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

series catalog >>

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ep.114: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Sara Farley

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

– six-part miniseries –

SARA FARLEY

VP, Global Food Portfolio

The Rockefeller Foundation

FORCES OF NATURE

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Food as Climate & Social Action

Sara Farley in episode 114

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

FEEDING A SHRINKING PLANET

HAS BECOME A BIG TICKET

AGENDA ITEM

For 110 years it’s been the mission of the Rockefeller Foundation to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. But this year something has changed. The existential threat of a changing climate has become so great that they’ve evolved their primary focus to become a climate-first foundation. The reality is the climate crisis is a human crisis, so this all makes sense. Looking ahead as conditions and impacts worsen, benefactors like The Rockefeller Foundation seek strategies to stabilize the planet and improve the human condition in one fell swoop.

We’ll see climate action in many forms over the next decade, but what feeds us may just possess the greatest potential to drive lasting change across large and diverse populations. Food and its production impact everyone; everyday. In fact, improving food systems and supporting the proper management of the resources required to produce more food in the years ahead is a pillar of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate-First mission.

From reducing externalities, protecting biodiversity, evolving extractive and input heavy production models, promoting ample nutrient security, banking carbon and reducing wasted food – improving the food system is chock-full of opportunity where sound investment leads to actions with mutually-beneficial rewards for people and planet. It’s clear that actions to improve food for more has potential for sustained impact on all.

“Climate change is already hurting the most vulnerable first and worst. If the world continues with business as usual, and the planet grows warmer by 3 degrees or more, life will become unbearable for many of the people we serve.”

– Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation

BIG INVESTMENT IN RESPONSIBLE FOOD

With a storied history supporting the greater good, The Rockefeller Foundation investments in food-as-climate-&-social-action will cast a long-shadow over the future of giving. Furthermore, documenting the lasting wins for the poorest to the wealthiest populations will influence State sponsored resources and traditional investment dollars seeking the mutually-beneficial returns from taking food actions.

watch the full 40 minute episode

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FOOD AS CLIMATE & SOCIAL ACTION

Sara Farley leads the global portfolio for The Rockefeller Foundation’s food team. In this capacity she is driving the Foundation’s inaugural regenerative food systems strategy and leading the articulation of a “Big Bet” for Food + Climate for the foundation. Sara is leading such signature initiatives as the Food Systems Vision Prize, and directs the diet quality portfolio and is expanding the good food purchasing portfolio and true cost accounting work globally with the aim of shifting the diet quality of 500 million underserved people by 2030.

#ForcesOfNature 

“We’re working to advance the evidence. Where looking at how to build a network of proof points.

We’re evaluating how to leverage those proof points to activate Regenerative Natural Resources and all of those wonderful (supporting) conversations, to transition from synthetic conventional agriculture to this alternative paradigm.”

– Sara Farley

The Rockefeller Foundation has earmarked fundamental changes to improve the U.S. food system

The Rockefeller Foundation has explored how to transform the U.S. food system with long horizon investments to promote healthy people, thriving communities and a stabile planet. The components detailed in their research are as follows:

COMPONENTS FOR CHANGE:

1) Integrated Nutrition

2) Regional Systems

3) Everyone Wins

1) More integrated nutrition security system

  • Strengthen nutrition benefit programs to ensure children and families are fed.
  • Invest public and private funding in school food programs as anchors of community feeding.
  • Expand Food is Medicine.

2) Reinvigorated regional systems

  • Ensure relief and stimulus policies improve the resilience of supply chains and strengthen local systems.
  • Direct the purchasing power of large institutions along a values-based (equitable, ethical, sustainable) supply chain.

3) Equitable prosperity throughout the supply chain

  • Enforce mandatory guidelines to keep workers and the food supply safe.
  • Provide credit, loan servicing, and debt relief for farmers and ranchers.
  • Increase prosperity of farmers, ranchers, and fishers by more equitably distributing risk and profit.

“3 billion people can’t afford a healthy diet. That’s almost 50% of the people on the planet. And then, many of the people that just barely can afford a healthy diet are reliant on government systems that have not been optimized for the sustainability footprint, and often not optimized for nutrition.”

– Sara Farley

promoting Regen

as food & climate solutions for a just and stable tomorrow

SARA FARLEY

VICE PRESIDENT

GLOBAL FOOD

PORTFOLIO

REGENERATING ACROSS A SPECTRUM

At the Rockefeller Foundation they have embraced the benefits of regenerative food production across a spectrum. The transition away from big ag won’t be easy, but from what Sara tells us – it’s all about the long game. “Regenerative agriculture is not just one thing. It covers a range of outcomes, and the practices to achieve beneficial impact on varied landscapes,” says Farley, VP of Global Food Portfolio at The Rockefeller Foundation.

