sustainable food

COP 28's agriculture day boosted funding for food security - but does it go far enough?

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Our guest is Shuichi Kotani, a New York-based master soba chef with over 25 years of experience. After working at prestigious restaurants in Tokyo, including Gonpachi and the Michelin-starred Edo Soba Hosokawa, he came to New York in 2008 and successfully served as the executive chef at Soba Totto in Manhattan. In 2012, he founded Worldwide Soba to introduce the profound culture of soba to the world. Since then, he has been crafting soba at events and consulting for restaurants in New York and beyond. 

He is also a Goodwill Ambassador designated by the Japanese government to promote Japanese food culture overseas and has held various educational events about soba’s health benefits, including seminars at Harvard University. 

In this episode, we will discuss what soba is, why soba-making is spiritually important for Chef Kotani, various health benefits of soba, the sustainable nature of soba and its possibilities for future food supply, Chef Kotani’s cool new restaurant Uzuki, which opened in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in September 2023 and much, much more!

Image courtesy of Kenji Yamagata.

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This week's guest on Cleaning Up is entrepreneur, author and philanthropist Jim Mellon. Jim is Executive Director at Agronomics, one of the world’s leading investors in cellular agriculture, or lab-grown meat. Bypassing traditional agricultural methods with precision fermentation could have huge implications for CO2 emissions and the climate, and in 2020 Jim wrote Moo’s Law as a guide for fellow investors into what he calls the "new agrarian revolution."

Jim and Michael discuss the latest developments in cellular agriculture - from pet food to leather goods and restaurant-grade sushi - and how far we are from finding lab-grown products on our supermarket shelves. 

Links and Related Episodes

Watch Episode 110 with Lord Adair Turner: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep110-adair-turner-lord-of-the-net-zero-transition/

Discover Agronomics and their portfolio companies here: https://agronomics.im/

Read more about Moo’s Law here: https://mooslawbook.com/

Discover Jim’s children’s book, Juno’s Ark, here: https://junosark.com/

Jim spoke to Bloomberg’s In The City podcast in April about Britain’s economic health: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-06/podcast-burnbrae-s-jim-mellon-sees-a-bright-future-for-britain-and-the-city?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner#xj4y7vzkg

Guest Bio

Jim worked in Asia and the United States at two fund management companies, GT and Thornton, before establishing his own business in 1991. This business continues today, but Jim no longer works as a fund manager and is instead focused on biotech, clean food and property, with other business interests managed by his family office, the Burnbrae Group. Jim has a special interest in health resilience and longevity science, and is the co-founder of Juvenescence, a company investing in the development of therapies for ageing and the diseases of ageing. Jim also co-founded Agronomics Limited in 2011, an investment company focused on opportunities within the nascent industry of environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free modern foods.

Jim holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oriel College, Oxford, where he is an honorary fellow and supports the Mellon Scholarship in Ageing and Cell Senescence. 

Can we really grow sustainable, delicious, and healthy food right in the heart of a bustling city? In this eye-opening episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Tobias Peggs, co-founder and CEO of Square Roots, an innovative indoor urban farm tech company that's revolutionizing how we grow and distribute food in urban areas.

Together, we explored the intricate operations of creating a successful indoor urban farm, from engineering and construction to farming and distribution processes. Tobias shared fascinating insights on how Square Roots uses cutting-edge technology to minimize its environmental impact, reduce its carbon footprint, and produce food sustainably despite the challenges posed by climate change.

We also touched upon the importance of staying true to a company's mission and values, as well as how Square Roots navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and adapted their business to continue providing fresh, nutritious, and mouth-watering produce to their community. Don't miss this thought-provoking conversation on the future of urban agriculture and how it can help us tackle some of the most pressing global issues of our time.

In This Episode

(0:00:16) - Indoor Urban Farming for Sustainable Food

• Tobias  and I discuss engineering, construction, farming, tech operations, packing, and distribution of urban food production.

(0:10:55) - Revolutionizing Urban Farming With Square Roots

• Tobias discusses Square Roots' sustainable farming process, commercialization, and chefs' satisfaction.

(0:25:29) - Reducing Carbon Footprint for Local Farming

• Tobias and his team use technology to produce food sustainably, reducing their environmental impact through design, energy, and distribution.

