The Dinner Party of My Dreams

I'm no stranger to moderating panels, but I had my first chance to ham it up as an emcee this week, and I’m so glad it was for the 2020 Sustainable Ag Summit. It felt like the dinner party of my dreams, only I was hosting it over Zoom and there were hundreds of farmers, students and food industry folk on the other end of the screen. 

We discussed sustainable supply chains, the food system’s unseen workers who have been dying to keep Americans fed this year, and the agriculture industry’s long overdue racial justice reckoning. We touched on what worked during times of crisis, like Kroger and Feeding America’s pivot to find demand for milk that would have otherwise gone to waste, and charted new paths for the future, like local financial institutions being owned by who they serve. 

Keynote Beth Bechdol, the Deputy-Director General for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, instilled upon me that we need major private sector buy-in to meet the UN’s sustainable development goals by 2030. Dozens of these commitments, she says, look very hard to meet at this point, which means all the farmers, all the meatpackers, all the food suppliers, distributors and, yes, the investors and financiers, will have to come together, to find lasting solutions to reduce emissions while continuing to feed our planet with increasingly healthier and more sustainable foods. 

Sustainability needs to be examined and adopted holistically. That means environmentally — in terms of soil health, carbon and water footprint and pollution — but also economically. There’s much work to be done on worker treatment, along with the indelible ways that industrial externalities impact us all, even if we don’t realize it.

There are mega-trends we cannot ignore: a growing population and urbanization, the competing forces of globalization and localization, desertification, innovative technologies amid connectivity and broadband issues in rural America and beyond, natural disasters and the looming threat of future zoonotic disease. 

2021 is on track to be the year of the food system, with the United Nations convening a summit in New York, in September all-willing, to kick governments, corporations and private citizens into frenzied action. Much of what was analyzed at Sustainable Ag 2020 will continue to be expanded upon at Food Tank’s summit on Dec. 1, all about resetting the food system and preparing to meet these UN’s SDGs. I hope to see you there! 

— Chloe Sorvino

What I’m Thinking About: 

That disgusting alleged betting pool at the Tyson pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa. Candy maker Mars to acquire Kind Bars in a $5 billion deal. Ben & Jerry's commits to paying cocoa farmers a living income in West Africa. Meat giant JBS eliminating health insurance costs for workers who contract Covid-19. Beyond Meat’s new nutrition profile. Researchers find cause of bee deaths. Target?? bets on small city stores despite people fleeing to the suburbs.Why oysters and champagne go so well together, according to science. Why pistachio milk is poised to disrupt the plant-based industry. Agriculture uses less water now. Chef Marcus Samuelsson reimagines the cookbook. The three-tier system is crippling the craft spirits industry. This company is trying to help. If you must travel this Thanksgiving, here’s a safety checklist.

Weekend Reading: 

How To Make Millions From Bezos’ Billions. Deep-pocketed investors and veteran entrepreneurs are rushing to bet on Amazon’s third-party sellers. The stampede will change retail forever. From the latest Forbes magazine issue. 

Despite Pandemic, In-N-Out Burger Is Hiring, Opening New Locations. As In-N-Out Burger's first Colorado locations open, owner Lynsi Snyder shares how she has stayed stubborn and kept focused during the hardest year in her decade at the helm of the iconic chain: “It’s not easy but we don’t expect every year to be like this. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Gift Guides Galore. Linking to a few of my favorite ones here, like my friend and prolific cookbook author Maria Zizka’s woman-owned list as well as the Museum of Food and Drink’s. In general, what I’m hearing from folks across retail, distribution and logistics: buy early this year. Delivery will be a problem. Of course, if you buy from local businesses, this isn’t an issue. 

Come say hi over Zoom:

Lots of upcoming events to share. Find registration details below and let me know if you’re attending any of the below! 

Food Tank Summit: Resetting The Food System: Dec. 1 | Listen to Jose Andres, Dan Barber, Leah Penniman, Danny Meyer, Mark Hyman discuss where food and farming goes from here. I’ll be joining them to moderate a panel on the intersection of food and emerging technologies. Register here.

Future Food-Tech New York: Dec. 3 | I’ll be moderating the closing panel on investing for the future, and making sense of all the mergers, acquisitions and IPOs in Food-Tech.  Register here.

Video:

Join me and Tofurky founder Seth Tibbott on the Forbes Instagram account on Monday at 1 p.m. eastern to talk about his wild story of entrepreneurship, from living in a treehouse in Oregon to becoming a plant-based foods pioneer. Sounds like a pretty good lunch break on the Monday of Thanksgiving week to me… 

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