We were selected as one of 20, global, ‘social entrepreneurs’ to undertake a year-long fellowship programme designed to help us scale our impact and efforts in reimagining local food systems. Created by The Do World, their mission is to empower the DOers – the people behind the action – celebrate them, and drive change together.
Designed to help us hone our skills, business plan and get us pitch-ready for social investors, the Future of Food programme connects us with peers and experts from around the world. We have monthly facilitated workshops and mentorships in such things as purposeful leadership, business innovation, stakeholder engagement, pathways to collaboration and storytelling.
In a community dedicated to systemic change, the Future of Food has helped us get clearer about our objectives and the problems we are solving. Did you know that up to 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions come from our food and agriculture systems? It’s a problematic area to be working in but through making better choices of supply chain, ingredients and working with nature, we can help education and inform the public about individual choice and effect. We can all work together to make sure that what tastes great on your plate also works for the planet.
We were selected due to having redesigned a familiar type of food that’s s often associated with fast, unhealthy eating. We’ve looked at how to make it more sustainable by sourcing locally and seasonally, using nutritional ingredients and creating innovative flavour combinations.
Participants were taken through a rigorous application programme competing for a spot against businesses worldwide, covering solutions within everything from production to consumption. We are working alongside other value-driven food ventures looking to fight the status quo, for example:
Fereikos, Greece
Snail farming and consultancy.
Snail farming provides a low-investment source of income (grown exponentially during Covid-19) and a regenerative, circular approach through the reusing of the meat, shells, slime and even faeces.
Kornwerk, Germany
Plant based drinks and food from heirloom grain varieties.
Kornwerk have created a holistic model looking at waste elimination, agricultural biodiversity and fair structures for farmers.
SVF Africa, Nigeria
Agtech & investment organisation supporting small-scale farmers.
SVF are committed to stronger farmer and feeding in Southwest Africa .They track records of farmers expanding variety of crops and raising funds with strong ROI whilst working collaboratively with farms, greenhouses and businesses
Key outcomes for the programme include having a strong vision, purpose and impact as founders and change makers, encouraging behavioural change in stakeholders, growing purposeful teams and culture, and tools for a triple bottom line of environment, social, and financial sustainability.