Issue 38: Using Chefs’ Creativity for Impact

Dear Agripreneur Community,

Welcome to the 38th installment of the Agripreneur.info newsletter, where we provide a monthly round-up of content specifically curated for social entrepreneurs at the intersection of agriculture and technology.

In this edition, we reflect on how chefs can use their creative abilities to impact climate advocacy efforts. The UN states chefs are important in this regard because they “influence what we grow, what we put on our plates and how we think and talk about food.?Therefore, chefs work by engaging eaters – that is everyone – to adopt diet and consumption patterns that allow the soil and planet to prosper.”

Using the cultural innovation framework from Issue 37, we examine chefs’ impact—through their creative ability to curate experiences (1) using the availability of knowledge (2) of how adopting innovative diet and consumption patterns can improve lives (3) and create content (4) in a reflective and inclusive way (5) that shows the beauty of these innovations.

The content that inspired us this week:

1. Access to Knowledge

Where can chefs learn how “eaters” decisions affect climate change?

Look at your sector and what are the major impacts that drive your space. Do you have a manufacturer supply chain? Are you in the service space? Look at others in your sector who are publicly out there--that's one thing I would add just to get a sense. But, I would start with actions internally that you don't publicize immediately just to get your feet under you…Then, I would go public with what your aspirations are and how you are lining it. Places that anybody can start--carbon is one of the huge pieces of sustainability. —Karen Weigert, Director of the Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility at Loyola University

Jason Feifer, Sustainability Is A Business Opportunity, Entrepreneur Network Podcast, 13 June 2022, 24 minutes.

2. Improving Lives

Who can chefs partner with to show their impact?

I think most farmers…do care about food, they care about flavor…I think that you need to be able to express those things from a deep place inside them, from their heart. To be able to express that to a chef is what's going to get a chef excited about buying stuff from them. They're going to see ‘wow, this person really cares. They're dedicated to the pursuit of a high-quality product that I want to buy.’ And I think that one of the ways that someone without any experience in the kitchen could make a really quick connection with someone that wants to buy their produce in the in the restaurant. Is to be express their deep feeling about what they're doing, why they're doing it, why it matters.—Evan Chender, Owner and Operator of The Culinary Gardener

Diego Footer, Connecting with Chefs, Farm Small Farm Smart Daily (podcast), 28 June 2022, 6 minutes.

3. Creating Content

How can chefs create content to show their impact?

The pillar content really works for what we do because we shoot one main video a week. From that video, we get pictures to post on Instagram, we get reels for Instagram. Plus, we get the main TikTok post and then other shorter clips…We do see some sales from it, but it's about building brand awareness. It's bringing more people into our world. Directing them to our website and…TikTok is the one platform that gets more traction than anything else we've ever done. —Duce Raymond, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Catering

Shawn P. Walchef, DUCE RAYMOND of Sweet Baby Ray’s on Social Media Like a Boss, Entrepreneur Network Podcast, 28 June 2022, 30 minutes.

4. Reflectively and Inclusively Fostering Creativity

Chefs are also engaging with a growth of climate advocacy content that has allowed them to foster their creativity in a reflective and inclusive manner.

Where are chefs’ creativity being fostered reflectively?

We are confronted by very complex challenges. [A] cultural institution can provide us is a space to think, a space to dream, and it's a space to imagine the world otherwise. Through that and the collaboration that we have set up with businesses, you can really see how this space of thinking and the space of creating an alternative future can very easily transfer into practice. -Alon Schwabe, Founder of Cooking Sessions

Dan Saladino, Can we bring food diversity back to the table?, The Food Programme (podcast), 12 June 2022, 28 minutes.

How are chefs creating inclusivity that is impactful?

I thought that this restaurant can really change the world in a way. I thought about the car industry a lot and the Toyota Prius when they started their hybrid car almost 25 years ago, which was groundbreaking and incredible. But it didn't really change the world quickly-it wasn't a sexy car. It was for people who were really committed on this topic. Then, when Tesla start making a car that's a luxury car…that happens to be electric, I saw the power that that had and it completely changed the world. It was about luxury. -Daniel Humm, Michelin Star Chef

Jacob Soboroff, Celebrity chef Daniel Humm and two food innovators at the Aspen Ideas Festival, CNBC Television (Youtube), 27 June 2022, 1 hour, 18 minutes.

5. Experiencing Beauty

When can a chef’s creations be impactful?

I was cooking a dinner at this restaurant [in Nigeria]. I wanted to pay homage to my time there as a child and recreate some dishes that I had eaten…but the way that I view things through my culinary lens…They've never seen it done in that in that way so it was exciting for them and interesting to see their culture reflected on a plate in ways that they haven't seen before. -Chef Kwame Onwuachi, Author of Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir

Evan Kleiman, Kwame Onwuachi, Jollibee chicken and spaghetti, spices, Good Food (podcast), 4 June 2022, 56 minutes.

Other Reference: UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Chefs advocating for a change in our food systems to improve soil health, Blog post, 20 May 2020.

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and we wish everyone a pleasant month.

Please forward this newsletter to those who may be interested in this content.

Warm regards

Kwame Richardson

Founder

Multitude Advisors Ltd

RESOURCES AND OTHER CONTENT

Resources

Funding

TFF Challenge 2022 Due 15 July

Pitch AgriHack 2022 Due 29 July

Other Content

Opportunity: Focus Report: How can?agriculture?in Africa meet the challenges of the future?

Business Models: The People Problem In Food And?Agriculture?And How To Solve It

Innovation: Digital transformation of agri sector could address sub-Saharan Africa’s food insecurity: UN Report

Competition: Why Innovative Partnerships Are Crucial to a More Sustainable?Food?Industry

Leadership: Microsoft Pledges Agritech Support In Africa To Increase Food Security

Multitude Advisors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (Company №13378243) 2nd Floor, College House, 17 King Edwards Road, Ruislip, London, United Kingdom, HA4 7AE.

The above content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.