Why don’t we take the knowledge and access to infrastructure and distribution of a larger company, combined with the nimbleness and the new ideas of a startup, put the best of both worlds together, understand where the gaps exist and make that a safer investment for investors?

Not all regenerative practices are the same in their climate impact on a per acre or per hectare basis. Wherever we can incorporate woody plants, wherever we can perennialize, we can increase carbon sequestration potential, both on an annual basis and on the total maximum that you can store on a given piece of land.

Sustainability conversations or regenerative conversations in the fashion industry have tended to come from “sustainability indexes” designed by people at the white-collar level or the upper end of the marketing side of the supply chain… Instead of certifications coming from brands and NGOs, how are we letting communities make decisions about what fashion looks like?

Regenerative ag is not going to reverse climate change. We can’t take out all of the carbon we’ve ever emitted and we’re still emitting; we still have to focus on stopping emissions. But, when we look at the opportunities to fight and adapt to climate change, increase biodiversity, improve water, and improve farmer economic resilience, we believe regenerative ag is by far, the most promising strategy.

Regenerative ag is about all these positive impacts, not just on climate. It’s about this whole ecosystem, including the people and the stewards of the land in the ecosystem. Regenerative ag is part of a total system driving the whole agriculture industry forward.

To be a regenerative system, there has to be diversity within that system, and with that comes a diversity of production out of that landscape. It’s always difficult for me to see the products and services of the crop separate from the crop and service of a holistic system. How do we start to incorporate those other elements into our product formulation, whether it be for flavor, medicinal purposes, or color?

I think something we forget about when we look at product development is the customer. They’re part of the same ecosystem as the farmer, as the distributor, as the retailer. The more you bring in the customers that you’re hoping to serve, the less you have to follow those hot trends.