When I hear the old “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” saying it reminds me that with sustainable efforts we can’t expect one business or one idea to fix everything. That’s why thinking big and weaving together different efforts is vital in order to make a real impact against climate change.
Regenerative farming is an area that has been getting a lot of attention recently (and has some really dedicated minds working toward creative solutions) and is an intentional way to help restore our soil and improve the land.
The United Nations’ latest report on climate change highlights the need for rapid changes to be made to the way we manage our land and source food amid ever increasing climate-related flooding and drought events around the world. The regenerative agriculture ecosystem is a concept designed around creating healthy soil and efforts in this arena range from federal, state and local government initiatives to nonprofit and private sector ventures.
In California, San Francisco chef Anthony Myint and his business partner and wife, Karen Leibowitz, have been working toward creative responses in this area for the past five years. Their first effort was the Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit helping restaurants offset their greenhouse gas emissions. Then they ran The Perennial, a restaurant where they served food produced regeneratively and hoped to educate consumers about the role food plays in absorbing carbon.
“We assumed people would be excited about optimistic solutions, and would line up for the Tesla of food,” Myint said. But the public wasn’t ready. While running this venture they realized that they “couldn’t rely on one consumer, one chef at a time to create system change.” They needed to think bigger. So they launched The Perennial Farming Initiative (PFI), and have started laying the groundwork for Restore California encouraging participating restaurants to add an optional “1% for healthy soil” surcharge to customer tabs. PFI already has signed 30 restaurants up for this program and if 1% of the state’s restaurants follow suit, the group estimates it could generate $10 million per year toward funding healthy soil.
That all sounds great if it takes off and it could potentially make a huge impact, but as an industry, we can’t put all our eggs in one basket. Others in the hospitality arena shouldn’t just sit back and wait to see what happens because even if it is highly successful, we know that one effort won’t save the planet.
It’s time for everyone working in agritourism — farmers, winemakers, restaurateurs, craft beverage producers and other ag-related destinations — to think of creative ways to offset their impact on the world, while working to grow their business profits.
Do you work in one of these industries but feel like you could use some inspiration? Take advantage of the first-ever virtual agritourism conference anytime from anywhere! The conference, presented by EscapeMaker and Fulton Stall Market, is a completely digital training focused on the tourism and agriculture industries and is produced solely by women (30% of whom are certified as a Minority Women-Owned Business Enterprise. Join these industry experts to get insider tips, learn about trends and best practices for preparing a business to capitalize on the rapidly changing travel landscape, and to meet the demands of leisure, group, event and corporate travel markets.
Invest in your business and invest in the world’s future. Register today!