Promoting Sustainable Food Systems Through Impact Investing
Opportunities to invest in domestic sustainable food and agriculture have grown dramatically in the last decade. There now exists a vibrant ecosystem of investors, philanthropists, policy makers, food producers & processors, and advocacy groups, all in tireless pursuit of a solution. At one time, our land abounded with flourishing agrarian communities. These were not without failure and strife, but the underlying structures and intentions were pure. Human intelligence evolved these concepts of cultivation, nourishment and growth into the financial world, developing communities and tools to further our prosperity.
What is Impact Investing?
By engaging the private sector in an investment area that traditionally has been limited to philanthropy, impact investing aims to provide environmental, social and governance solutions at scale. It has been designed to leverage significant capital and expertise against the world’s most pressing challenges. Impact investing, also referred to as social investing, sustainable investing, mission investing, and impact finance, has been defined as “any investment activity that purposefully generates measurable public benefit”. The goal of impact investments is to significantly contribute to poverty alleviation, social growth, economic development and environmental preservation.
What is a Sustainable Food System?
Sustainable Food Systems reflect a structure and process that create a close link between the producers and the consumers of food, such that the health of people, place, planet & profit are optimally restored and supported. Sustainable food systems include all the major points along the food supply chain (production, processing, distribution, and consumption) and have the potential to solve many of the worlds’ pressing social, health, and environmental challenges.
A broken food system in the US and around the world has significantly contributed to five (5) important “tragedies”: environmental pollution, water pollution, land and soil degradation, public health damage, and community collapse. The pollution of the environment and the water is a serious matter. According to a recent study from Scientific American, agribusiness is responsible for one third of human-induced global greenhouse gas emissions. Especially alarming are the levels of nitrogen and methane emissions. Current practices for food production, processing and distribution use technology powered by gasoline, diesel and natural gas, which results in air and water pollution, depletion of soil fertility, and a reduction of species diversity. As indicated by the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, on average, produce in the U.S. travels 1,300 – 2,000 miles between farm and consumer.
Similarly, human activities have degraded or destroyed the quality and productivity of soil. The amount of arable, productive land is decreasing at alarming rates. According to the World Resources Institute, the main causes of soil degradation in the US are agricultural activities, overgrazing and deforestation. The majority of today’s farm owners don’t have access to the capital needed to maintain their permanent cropland. As a result, fertile land is being sold to developers and large agribusinesses that use environmentally degrading practices.
Kudos to the Springcreek Foundation
This publication is created by The Springceek Foundation and the authors wish to thank everyone who helped inform and inspire this publication. This report would not have been possible without their invaluable input and support.
- Ricardo Bayon, Partner, EKO Asset Management Partners
- Susan Clark, Executive Director, Columbia Foundation
- Michael Dimock, President, Roots of Change
- Oran B. Hesterman, President & CEO, Fair Food Network
- Chris Larson, Director of Real Assets and Sustainable Agriculture, New Island Capital
- Laetitia Mailhes, Journalist, The Green Plate Blog
- Greg Ostroff, Private Investor
- Woody Tasch, Chairman and Founder, Slow Money
Finally, this report was beautifully designed and produced by Grayson Bass.
