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Stories from the front lines of business and sustainability innovation.
Episodes
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Cooperating to Bring the Good: A Conversation with Jonathan Reinbold
In 1988, a handful of Midwest family farmers fed up with the state of American agriculture gathered at the Viroqua, WI courthouse to talk about doing farming differently. Thirty years later, the farmer-owned cooperative they started, Organic Valley, represents more than 2,000 farmers in 34 US states and achieved $1.1 billion in 2018 sales.
Building on its founding mission of saving family farms through organic farming, Organic Valley has embraced a wide range of sustainability initiatives. It has committed to switching all of its remaining fossil fuel-based electricity to renewables by this year. It keeps the distance its milk travels as short as possible via a regional distribution model that includes a biofuel-powered fleet. And its Grassmilk products use dairy from 100% grass-fed cows, promoting animal and soil health, and sequestering C02.
Bard MBA alum Ben Volk spoke with Organic Valley’s then Senior Manager of Sustainabiltiy Jonathan Reinbold in the fall of 2018. They talked about the company’s cooperative business model, its new community solar initiative, and the future of the industry as a whole.
Friday Jun 07, 2019
Friday Jun 07, 2019
Canvas is on a mission to create a world of superhealthy people: A conversation with founder, Sarah Pool.
Sarah is the Co-Founder & CEO of Canvas, a healthy beverage company committed to improving individual and global health through functional nutrition and innovative technology applications. Sarah is the former Founder/CEO of Pacific Superfood Snacks, later acquired by Made In Nature. Sarah is a graduate of UC-Berkeley (M.A., B.A.).
Canvas is creating a new category of functional health beverages for improving the microbiome. Utilizing plants and science, our beverages are designed to optimize digestion and overall well-being.
Canvas is driven by a dynamic, intelligent, and passionate team committed to improving individual and global health through functional nutrition, innovative technology applications, and better food systems.
Their mission is to create a world of superhealthy people.
Partnering with VX Ventures and InBev, Canvas is using new technology to utilize spent brewers grain in their beverages. This process will prevent billions of pounds of grain from being discarded each year and will provide a nutritious drink option to people worldwide.
Bard MBA Alum Alexander Lykins spoke with Sarah in Fall 2018 about entrepreneurship in the food industry and how upcycling spent brewers grain is a game changer for the industry.