Sara talks to us about just how important it is for like-minded benefactors to collaborate on big Regen efforts moving forward. “It’s not just the size of the undertaking to transition towards regenerative that requires funders to go at it together; it’s because of the multiple complexities that we’ll face in supporting the transition,” explains Farley.

“Well, sure… regenerative is just a term for the natural ecological process where everything is renewed in the process of using it. Regenerative agriculture is knowing how to work within that natural system to grow our food.”

– Fred Kirschenmann, SMs guest ep. #001

The Rockefeller Foundation Regen Overview

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to food production that starts with the soil and includes the health of people, animals, and the environment. Regenerative farming principles have roots in Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge and food systems that have been with us for thousands of years. Now, braided with fresh innovations, they offer direction and hope for a planet grappling with the extremes of climate change and an industrialized food system operating outside of planetary boundaries.

GABE BROWN’S FIVE PRINCIPLES OF REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE:

  1. No disturbance (no-till, no-synthetics)
  2. Bolstering Soil’s Natural Defense (the outer-layer protecting all that life)
  3. Bio-diversity (marrying nature’s way keeps the system healthy)
  4. A living root in the ground as long as possible (cover-crops & seasonal diversity)
  5. Animal & Insect integration (nature relies on the system working together)

– Gabe Brown, SMs guest ep. #052

GETTING BETTER WITH EVERY COP

“Food arrived at COP27. We no longer the little kid at the back of the room. We did have a voice. There were 200 food focus in Egypt. There 4 or 5 Food-focused pavilions. It felt like a feast. What was also existing was the food conversation wasn’t only in the food pavilion, but food was central to climate discussions in all COP pavilions,” Sara shared while explaining some of the good things that came from COP 27.

“I think within the food tent we need more discipline. We need to get clearer and sharper for what we’re advocating for. Let’s tighten up the aperture. Let’s become very clear about high ambition countries. Let’s come clear about Regen financing mechanisms, and I think we’ll come to a shorter list to COP 28.”

– Sara Farley on what to expect in UAE

COP 28 will take place in the United Arab Emirates. The summit will be held at Expo City Dubai from November 30th until December 12th, 2023. Enthusiasm and anticipation are already building. Farley explains, “There’s a series commitment going into COP28. With the leadership that minister Al Mheiri and her team are showing in the UAE to put food at the absolute center of this year’s climate summit will be. We would be foolish not to take the opportunity and really get serious about trying to be as deeply collaborative as we can to advance that agenda.”

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LASTING CHANGES

Previously to the Rockefeller Foundation, Farley co-founded the Global Knowledge Initiative, which she led for a decade, nurturing it from a concept to an organization designated as one of the “Top 100 Social Innovations for the next century.” During her time at GKI, Sara cultivated a dynamic team that she led in the design and execution of GKI’s programs in systems research and evaluation, network optimization, and collaborative innovation strategy setting, work that included serving as The Rockefeller Foundation’s Social Innovation Lab on Waste & Spoilage.

With “80% of the $600-800 Billion in global (food) subsidies still supporting industrial agriculture,” Sara sees a great deal of upside for the whole Regen movement. According to recent Rockefeller Foundation analysis, between $5B – $13B is being invested in Regen. So, what kind of critical-mass would develop with even 10% of the total subsidy budget being allocated to Regen?

One idea that the Rockefeller Foundation is spitballing with other funders is the creation of acceleration facilities that would offer technical assistance and matchmaking into current fragmented regional landscapes. The ultimate goal here is strategic investment for lasting climate & social benefit.

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CALL TO ARMS

“For The Rockefeller Foundation food team – our food & climate strategy is around Regen and agro-ecology. We will be working on: 1. a (food quality) measurements framework, 2. this global network – connecting the proof points, 3. trying to link-up, mobilize and facilitate multiple funders to bring substantial financial commitment to Regen.”

– Sara Farley, ep. 114 guest

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(t) @InnovationWoman

@RockefellerFDN

photo credit:  Rockefeller Foundation || Sara Farley Twitter media

FORCES OF NATURE

Sara Farley

“I think within the food tent we need more discipline. We need to get clearer and sharper for what we’re advocating for. Let’s tighten up the aperture. Let’s become very clear about high ambition countries. Let’s come clear about Regen financing mechanisms, and I think we’ll come to a shorter list to COP 28.”

