Regenerative by Design

What role do distributors play in the creation of new consumer categories? Laura McCord of KeHE Distributors gives us insight into what one of America's largest industry players is doing to embrace regenerative agriculture and create programs to help conserve resources and our planet.

Show Notes

Today, we hear from Laura McCord, the Executive Sustainability Director for KeHE.

Laura combines her lifelong passion for the outdoors and nature with her career in grocery and natural products distribution to lead the way in corporate sustainability. She is passionate about conservation and building business practices that reflect and uphold these values.

Laura discusses the nuances between the organic movement and the emerging regenerative movement and how we see opportunities to make a bigger impact on reducing chemicals in our food system and building healthier soils. We also explore how categories emerge in the grocery industry. We explore the process of educating both consumers and retailers and how the success of early movers in new categories ultimately depends on brand positioning, quality, pricing, and marketing.

We will also learn about KeHE’s new ECOtrade program and the initiatives they are creating in their organization and with their partners. ECOtrade is a new climate initiative that includes four main climate action commitment areas: transportation, energy, waste, and refrigerants. Laura also tells us about CAREtrade.

Laura believes in consumers as a powerful force both in the marketplace and in creating positive change in the world.

If you are interested in hearing about how distributors and the natural products industry is thinking about important issues in today’s food system, then this will be a great opportunity to learn more.

To learn more or get in touch with Laura, please see the links below.

Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-mccord-903ab858/ 

https://www.kehe.com/ecotrade/ 

https://www.kehe.com/caretrade/ 

What is Regenerative by Design?

Regenerative by Design Podcast where we get to the root of health, climate, economics and food.  Host, Joni Kindwall-Moore, is an RN, an Ethnobotanist and the founder of Snacktivist Foods. Join us on this journey as we explore the ideas, stories and personalities behind the regenerative food system movement including climate change, human health, economics and food as well as other deeply interconnected topics. 

In this podcast, we will be “going there” and leaning into topics that might make you squirm… just a little.  We want to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box and to discover the deeper side of our world’s problems so that we can better understand how to solve them. 

We aim to unpack some of the most dynamic issues of our day with some of the most inspiring minds who are pushing the boundaries of our current norms and thinking paradigms. 

We have seen incredibly disruptive events in the past few years like pandemics, climate events, disasters and war. These often trigger system changes that are reactionary and have short term gains. When these are practiced over the long term, they often have a degenerative effect on health and the environment.

Regenerative design thinking is the opposite, and is an intentional, premeditated process that involves a high level of observation, analysis, creativity, and looking beyond reductionistic principles while embracing systems thinking and additionality to create regenerative solutions.

Regenerative agriculture has become a powerful force for positive transformation and hope in todays world. And no discussion about agriculture is complete without a conversation about food. 

Food is the connection between people and the planet so grab a cup of coffee or your favorite running shoes and get ready to take a mental and philosophical leap into the future of food and our planet.