importance of shifting how we respond to crisis.

Listen to this conversation on the importance of building resilience to vulnerabilities and creating long term food security, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks


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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep. 4: ft. Shakuntala Thilsted and Jemimah Njuki – Equitable Livelihoods & Women’s Empowerment

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE FOUR:

Equitable Livelihoods, Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Co-host: Dr Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Lead of the Summit’s Gender Lever of Change
Guest: Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted, the Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at World Fish, and 2021 World Food Prize Laureate.

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What better way to mark World Oceans Day then listening to episode 4 of Laying Down Tracks? This week’s episode brings a fascinating discussion about planet, gender equality, and how we can best engage with the Ocean. “We need women’s voices and leadership to be prominent in food systems. It’s the only way to guarantee that food systems are just. I’ve been working as the custodian for gender equality…working with all of the Action Track leaders…to make sure that gender equality, the empowerment of women, is embedded in these solutions,” says Dr. Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Lead of the Summit’s Gender Lever of Change, who joins Aaron as co-host in this conversation about equitable livelihoods, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Aquatic foods in the future can become a key forum for equality and inclusion. Guest in this episode, Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted, The Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at World Fish, and 2021 World Food Prize Laureate, explains how she hopes that winning the Food Prize will inspire young women and girls to study science: “It is extremely rewarding, extremely invigorating-you can reach far – and you can have a good time!” she says.

Listen to this conversation on gender equality, and women empowerment within the aquatic food economy as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit/laying-down-tracks

www.SourcingMatters.show


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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep. 3: ft. Joao Campari and Peter Thomson – Nature-Based Production

a UN Food System Summit & Sourcing Matters miniseries

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 8-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.  Listen now to Laying Down Tracks (LDTs) to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

EPISODE THREE:

Nature-Based Production

Host: Aaron Niederhelman, Sourcing Matters podcast
Co-host: Joao Campari, Global Leader of the WWF’s Food Practice and Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 3
Guest: Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean

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‘Laying Down Tracks’ ep.3:

The oceans and their coastal areas are an essential component of the Earth’s ecosystem hosting between 500,000 and 10 million species that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. “We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy oceans, and in any global discussion on biodiversity the ocean must be front-and-centre,” explains Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, who is a guest on this episode, co-hosted by Joao Campari, Global Leader of the WWF’s Food Practice and Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 3.

Approximately 3 billion people in the world rely on wild-caught and farmed seafood as a primary source of protein, while at the same time agriculture uses up 38 percent of the global land surface. Whether on land or at sea, we are using up our precious resources and destroying others that can help us recover like biodiversity. With only nine more harvests remaining on a promise to meet the SDGs by 2030, it is important we find the right balance both for the health of our planet but also for the health of people everywhere.

Listen to this conversation on nature-based solutions and the blue economy as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.


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