The Core Question: Why The Future Of Food Is About Relationships

I founded Terramera to transform how food is grown and the economics of agriculture. But I’m not the only one who’s striving to change the world. In “The Core Question” I'm sharing my learnings and talking to purpose-driven leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers about some of the most important questions we’re facing today. My goal is to start a conversation, so please read, comment and subscribe! This month…?

A Q&A With Brian Smith?

This year, we’ve been thrilled to welcome regenerative farmer and renowned impact investor Brian Smith at Terramera. As our Vice President, Regenerative Finance, he helps create new financing models and builds partnerships with investors looking to support nature-based solutions. Like me, Brian is driven to have an impact in the world. Previously Brian was a co-founding partner with Rhiza Capital where he applied business principles for positive social and environmental impact. He is also a regenerative farmer, and the co-founder and board chair of Persephone Brewing Company –– “The Beer Farm.” Persephone is the only Certified B Corp brewery in Western Canada. And as if his resume wasn’t inspiring enough, Brian was a key partner in making Sole Food Street Farms a reality. The 3.1-acre farm in downtown Vancouver channels the power of farming as a way of healing our world and ourselves. Conversations with Brian are always enriching. Here’s what he shared with me recently:?

What do you think the biggest gap is in getting more people onboard with regenerative? Honestly, I believe our food and agriculture system is broken in some tragic ways. Even deeper –– our relationships are broken, too. The relationship between farmer and consumer is almost non-existent. The relationships within our food and agriculture value chain are at best exploitive if not destructive. The consumer doesn’t have a relationship to the animals we eat, we refer to pollinators as pests and give our land management tools names like “soil destroyer.” To bring more people into a regenerative relationship with our food system we must heal our relationship with nature. Regenerative farmers recognize the land, the soil, pollinators and animals are each integral to the health of the whole system, their own health and that of their kin for generations to come. To quote Aldo Leopold, “We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

The pandemic disrupted many industries. Were there any ways in which COVID-19 changed your work for the better? I’m going to stick with a theme … relationships. It’s not as simple as saying everyone’s relationships got better by being stuck in closer quarters for two years. The virus, vaccinations and policy measures had us debating the most important relational dynamics and our place in it all. Am I wearing this mask for me or for her? Should I get vaccinated for my family, for my employer or for my community? Are there others suffering more than I am??

As we’ve navigated adversity we’ve seen both our strengths and shortcomings highlighted. I’ve been fortunate to see changes and growth in various ways. As a farmer I was inspired to see our local food system respond to early lockdowns with care for the most vulnerable. As a father, I appreciate less travel and more time at home. As a worker I miss in-person office interactions. My businesses lost good people as they re-evaluated where they want to spend their energy day in and day out. And, as an impact business leader, I’ve seen people gravitate toward the intersection of meaning, work, and money. I’ve seen investors re-evaluate their portfolios not for the conventional risk-return profile but for the positive impact they could have. We’ve also seen people’s relationship to nature begin to heal. The trails in my community are getting more traffic than I’ve seen in the last 16 years. Our farm-based brewery has seen an increase in visitors where others, without outdoor spaces, are seeing declining sales. I think the momentum behind regenerative agriculture is growing now more than ever because of COVID, not in spite of it.

What’s the leadership advice you wish you had gotten 10 years ago? Enjoy the ride. It may seem counterintuitive because as leaders we are always thinking strategy, can-do, and “make it happen!” Too rarely have I looked for opportunities to step back and let others lead. It can be hard for a leader to let go with so much at risk, however, each time I do, someone else finds the opportunity to bring a new, exciting element to the forefront. Generally, I can be pretty effective, but I’ve also learned that, at times, the most effective thing to do is just get out of the way. We recently gave a dedicated employee at Persephone a promotion to run virtually all day-to-day operations, allowing me to focus on my work with Terramera. Taking that step back might be the best thing I could have done. She’s thriving in this new role, making the company, team, and myself better for it. Of course, as leaders we cannot absolve ourselves of responsibilities to employees, shareholders, and partners. Ten years ago I would have scoffed at the notion, but today … I’m learning to enjoy the ride.?