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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 people and planet.

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Benedikt Bösel – Pioneering Land Use
Eric Soubeiran – Forging a Value Chain
FORCES OF NATURE miniseries

complete catalog >>

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ep.113: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Benedikt Bösel

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

-guest: Benedikt Bösel

FORCES OF NATURE

Benedikt Bösel

Gut & Bösel Land Use Proprietor · Regenerative Pioneer

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miniseries

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Benedikt Bösel – Pioneering Land Use · whole new ball of wax · ep. 113

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES IN LAND USE

Benedikt Bösel is founder and CEO of Gut & Bösel, a 3,000 hectare ecological farm and land use research center east of Berlin, Germany.  The site is quickly becoming an epicenter for the future of food & fiber production.  It’s the whole ball of wax from regenerative food production practice, forestry management, savvy land use, stewardship initiatives, animal centric integration, and even a royal bed & breakfast to welcome new guests to the movement. It’s a gem of a spot and a big win for EU Regen.

In 2016, Benedikt took over management of the land that’s been in his family for 300 years. He changed the operating system to farm and forest by improving the ecology. In just a few short years, Gut & Bösel has grown from a concept to now tabulating positive outcomes of systemic land use management trials.   Brought together in Brandenburg, this epicenter will expand everyone’s capabilities to understand and to work smarter with natural systems. 

live recorded video conversation w/ Benedikt Bösel

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Buy-in has been good. Agtech is woven into the fabric of this innovation hot-bed, and influential players from around the Brandenburg region, across Germany and throughout Europe have responded to Gut & Bösel with resounding support. In the blink of an eye, Benedikt has laid the foundation for a Stone Barns, EURO.

ACCORDING TO GUT & BÖSEL SITE: (translated)

“Between forest and research, cows and compost, agroforestry and arable farming – this is how we research and develop different forms of multifunctional land use.“

#ForcesOfNature 

“An hour east of Berlin, Thor Odinson’s overachieving German cousin Benedikt Bösel pushes the REGEN envelope on a parcel the size of 6000 soccer pitches!”

THE WHOLE NEW BALL OF WAX

GUT & BÖSEL ECOLOGICAL LAND USE EPICENTER

GUT & BÖSEL
Land Use Testing & Research Center
Alt Madlitz, Brandenburg, Germany

– Ecological Agriculture

– Agroforestry

– Forestry

– Plant Nursery & Germination

– Animal Centric Pasture Management

– Compost Farming

– Contemporary Research Institution–

– Park & Agri-Tourism Center

– AgTech Hub

– Early-Stage Company Incubator

– Jobs Creator

– Community Builder

– Movement Leader

FARMING THE ELEMENTS

The Brandenburg region has little precipitation and very sandy soils. It’s a challenging place to farm. Benedikt came to Alt Madlitz with a grand idea. Then drought came, and everything changed. This forced him to innovate years before originally planned. Benedikt doubled down on closing the nutrient cycling loop of ecology to keep healthy production from his land. He weathered that storm and continues to build resiliency.

Through holistic pasture management, composting, syntropic agroforestry and forest conversion, and even the development of new software and technology – the stellar team at Gut & Bösel are working on methods of multifunctional agriculture to build healthy and thriving ecosystems. So much more to come.

farming for our future

AWARD WINNING EFFORTS & DEFT TOUCH

Benedikt was named 2022 Farmer of the Year in Germany by the Federal Minister of Agriculture. The Gut & Bösel team was recently the subject of a six-part Disney+ miniseries titled ‘The Farm Experiment‘, which is expected to drop in 2023. The release of a book sharing more of the good, the bad and the journey to date is on the docket.

In ep. #113 we chat about the soon to begin World Cup 2022. You get some insight into Benedikt’s POV on global affairs, and where he believes change is going to come from. We also learn that despite being a German football fan at heart, it’s the NBA that gets Benedikt to kick back and have a few beers. In fact, it’s my hometown Boston Celtics may be his team. Go GREEN (C’s & The Planet). I’m pulling for team USA in Qatar, but no matter what happens I’m just excited to see the beautiful game played on its grandest stage.  Despite all the problems that brings.

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“I realized that we have to dramatically change the system, and the philosophy of our land use models.  We were already doing agriculture in an ecological standard on the farm, but it was far from building soil, and looking after soil fertilizing and ecosystem health.  That’s how we started on our journey to discover what alternative land use models are out there to turn the situation around.”