(0:31:02) - Mission, Values, and Adapting to Change

• Tobias and I discuss mission and values, adapting to unexpected circumstances, and physical operations to stay focused.

Links

Square Roots - https://www.squarerootsgrow.com

Tobias Peggs - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiaspeggs

Michael Koenig - https://linkedin.com/in/michael-koenig514

Episode - https://betweentwocoos.com/square-roots-ceo-tobias-peggs

We often talk about how Irish food is not just Guinness and potatoes…and yet! A real Irish culinary experience would not be complete without a pint of the good stuff and some delicious spuds! Eunice Power is exactly what her name implies—a powerhouse as a chef and small business owner. In addition to being the director of the West Waterford Festival of Food, Eunice is a caterer and the owner of And Chips, a gourmet takeaway featuring fresh, sustainable food and—you guessed it—chips!

On today’s episode, we talk to Eunice about the quest to find the perfect potato for the best chip and the many varietals available in Ireland, responsible sourcing at reasonable prices, what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur with a family, and how life only gets better after the age of 50.

Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.

Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast.

I’m joined by Udo Erasmus, founder of the award-winning supplement company Udo’s Choice, to learn more about the benefits of essential fatty acids. For over 40 years, Udo has been paving the way for sustainable oils that have health in mind. In our conversation, he shares his inspiring origin story and the journey that led him to transform the edible oil industry. 

After being poisoned by pesticides in 1980, Udo started looking into the quality of his food, water, and air intake. He gained a deeper understanding of the impact that oil has on mental and physical health, and even discovered that 99% of the population doesn't consume enough Omega 3. He and his team developed the first ever flaxseed oil and have since expanded the range to include optimal oil blends and other products like probiotics and greens. 

Udo shares simple, tangible ways to improve health outcomes through diet. Lifestyle changes can feel hard to implement, but Udo is living proof that it’s possible to feel younger while growing older when you prioritize what you put in your body. 

Listen in to hear our discussion about the power of essential fatty acids and how to start incorporating them into your diet. 

If you are enjoying these conversations, please subscribe and spread the love by leaving a review and sharing it with your friends.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, or on your favorite podcast platform. 

Topics Covered: 

• Where Udo’s drive and passion for science stems from 
• The truth about how cooking oils are made and the damaging effects they have on the body 
• Why it’s important to eliminate light, oxygen, and heat from the oil distillation and storage process 
• Debunking myths about oils and weight gain 
• Advice for anyone struggling with making lifestyle and diet changes 

Resources Mentioned:

• Shop Udo's Choice 
• Books by Udo Erasmus

Connect with Udo: 

• Udo's Website 
• Udo's Instagram
• Udo's Facebook

Get in Touch: 

• My Website
• Instagram

Special offers: 

• Download your free copy of Udo's guide: Your Body Needs an Oil Change
• Download the Daily Vitality eBook at danafrost.com/daily-vitality/

Credit:

• Podcast Production by the team at The Wave Podcasting
• Music by Phoebe Greenland
• Photography by Amy Boyle Photography
• Podcast art by SimplyBe. Agency

Hey Climate Confident listeners, in this fascinating episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ali Wing, CEO of Oobli, about the incredible potential of sweet proteins to revolutionize our diets while reducing the climate impact of our food choices.

During our conversation, we delved into how Oobli is harnessing the power of precision fermentation to create sugar alternatives that are zero-calorie, perfect for diabetics, and boast a much smaller environmental footprint than traditional sugar production. Ali shares insights into the rigorous R&D process behind Oobli's first-generation products, and how they're working to bring their innovations to markets around the world.

We also touched on the broader climate benefits of sweet proteins, from reducing emissions in the food industry to promoting more sustainable food choices. Ali gave us a sneak peek into Oobli's upcoming product releases, including their fruity sweet teas – a category with immense potential for reducing sugar consumption and addressing global health challenges like obesity and diabetes.

Finally, Ali shared her thoughts on the burgeoning food tech space, and how companies like Oobli are contributing to a cleaner, healthier, and more climate-resilient future. If you're curious about the world of sweet proteins, how they can transform our food system, and their role in mitigating climate change, you won't want to miss this episode!

