Thoughts from Ag 2.0 - a conference on food and finance - Palo Alto, CA

Thanks to Slow Money NW for sending me down to Palo Alto, CA for the Ag 2.0 conference. It has been a truly worthwhile experience. The day was billed as "where the sustainable agriculture industry is being defined, built and funded" and special energy was placed on private equity. So coming in I knew that there would be diverse paradigms in the room - from EcoFarm attendees to the titans of industrial agriculture and from angel investors to venture fund managers. For instance, right now I am listening to a panel with Con Agra, JR Simplot, Toro Micro-Irrigation, and Dow Venture Capital. Haven Baker of JR Simplot just stated (paraphrased) that one of their sustainable initiatives is the development of genetically engineered potatoes using only potato genes (rather than importing genes from other species).

Moments earlier I shared a rich conversation with Jeremiah Ridenour, Founder and CEO of Wise Solutions, a manufacturer of Organic pesticides. And still earlier I spoke with Kevin Kopcynski of Rockport Capital about VC investments in clean tech and Arati Prabhakar of US Venture Partners. I've heard pitches from entrepreneurs in land based and open water fish farming, precision agriculture, and online technologies that help build regional infrastructure. The day is closing soon and I'm tired and content. Yesterday I shared meals with with Ari Rubenstein, his wife, and daughter Yamaya on his boat in Alameda, and Jenny Kassan of Katovich Law Group in Oakland. The meeting with Jenny was - as usual - tremendously rich. After sitting down with her at a local Cajun restaurant, I opened up my notebook and scribbled frantically for an hour; she is a treasure of information and enthusiasm.

Seattle farmers markets donated more than 23 tons of produce to food banks in 2009

Last year the farmers selling produce at Seattle NFMA farmers markets (University District, West Seattle, Columbia City, Lake City, Magnolia, Broadway Sunday and Phinney) donated 47,000 lbs. of produce to Seattle food banks.

NFMA director Chris Curtis says "food bank shelves are generally devoted to shelf stable processed food.  Our neighborhood food banks tell us they are thrilled to receive this high quality, totally fresh and nutritionally dense produce every week.  The produce is generally collected at the end of the market day by food bank volunteers, then stored, packaged and distributed to food bank clients within 48 hours."

Obesity epidemic starts before birth - LA Times and Systems Diagram

This morning the LA Times reported that obesity can start before birth and that 1 in 3 American children are overweight. According to the article, mothers who are overweight going into pregnancy are more likely to have overweight or underweight children.

The causes of childhood obesity are extremely complex. To get an idea of just how complex, check out this systems diagram from Shiftn.

Are foreign governments pioneering American energy?

Bottleneck forms as US government tries to increase access to loans for green energy projects. While Japan invests in  smart grid technology in New Mexico, Energy Secretary Chu explains US efforts to keep up with China.

FDA releases warning letters; must read for start-up Private Brands

http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ucm202784.htm
http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ucm202859.htm

If you are developing a private brand, think twice about how you are representing your product at point of sale.

Tom Douglas opening restaurants in the Terry Ave Building - So Lake Union

http://bit.ly/bM9LS3

Asked Guy Kawasaki some questions tonight - rattled in afterthought

Guy was a guest lecturer in my BGI class tonight and I had the chance to ask him a few questions about the role and interest of the Venture Capital community in sustainable enterprise. I was disappointed in - actually angry is probably a better description - his unwillingness to acknowledge that certain LOHAS markets such as organic retail and clean tech are becoming profit centers.

It wasn't a one-on-one and given that I love his books I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he recognizes the burgeoning markets and the $100'sM in interest from VC but was trying to put that into perspective compared to the larger trends in finance.

I think I'm disappointed for another reason. Guy is a leader. And I want to see a leader with a positive vision. Instead of saying that we should make our money in conventional industry so that we might one day be able to give philanthropically, I wanted to hear him lay out a vision for how business will begin to find profitability that isn't built on externalization of costs. The UN recently reported that the top 3,000 multi-national corporations are creating $2.2T in environmental damage each year. I wanted him to tell us how business can effect positive change.

Misinformed Atlantic Monthly Article by Helene York

I imagine that as director of strategic initiatives for Bon Appetit Management Company, Helene York has access to hundreds of chefs who are trying to source more local food. I know she must because as Regional Manager for Growers Collaborative, LLC I worked with dozens of BAMCO professionals and witnessed their consistent commitment to supporting regional farms.

The problem is, Helene says many things that contrast with my experiences and even - I'll go out on a limb - mislead future initiatives.

First off, cost IS a major factor. Saying that sourcing more organic and local produce will not significantly impact your bottom line is overly simplistic. A Sodexo chef of a major university recently told me that his bottom line was suffering due to a switch to local produce until he moved from an 'All You Care to Eat' (I guess all you can eat is no longer PC) to single plate servings. But he had to think about how to restructure his pricing in order to reduce costs.

Next up meat. That is really cool that BAMCO chefs are butchering their own cuts. James Beard award winning chef Maria Hines recently talked about working with custom butchers to select atypical (and often less expensive) cuts in order to cut costs while delivering premium local product.

Yes, volume can be an impediment to sourcing local produce. However: big companies like SYSCO are starting to source locally (this is for real, local produce from select small, values-based farms); mid sized companies like OGC and Charlies have been offering traceable local product for years; and small mission driven companies like Growers Collaborative and Red Tomato are sourcing exclusively from local growers. The key to volume and consistency is to use a distributor that has small- AND mid-sized local growers. The mid-size growers set the bar for food safety while providing excellence in cold chain management and delivery.

In regards  to "School schedules are an ironic obstacle." she is dead on. Ironic as hell.

farmer fisher chef connection

Just spent a great day with the Seattle foodie community. Farmers, chefs, brokers, eaters all milling about and eating good food. Luxurious. Poppy Tooker talked about conserving through consumption. Eat the foods you want to preserve.