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– Benedikt Bösel, episode 113 guest

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CALL TO ARMS

Benedikt is glass-half-full kinda of guy. That’s his nature. He’s also a trained investment banking who has sniffed this out as a business growth opportunity. Interest in smarter foods and fiber has become ripe, and as the regenerative movement brews – we’ll see more of these products hit mainstream. Sure, carbon markets monopolize much of the current discussions, and there’s all kinds of greenwashing of intents happening out there. This call to action is to elevate the conversation; to focus only on regenerative natural systems of ecology to grow our foods and fiber.

twitter: @BenediktBoesel

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photo credits:  Werde Magazine || ZEIT ONLINE || tagesspiegel || Food Matters Live

FORCES OF NATURE

Benedikt Bösel

Thor Odinson’s overachieving German cousin Benedikt Bösel is pushing the envelope on a REGENERATIVE landscape just East of Berlin, Germany. On 3000 hectares of land and with hundreds of team members / supporters – they’re proving-out, and showcasing what regenerative land use can look like.

Is this what the future of estate management and succession looks like?!

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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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Henk Ovink – World Water Super Agent
Eric Soubeiran – Forging a Value Chain
FORCES OF NATURE

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

series catalog >>

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ep.110: FORCES OF NATURE -ft. Henk Ovink

– guest: Henk Ovink

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

FORCES OF NATURE

miniseries

Henk Ovink

Special Envoy International Water Affairs, Netherlands

2023 UN Water Conference Sherpa

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6-part series

.6-part miniseries

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Henk Ovink · World Water SuperAgent episode: 110

.6-part miniseries

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by: Aaron Niederhelman

QUARTERBACKING

A WATER SMART

PLAYBOOK

SOURCING MATTERS

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.

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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 once in a generation Water Conference happening in March of 2023. We welcome Henk Ovink to show.

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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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WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN – VIDEO TALK SHOW SERIES

WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN – video conversation w/ Henk Ovink

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HOW HE GOT HERE

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.

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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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A SUPERSTORM 10 YEARS OUT

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 Foundation 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 “resilience” in infrastructure rebuilds following future incidents.

Lend an ear to hear what’s still happening with the clean-up efforts, and the new policy framework still in play a decade after Hurricane Sandy.

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World Water SuperAgent

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THE MASTER ARCHITECT

In our 35 minute conversation with World Water SuperAgent Henk Ovink we learn about some of the biggest issues that will need to be addressed in both fresh and sea water. After decades of experience, Ovink has come to the realization that water is leverage.  Currently, water is barely a commodity in most markets, but that worth will become invaluable for generations ahead. We hear how resiliency is the ability to bounce-back, and how we must embrace incidents of natural disasters to adopt changes in practice and mind-set and develop that capacity to bounce back. It’s not about building back bigger, but smarter.  It’s just too expensive to wait any longer.

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CALL TO ACTION

Currently, 70% of accessible freshwater across the global is used for agricultural irrigation. In some regions that percentage tops 90%. Henk explains that 71% of the planet is covered in water, but only 4% is sweet (fresh) water, and only ½ % of that is available for our consumption. With more and more pollutants, sewage, runoff, forever chemicals and other contaminants clean potable fresh water is a valuable and scarce resource that we can no longer squander. Our process for growing food with antiquated agricultural practice is concerning in a world running up against planetary boundaries. Being Good Natured about wasting water just doesn’t make sense anymore.

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“Water is connected to everything. As Ban Ki-Moon said, water is life! Without water there is no food, no energy, and no security. With poor quality water there’s biodiversity loss and human health issues. Billions of people around the world lack access to clean drinking water, and hygiene/sanitation facilities. An understanding for the complexity of all of these relationships and managing them across all sectors, disciplines and scales isn’t happening. Water management is just fragmented and often in a silo. That’s what we’re going to change.” – ep. 110 guest, Henk Ovink

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twitter: @HenkOvink

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FORCES OF NATURE

Henk Ovink

World Water SuperAgent

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BEHAVIORAL CHANGE

The methodology and technology for sound water management behavior is coming online around the planet. Hopefully we can all start paying more attention to what Henk has to say, and use this call to action to get involved – in our own way – in dealing with something bigger than ourselves by being smarter for ourselves.

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photo credit:  Evert van der Worp || NY TIMES || Jump the Gap || Government of the Netherlands

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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.

.

–

.

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

series catalog >>

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