Remember to check out Oobli's website at oobli.com, and sign up to stay in the know about their latest product releases, partner collaborations, and global expansion. For those eager to learn more about sweet proteins, make sure to visit their blog for a comprehensive Sweet Proteins 101 overview.

Thanks for listening, (or watching, if you checked out this episode on YouTube) and as always, stay Climate Confident!

Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:

• Lorcan Sheehan
• Hal Good
• Jerry Sweeney
• Andreas Werner
• Devaang Bhatt
• Stephen Carroll
• Marcel Roquette
• Roger Arnold

And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.

Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.

If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

Roberta Bain had a profitable business with her hair salon and fell in love with being an entrepreneur.  She sold her business to go into a joint venture shortly after marrying her husband, a horticulturalist.  Their start-up company of micro-greens was successful and their product was distributed across Canada.  Roberta loved the culture that she was building with her team – a culture that supported a sustainable food product and a culture that supported the core values of the team.  It was exciting to be part of a company providing a sustainable food product.

Then, overnight, it became legal to grow cannabis. Having all the growing infrastructure made it easy to transition to growing cannabis.  But Roberta found this change very difficult.  It changed the way people thought about her (not everyone agrees with cannabis), it changed her marriage (not easy when you are the COO and your husband is the CEO), and it changed the culture of the team (culture is the most innovative part of business growth).

Roberta talks about all these changes, how she had to get back to doing what was important to her after losing herself,  and how difficult it was for her to get back into the workforce when she wasn’t the leader.

http://getyourgoat.ca/season-three

A wonderful example of creative diversification on the farm in North Wales, Sarah Evans has created a veg. box  business using her own talents and ability to network in the local community. Visit her website www.waterylane.co.uk
We tried out some recipes...

Dahl with Shredded Greens/Cabbage/Spinach/Chard

Ingredients
1 tbs coconut oil
1/2 crushed garlic cloves
4cm piece of grated ginger
1 red chilli
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp g. turmeric
1x400 ml. tin coconut milk
100 g yellow mung dahl lentils
1 tsp toasted coriander seeds
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds
200 g spring greens
handful coriander leaves
lemon/lime juice
toasted coconut garnish
salt

Method
1.Fry the onion in the coconut oil.
2.Add garlic, ginger, chilli, mustard seeds.
Stir in the coconut milk
Add the lentils, ground coriander and cumin.
Add half tin of water
3.Bring to boil, then simmer for 15 mins.
Add the greens, cook for another 5-10 mins until lentils are tender and the greens wilted.
Add more water if needed.
4. Salt to taste, add coriander and squeeze of citrus. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and a few extra coriander leaves.

Please follow our Instagram page @fromthehorsebox
and we would love to hear any feedback on our email address fromthehorsebox@gmail.com
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A landscape architect by degree Dan Deighton then completed a permaculture design course in 1999 and was awarded a Diploma in Permaculture in 2005. He embarked upon a 10 year restoration of the remnant saltmarsh wetlands of Tom Thumb Lagoon and broad scale revegetation of adjoining industrial landscape and an old landfill site.

Aaron is a Permaculture teacher and designer who has been working with community gardens and school Permaculture gardens over the past 20 years. He is passionate about inspiring transformative change in his local Illawarra community by connecting people with nature and creating resilient urban food systems.

In 2003, following 10 years of nurturing community, business, industry and government partnerships, Dan was invited to develop and implement a school Permaculture garden program with industry funding. Teaming up with Permaculturist, Educator & visual artist Aaron Sorensen the ‘Living Classroom & Garden Ambassadors Program’ was born.

We start part 1 of our conversation with Dan & Aarons stories, leading into conversations on getting started growing food at home or in public open spaces

https://elementalpermaculture.wordpress.com
Facebook
Instagram
#fairfoodforagerapp

What does fast developing technology mean for life in our food system? And how does what we observe change our understandings of nature? We caught up with Prof Mark Maslin - Agritech and Anthropocene expert at University College London and co-founder of Rezatec: Innovative Geospatial AI Ltd, Michelle Nijhuis - Science writer, Prof Derek Stewart - Dir. of The James Hutton Institute's Advanced Plant Growth Center and Dr Youri Martin - Biodiversity Engineer at the Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology ~ to find out! Episode Show notes: https://linktr.ee/prophets_wizards_pod

How can we improve our health, reduce the costs to the NHS by 50%, restore soil biodiversity, reduce flooding, reverse ecosystem decline and draw carbon down from the atmosphere into the earth's crust?  Regenerative Farming does all of these and more - and Patrick Holden of the Sustainable Food Trust is at the heart of a movement to spread the word around the world.  

