I started 2024 with a strong belief that something needed to change in our food system, and that regenerative agriculture was the solution to it.
How can we make regenerative agriculture the default option?
Although I had been thinking about this question for a few years, I had failed to make actual progress in getting involved.
So I came up with something new.
1 – What was the 12-in-12 project?
The idea behind the 12-in-12 project was to use 2024 to work on 1 thing per month that:
- Brought me closer to my mission
- Created an output after I was done
- Forced me to meet new people
Here are the projects I did:
- January: create a database for products from regenerative agriculture
- February: create database for regenerative CPG brands
- March: project around measuring regenerative agriculture
- April: project around regenerative supply chains
- May: starting a fig orchard in Belgium
- August: harvesting old grains
- September: art project about companies that enable pesticide use
- October: research on food safety for food startup
- November: Fresh Ventures program
- December: Regenerative Christmas boxes
(To learn more, check my post at the start of the project and the halfway check-in).
It was a pretty weird way to work. Not having a clear goal but being on the road of discovery.
But unlike the 3 years before, I did get some good insights at this industry.
I managed to do some volunteering for great companies, shadowing some great people.
And I quickly discovered that there were no jobs.
Actually, I discovered the opposite. There is an abundance of really amazing people who want to contribute their time and skills, even for free, to make a difference.
Right now the only way to create these jobs is to start a business.
That’s why I joined the Fresh Ventures accelerator. You can read all about my first 2 months in this post.
The program has now ended, so a great way to reflect on where it got me vs a year ago.
I have clarity on where I want to go and how I can focus my efforts.
2 – The Fresh Ventures Pressure cooker
Fresh Ventures runs an investment fund that invests in startups that want to change the food system. In order to find good investments, they run a program to bring together people and ideas to form companies.
The program was a 4-month-long pressure cooker.
The people
I’ve been part of a few different communities in my (professional) life. And there is something about the regenerative agriculture community that hits different.
The existing agrifood system is so massive, and the challenges that we as changemakers face are so huge, that we can’t do it by ourselves.
We’re totally in a bubble, but we’re also on the ground floor of where this movement will go.
The unique thing about the people in this program is that everyone quit what they were doing before in order to do the next thing.
It’s rare that you meet people who are at a similar point in life, thinking in the same direction, and willing to partner up.
But it’s the combination of great people and high expectations that pushes you to do great work.
Even though the program has finished now, I’m very curious to see what everyone will do and how our paths will cross again.
The program
The program itself started out with a deep dive into the problems that plague the food system.
We had experts joining us, did field visits, a lot of work in groups that allowed us to dive deep into the problem areas that we thought were most interesting.
2 months to do this sounds like a lot of time. But it passed VERY quickly. And halfway in, the program shifted from looking at problems to coming up with solutions, deeply exploring them, getting validation and feedback.
I’ve been really interested in the areas of regenerative food brands.
So my regenerative gift baskets were one of the first iterations of that idea.
Systems change
One of the most important things that I’m taking away from this program is the focus on systems change.
If you want to make impact, you have to figure out where in the system you want to intervene.
Building a new venture is risky, takes a long time and will require a ton of blood, sweat and tears. So you want to make sure that you’re pursuing the right thing.
One of the books that is an amazing resource on this is Thinking in systems by Donella Meadows.
The concept of leverage points and where to intervene in the system to creating meaningful and lasting change.
3 – Joining Gabanna
During the Fresh Ventures program, I met Sean, a food developer who was working in Blue City, the office building where the program took place.
He had participated in the first cohort of the Fresh Ventures program, and his idea had morphed into Gabanna Foodworks, a food manufacturing company.
Going into the program, I strongly had the belief that the right path forward would be to create a regenerative version of everything that is for sale in the supermarket.
His approach was a little different. Trying to convince people why they should buy the regenerative version of a product is an uphill battle.
Instead, why not create unique and cool products that emphasize why regenerative is so great?
His zone of genius is about developing amazing products.
Quickly, it became clear that he was doing everything on his own, and he could use help to build the business.
Mainly with selling the product.
Talked more and more and did a few test projects: produce pasta and develop a good investor deck.
So I joined him.
I’ll do a proper intro on the company in a future post, along with exactly the challenges and how we’re planning on tackling them!
What’s next?
Gabanna was selected as one of 5 companies from this cohort. Practically, it means Fresh Ventures becomes an investor in the company, providing some funding, coaching and help to grow.
To be continued!
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