First, to everyone here – thank you for coming tonight to hear
more about our plans – with a special thanks to our partners for
daring to dream big with us. I do want to point out that when
Joshua Schrei said “it all has something to do with food”, he was
just quoting his mother.
My food journey began 20 years ago, in a humble restaurant in
the Amalfi hills when I ate a simple green salad that changed my
life forever. This was lettuce – just leaves - BUT bursting with
flavor. (which I found out only much later, meant it was bursting
with nutrients). When I demanded (nicely) to know why it tasted
so good, the proud restauranteur took me to the other side of the
building to see his lettuce patch.
Once home, I started my own lettuce patch. And, at first, I created
the same ethereal eating experience as my Italian mentor. But
then I ran into problems: bugs, slugs, disease, rot. Off I trundled
to the local garden centre where I had my next wake up moment.
The solution to all problems, as far as the “experts” concerned,
could be found in a place, I will always remember as the room of
poison. Dozens and dozens of products you would definitely not
want to eat.
And I was forced to ask myself the question: So what does this
mean is ON and IN the food at the local supermarket?
What I found was truly disturbing. Modern chemical farming is
designed to use the local environment to absorb the poisons and
other chemicals put on the plants with no consideration for the
health either eaters or the farmers. Big ag breeds plants
designed for appearance, durability - and survival in low nutrient,
biologically dead soil. Which we now know is a prescription for
low nutrient, flavourless food.
As a marketer, I anguish at the industrial chemical food system’s
success in commoditizing food based on uniformity. AND taking a
brand new and different form of agriculture – a departure from
1000’s of years of growing food naturally - and somehow getting
away with calling it “conventional”.
And the most disappointing thing I learned is that industrial
chemical food - justified because at least its cheap – really isn’t.
According to the Rockefeller foundation, the UN FAO and other
organizations, the world spends over 10 trillion dollars a year on
food- and over 20 trillion dollars a year on the health and
environmental problems caused by the food system
My journey continued. I found that our region produces delicious,
ecologically grown, nutrient rich food. BUT MOST PEOPLE ARE
NOT DEMANDING BETTER FOOD – because they don’t know it
exists – or where to get it.
My first job out of university was at Procter and Gamble working
on new product introductions. While P&G put a lot of care into
how the product was made, they put just as much effort into
marketing.
However, in the regenerative ag space, there is NO marketing.
Kevin Costner is a fine actor, but “if you build it they will come”
only works in the movies. As a result, our country has 1000s of
dedicated farmers who are doing what I call: pushing on a rope.
I decided that Canada needed an organization that would pull on
that rope. An organization dedicated to educating and inspiring
people so they choose the local food that is good for them and
their community - and good for the planet. Enter the CCFE.
But what information? Scary information rarely a motivator–
except of fear and guilt – but NOT behaviour change. I believed
that flavour - enabling people to have their own salad moment –
would work much better. And behavioural science has backed
that up.
With a corporate background, I am not an expert in the not-for-
profit world. But there are lots of things that are the same,
regardless of the industry.
First: outstanding, experienced leadership is essential. Lucky for
the CCFE, I got introduced to Sarah Heynen. Sarah brings a
wealth of experience in sophisticated fundraising and NFP
management from several organizations such as Mt. Sinai and
WWF – and both fundraising lead and then COO of the Evergreen
Brickworks. I can confidently – and gratefully - say that nothing
that is happening today would be happening without Sarah’s
vision, strategic leadership - and her outstanding ability to build
high trust relationships.
Second: Organizations fail because they are insufficiently
capitalized to lay the groundwork that positions them for long term
success. To ensure the CCFE is well prepared for the work
ahead, Iris and I have committed $3,000,000 to fund its early
years.
Those funds have enabled Sarah and her team to pursue a
strategy of building connections and credibility through respectful
exchange; as well as demonstrating that our behavioural science-
based programs have true impact.
I am truly pleased to say that our future plans are now ambitious
enough to outstrip our personal ability to support them on our
own.
So, today, I am asking you to join us and our partners in changing
the system - in whatever way that you can:
1. Help us co-create the Local Food Economy Regenerator
model that Sarah described earlier tonight. We are
assembling a core team of food producers, distributors,
retailers, restauranteurs, researchers, impact investors to
bring this model to life and to test it right here in the GTB.
2. You can help fund the development of this model. This
is a multi-year endeavour - we’re not launching it overnight.
We need philanthropic capital to help us to design, test and
build something new.
3. You can connect us. Do you know someone who is
motivated by health, environment or community; and looking
for new ways to contribute to addressing our country’s – and
our world’s most pressing problems. Introduce us.
4. Tell us how to tell our story better. What can we do that
would make the need more compelling? What else did you
want to hear about? What else do you want to know?
I hope that everyone here tonight got a little taste of the power of
food. It is life changing. It is life giving. And it can be the key to a
healthier, happier Canada. I can’t wait to grow that future
together.