After studying biodynamic agriculture at Emerson College, he established a mixed community farm in Wales in 1973, producing at various times: wheat for flour production sold locally, carrots and milk from an 85 cow Ayrshire dairy herd, now made into a single farm cheddar style cheese.

He was the founding chairman of British Organic Farmers in 1982, before joining the Soil Association, where he worked for nearly 20 years and during which time the organisation led the development of organic standards and the market for organic foods.

His advocacy for a major global transition to more sustainable food systems now entails international travel and regular broadcasts and talks at public events.

He is Patron of the UK Biodynamic Association and was awarded the CBE for services to organic farming in 2005.

Patrick is passionate about the application of Nature’s principles of Harmony to food and farming, which is explored in the SFT’s latest initiative, The Harmony Project.

In this episode, Patrick talks about the work of the Sustainable Food Trust in building a commons-based trust network which can co-create a global farm metric to assess farms around the world for their environmental impact in all ways.  With this, farms can really begin to assess their own impact, and political institutions across the world can begin to rewards farms and farmers for restoring our land to the extraordinary fertility and abundance that we used to take for granted.  

Links 
Sustainable Food Trust https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/
Patrick's Farm: https://holdenfarmdairy.co.uk/
Patrick's Farm on social media: 
https://www.instagram.com/hafodcheese/
https://www.facebook.com/Holden-Farm-Dairy-100227754976198/
https://twitter.com/hafodcheese

This week, we are airing an audio documentary created by Sabrina Strelkov and Ryleigh Alexander for an agricultural economics class that had a community-service learning component at the University of Alberta. This documentary dives into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Edmonton’s Old Strathcona farmer’s market, as well as the importance of farmers markets and sustainable and local foods.

Documentary on Soundcloud.
Program Log. 

How do we culturally value nature? We talk things over and catch up with Patrick Holden - founder of The Sustainable Food Trust, Prof Ian Bradley - Cultural Historian and Isabelle Doussan - Legal Expert... Episode show notes: https://linktr.ee/prophets_wizards_pod

The Florida Farmers’ Market Association (FFMA) was established in 2019 with the mission to connect the vast array of farmers markets in Florida into one membership-driven network and provide training and resources for vendors, market managers, and consumers. Since then, FFMA has grown its membership and offerings. 

In this episode, hear about: 

- The history of FFMA and its origins 

- FFMA’s Florida Farmers’ Market Toolkit   

- Membership benefits and how to join 

- Upcoming projects in 2022 

Learn more about FFMA: https://farmersmarkettoolkit.org 

Join us at the upcoming Organic Food & Farming Summit April 18-19, 2024 in Tampa! Early bird savings ends February 2, 2024! SECURE YOUR SPOTS!

We hope you enjoyed the episode! Please help us continue to produce more valuable content by subscribing to our Fresh Take Podcast Series! Subscribe here

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY- Learn more about the many benefits of becoming a Sponsor of Florida Organic Growers! Your contribution will not only help to advance an organic and sustainable future but gain brand awareness through our growing audience. If you are interested, click here

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever thought about how to make a zero-waste lifestyle easier for yourself or for your food business? With her standardized containers and her low-tech deposit system, Marie has figured that out! 

She created L’Empoteuse covering 3 business models in 1. At one point or another, you are part of this!

I loved how she shared with ease and humor her advanced market research, her challenges, and her quest for the best impactful solution. Be ready to learn about 

• the importance of labels,
• a bunch of numbers demonstrating at what conditions glass jars are eco-friendly,
• and the cleaning process and distribution logistics… and some dreams about it!

ABOUT MARIE JEMINE FROM L’EMPOTEUSE

Marie Jemine is an entrepreneur committed to zero waste. She studied translation and worked as a Supply Chain Manager for a few years before she had her baby. 