What’s one way you’ve grown in the last year, either personally or professionally, that you’re proud of? I have a lot of work in front of me, but I’m learning to let others know my vulnerability. One of the hardest things I did last year was ask my management team to give me compliments. I know that may sound egotistical for a CEO (much less an able-bodied white man) to ask, however it was important for me to let my colleagues know I don’t feel loved at times. In my experience, people in leadership –– perhaps especially founders, CEOs and entrepreneurs –– feel very alone. The power dynamics, risk and responsibilities, and minimal peer networks prevent people from feeling well-supported and loved in their work, especially when things aren’t going well.?

I grew up with a father who I love deeply and consider a core element of who I’ve become, yet I’ve never seen him cry. I know he loved me but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard him say those words. Having and raising children has been the most important experience of my life and they’ve helped me grow in innumerable ways. I make darn sure they know I love them and in spite of being aware that it’s OK to cry, I don’t, at least not in front of them. We talk a lot about that and I’m trying to be a role model who embraces a belief that our greatest growth comes from our greatest weaknesses.?

You’ve worked with incredible initiatives like Sole Food Street Farms. What did that experience teach you about what food production and agriculture means to a community? I hope this isn’t getting redundant, but it’s still about relationships. Sole Food started because of trusting relationships between Seann Dory, Michael Ableman and me. We then built a relationship with a landowner who donated the first urban farm location in Vancouver. The relationships between farmers, between farmers and their products, between food and our health … they’re all connected and THAT is what food means to the community. With Sole Food we saw people struggling with mental illness and addictions providing for their community. The complex, adaptive web of relationships amongst people, nature and food is the community for which we all yearn. It nurtures us in more ways than we know.

Your career has included a lot of interesting and successful adventures. What inspired you to join Terramera? Regenerative agriculture is the next industrial revolution and only with technology will it come about expeditiously enough to help us mitigate and adapt to climate change. And yet, robots aren’t going to lead this revolution, people are. As I built a regenerative farm over the past nine years, I was watching Terramera as a portfolio company of Renewal Funds and then of Rhiza Capital. I’ve been consistently impressed with the leadership and the company’s ability to marry seemingly unhuman, even robotic, technology with a vision that brings us in line with nature. I left my role as CEO of Rhiza Capital in July 2021 and was on my farm picking blueberries when you visited, Karn. We sat down for a beer and I told you how excited I was to see the direction that Terramera was going in and we discussed how it was going to take an extra lift, including regenerative finance, to get this nature-based solution to scale and have an impact. Terramera is going to make a positive impact and I’m happy to be playing a small role in making it happen.????

What activity or routine is essential to your personal well-being that you can’t do without? Cycling keeps me healthy and sane. If you can’t find me at my computer or at my farm, I’m probably on two wheels.?

What has been a through line in your career and why? Impact. I’ve always been driven to contribute and make a positive impact in my world, country, community and, most importantly, my relationships. “How can I do more?” is the question most often driving my ambition. From working with youth to people with disabilities, almost a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside to building impact investment funds, there always seems to be far more that I could be doing. I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome more than once in my career and what usually pulls me through is a deep belief that part of my calling is to have an impact.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Thank you so much, Brian, for sharing your thoughts and experiences. My take-away: it’s long past time we channel love, care and energy into all of our relationships –– from how we relate to the natural world, to personal connections, to our wider systems –– everything is connected. Follow Brian’s work here.

Additional Nutrients: What I’m Reading and Listening to

• Why it’s time we think more carefully about the social cost of the climate crisis.?
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted he’d sell $6 billion worth of his electric car company’s stock and invest it in solving world hunger – agriculture CEOs have ideas about where he can spend it.?
• A new report holds companies accountable to their carbon-neutral claims. But here’s why perfection mustn’t be the enemy of progress.

Thanks again so much to Brian Smith for sharing his thoughts for this edition of the newsletter — and thanks to you for reading along. If you found The Core Question interesting, please subscribe and follow me on Linkedin ... or, better yet, share it with somebody you know!?