Rooting for a hopeful food future
Hello Friends,
It's been a while since I've shared a life update or a story of my adventures and I feel giddy to tell you about the budding new project I am tending to.
I founded a food company, it's called Foodshed, that combines my love for peak season produce, culinary culture and ecological restoration. Before I tell you about what we're cooking up I want to tell you about the moment I realized how immense this project will be.
Last fall, I was at my first chestnut tree planting in upstate New York. I was learning how to tenderly tuck the roots of the spindly, young trees into the dirt, gentle and firm, like I used to tuck in my niece and nephews under the covers.
After tucking in all the roots, my planting teacher kissed the top of the baby tree and said, “When I plant each tree I imagine it growing for decades and providing shade for picnicking families and piles of delicious chestnuts raining down."
I looked out at the hillside dotted with tree tubes...
I imagined 20 years from now what it would look like covered in towering trees. The branches reaching for one another and kids running around with buckets grabbing handfuls of delicious chestnuts.
THIS future, is a world I want to pour my energy into creating.
A world of abundance; thousands of pounds of chestnuts raining down on hillsides ready for collecting, roasting and feasting.
A world of restoration; returning a clear cut, plowed, overgrazed hillside to a peak expression of what it naturally wants to be.
A world of partnership and collaboration; working together to fund, plant, steward and love this land as an extension of ourselves.
A world that works for future generations; a world of agriculture that is resilient to the changing climate and weather patterns, that supports a robust balanced ecology that is life enhancing for the soil, plants, and animals.
And this is what Foodshed will support.
I’m collaborating with a network of passionate people to bend the future of agriculture; We will plant 50,000 acres (think football fields) of forest based farms in 20 years and catalyze a shift in our food system towards restoring ecological balance and planetary thriving.
Compared with the 90,000,000 acres of conventional corn and soy this vision is a drop in the bucket of agriculture in this country but for the 500,000 trees sucking carbon from the sky to build their trunks and roots and 50,000,000 lbs of chestnuts or other forest based foods that will be produced each year will make a world difference in a time when disrupted ecosystems will make food production more precarious and uncertain.
My cofounder wrote a beautiful, informative article about our vision to create The Next Great American Foodshed.
In service of this vision for systemic change, I’m aligning my capacities, energy, and heart towards the world I want to see. I’ve cofounded a company, Foodshed, that will build food brands and produce delicious ready to eat meals, pantry products, and lots of other foods that use the ingredients raised by farmers that are supporting these ecosystems. In an essence we are building brands and products that meet the needs of the farmers, the planet and consumers.
(first draft placeholder logo + brand still needs work!)
We will begin with a pop up dinner series in New York collaborating with up and coming chefs to celebrate seasonally abundant ingredients as well as the abundant culinary traditions that exist in our region. We also plan to offer at home meal experiences crafted by these same chefs. I feel excited to build the team and network of collaborators and partners to bring this vision to reality and meet the moment for the planet and people.
I’m in the process of identifying partners, potential teammates and building our fundraising materials for a spring/summer fund raise.
I’m feeling the edges of discomfort being back in the role of founder and I feel giddy as I sense all that I will get to study and learn in this process and the ways it will invite me to grow.
When I’ve felt most intimidated, disoriented, and uncertain in this process I notice that I am feeling alone and my mind is wound with a sense of pressure from a false story that I need to be something I’m not. I should know all the things I need to know and that I’m an imposter for not having a decade of experience in this realm. The image that’s felt relaxing to this part of my psyche is one of relaxing into the support of my community and the wider network of support that wants my vision to come into reality as much as I do.
When I can invite support, collaboration, and the cheering love of my wide web of beloved friends, supporters and the public at large I feel that I can bring this and any vision into reality.
So as a first step in this process I am sharing with you what I’m up to and will continue to share my journey. The questions I’m facing, the excitement and challenges and invite you to be there with me.
Welcome to my journey to share my love for food, farmers, people, culture and the earth we inhabit.
During the coming weeks I will be…
-revising and updating a fundraising deck and beginning to pitch investors
-building supporting materials - forecasts / models / budgets
-connecting with folks experienced in fresh food production operations, branding + storytelling, pop up event / experience design
I welcome introductions to folks you respect and admire that have been founders or early stage operators of food companies or who you think could be supportive in advising, collaboration or consulting in these these areas.
I welcome your curiosity, high fives + hype, and loving check ins. I welcome you talking about this to anyone and everyone.
Thanks for your support, love and care.
I'll share updates regularly. If you aren't keen to be part of this journey you know what to do.