Then when he was born, she realized very suddenly that he might never make it out of college or get married, due to climate change. The IPCC reports became reality when she transposed the dates on her child's timeline, and it became urgent for her to take action. 

She started reducing her waste and carbon footprint, and it became clear to her that, no matter how seducing and fulfilling was the zero-waste lifestyle, preparing food containers every morning was quite challenging for two parents working full time. 

Somehow, she had to come up with a system that would make the food containers appear in the shop or restaurant when she had forgotten them. And that's how she created l'Empoteuse, a zero-waste packaging solution for food businesses in Belgium. It is addressed to restaurants, zero-waste and organic grocery stores, and local producers. Today, L’Empoteuse continues to expand in Belgium. 

WHERE TO FIND MARIE AND L’EMPOTEUSE

• On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lempoteuse
• On the website of L’Empoteuse: https://www.lempoteuse.be/
• On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-jemine-47061a24/

MARIE'S RECOMMENDED RESOURCE FOR YOU, OUR AUDIENCE

• «From What Is to What If», a book by Rob Hopkins.

LITTLE NOTES 

Follow Marie on her coming initiatives empowered by her virtuous network: 

• A zero-waste network in collaboration with Sylvie Droulans of Zero Carabistouille.
• L'Embibineuse, a bottle project. 
• Her support to the future cooperative logistics platform, LogCica.

PODCAST MUSIC

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here. 

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me. 

Where to find Jérémie and Freddy met Curry

On the website of Freddy met Curry: https://freddymetcurry.brussels/

On social media: https://www.instagram.com/freddymetcurry/, https://www.facebook.com/freddymetcurry.be/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/freddy-met-curry/

Jérémie's recommended resource for you, our audience

​’’Reinventing Organizations’’, a book by Frederic Laloux: see https://www.reinventingorganizations.com/

Little note

In this interview, Jérémie is using the word « biological » several times, just keep in mind that he actually means « organic ».

About Jérémie Lambin from Freddy met Curry

Jérémie was born in Brussels and studied Business Engineer in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). After his studies he worked one year in Frankfurt as Financial Analyst in a private equity fund aiming at investing in renewable energy & storage projects. Following that experience he worked 3 years as ‘operational excellence’ consultant where he realized the difficulties employees had to eat healthy and eco-responsibly at work. That’s when and how he developed the concept of Freddy met Curry.

From a very “ecologically concerned and aware” family, Jeremie had always wanted to work in the eco field or launch a project that did not hurt the environment.

Moreover, Jérémie is a big fan of sports, and recently started paragliding.

Podcast music

Special thanks to Joachim Regout who made the jingle. Have a look at his work here.

I am happy to bring a sample of our strong bonds on these sound waves. Since I was a child, he made me discover a wide range of music of all kinds. I am also delighted he is a nature lover and shares the Look4Loops 'out of the box philosophy'. He is an inspiring source of creativity for me.

This episode is a conversation with Tom Volk who is a world-renowned mycologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. He teaches numerous courses such as Medical Mycology, Plant-Microbe Interactions, Food & Industrial Mycology and even Lating & Greek for Scientists. Tom runs a popular web page called Tom Volk's Fungi, which features a host of fungi species and is an extensive introduction to the Kingdom Fungi. He has worked in mushroom cultivation and is intimately familiar with the genera  Morchella (morels), Cantharellus (chanterelles), Hydnellum (a tooth fungus), Armillaria (honey mushrooms) and Laetiporus (chicken of the woods, or sulfur shelf).  He also has conducted fungal biodiversity studies in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alaska, and Israel. Having lectured in 35 states so far, Tom is a popular speaker at many amateur and professional mycological events throughout North America, including many NAMA and NEMF forays.  Tom was also the president of the Mycological Society of America.

Episode Overview:

• What mycology is and how Tom got fascinated with this subject
• Terms every mushroom forager should be familiar with
• Primary roles of fungi in an ecosystem
• Expert lesson on the morel mushroom and it's look-alikes
• Understanding the threat of mycotoxins from fungi and their presence in our food supply

Support the podcast on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/poldiwieland

Youtube: https://youtu.be/0eaAzrUoO8c

Tom Volk's Fungi Blog:
https://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/

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