Renske Lynde is the co-founder of Food System 6, a nonprofit accelerator that supports mission driven entrepreneurs transforming how to grow, produce, and distribute food.
Lynde will speak on a panel at the upcoming Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco on how women are reshaping the future of food. She recently spoke with Specialty Food News about how collaboration is essential to innovation, trends on her radar, and how companies can become more sustainable.
Why is it important for various stakeholders (public agencies, for-profits, academia, etc.) to work together to drive change in our food system?
Collaboration and cross-sector pollination are essential to the development of a more regenerative food system. The lift around systems-change and the challenges associated with reversing climate change and feeding a growing human population is tremendous and the only way that we will be able to make an impact is by combining forces across non-traditional lines and supporting innovations in new and interesting ways. We need entrepreneurs, both for-profit and nonprofit, to be willing to learn from each other and collaborate; for investors of all kinds (including philanthropic) to support innovation in non-traditional ways; and for the systems of support and education to transform the way that we talk about innovation.
What are some small steps companies can take to be more sustainable?
We think it is time for companies to start thinking beyond sustainability and designing towards a regenerative system. That is, more than just striving for a net zero, companies need to think about how they can leverage their power to create a positive impact on the natural and human ecosystems that they support.
What trends are on your radar for 2019?
This year we have been shifting our narrative away from food trends and towards food system transformation. We believe that innovators in all parts of the ecosystem need to be thinking about the multi-faceted complexity of working in a deeply interconnected world. Regardless of whether their innovation is trending, all entrepreneurs should be broadening their perspective to think about how they’re impacting the entire supply chain. Other than that, we’re really digging crickets.
What are you most looking forward to at the Winter Fancy Food Show?
I’m very excited to share the work of our incredible portfolio of companies. Any opportunity we get to discover opportunities for our entrepreneurs and to learn more about the innovation ecosystem is an exciting one.
- Arielle Feger
from Industry Operations http://bit.ly/2LTlVXd
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