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Sustainable Food |
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The Business of Sustainable Food
Marketing locally grown food that is "healthier for people and the planet." Panel featuring Josh Hinerfeld (HBS'87), CEO, Organically Grown Company; and Lisa Sedlar, President, New Seasons Market. Wedneday, February 24, 6-8 PM, The Arlington Club
Wednesday, February 24, 2010; 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM, The Arlington Club, 811 Southwest Salmon Street
Portland, OR Get directions Tram: Library/SW 9th Ave MAX Station
Click here to buy tickets!!! Member discount for early registration. Register before February 17.
Join HBSAO, save $10 on this event, enjoy Member benefits all year long (discounts on event tickets, access to Virtual Learning Series, etc.)
$15 Members (before February 17); $25 Non-Members (and Members after February 16).
For more info contact event chair:
Keith Kullberg, (HBS OPM 2004), Proprietor, The Better Bean Company; 503.546.6557
Click here to buy tickets!!! $15 Members (before February 17, 2010); $25 Non-Members (and Members after February 16).
I. Our Panelists
II. What is Sustainable Food?
III. Did You Know...?
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I. Our Panelists
Josh Hinerfeld (HBS MBA '87) is CEO of Organically Grown Company, a distributor of organic produce based in Eugene, Washington. He is also a director of Hoyt Arboretum Friends in Portland, OR; a member of the Oregon Food Bank's food producement committee; a small-scale (orchard mason) bee farmer; and a gardener with nearly 40 years experience. Josh has been active in food and agriculture for over 20 years in a variety of roles (general management, strategy, finance, supply chain management, and operations) both in the United States and internationally. He is a five-time participant at the Harvard Business School Agribusiness Seminar, where he can be counted on to provide an unconventional perspective that is grounded in the experience of having worked for and with a number of conventional businesses. Previous positions: 1) owner of Cambium Strategy; 2) division president of AmeriServe Food Distribution; 3) Sr. Director of Supply Chain Management for Yum Brands Canada; and 4) General Manager of PepsiCo Food Systems Canada. In the early 1990s, he developed the Smart Sourcing strategy that ultimately resulted in the consolidation and upgrading of the supply chain management activities for Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell worldwide. Josh earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and A.B. in history at Vassar College.
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Organically Grown Company (OGC) distributes a broad range of fresh, certified organic produce primarily to retail accounts in Oregon and Washington. The company sources produce from over 300 suppliers that range in size from a few acres to operators that operate in multiple states. Approximately one-third of OGC's sales are derived from product that is grown in the Pacific Northwest. 20 growers own a majority of the company. Employees own the balance. Three of the eight members of OGC's board of directors are growers, who live and farm in Oregon.
Lisa Sedlar is the president of New Seasons Market. She is a formally trained chef and has worked in retail food markets for over 20 years, in positions ranging from Store Chef to Director of Purchasing to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Lisa believes strongly that business leaders have a responsibility to the communities they serve. “New Seasons Market was founded on sustainable business practices. From our partnerships with local farmers and support for nonprofits, to our innovative staff healthcare programs and green building initiatives, we take an active role in our community. I’m committed to making sure New Seasons Market is an easy and fun place to shop – food is a celebration, not a chore! Our motto around here is “speak up” and that goes for everyone—staff, customers, neighborhood groups, vendors, you name it!” Lisa is on the board of directors for the Oregon Food Bank, the Sustainable Business Network of Portland, and the Portland Public Market. She also serves on the business advisory committees of the Food Alliance and the Food Innovation Center.
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New Seasons Market is a chain of privately-owned neighborhood grocers operating in the Portland Metro area. Founded by three families and 50 of their friends in 1999, the chain currently operates nine stores in Portland, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Happy Valley and Lake Oswego, with a new store under construction in Beaverton's Progress Ridge neighborhood. Many of the products offered are organic and produced locally in the Pacific Northwest. The stores differ from most grocers by offering natural and conventional products side by side. New Seasons Market emphasizes the idea of a neighborhood grocery store in part by naming their stores after the neighborhood in which they reside and reflecting their surroundings in the stores' design and decor. Job fairs are held in new stores' neighborhoods in an effort to recruit current members of the community.
II. What is "Sustainable Food"?
Everywhere it seems there’s talk of “sustainable food,” but what does that term mean exactly? By its very definition, food is sustaining, but sustainable agriculture is something different. It’s not surprising that the group known as Sustainable Table has a description that most people who use the term would like: "Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities."
A wide-ranging definition, and as Sustainable Table points out, not everyone agrees with what all these things mean.
The UK Sustainable Development Commission defines "sustainable food" as food and drink that:
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Is safe, healthy and nutritious, for consumers in shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals etc
- Can meet the needs of the less well off people
- Provides a viable livelihood for farmers, processors and retailers, whose emoyees enjoy a safe and hygienic working environment whether in the UK or overseas
- Respects biophysical and environmental limits in its production and processing, while reducing energy consumption and improving the wider environment; it also respects the highest standards of animal health and welfare, compatible with the production of affordable food for all sectors of society
- Supports rural economies and the diversity of rural culture, in particular through an emphasis on local products that keep food miles to a minimum
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III. Did You Know...?
The federal government actually has a definition for sustainable agriculture that was signed into law in 1990 during the George H.W. Bush Administration? Public Law 101-624, Title XVI, Subtitle A, Section 1683, defines sustainable agriculture as “an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term, satisfy human food and fiber needs; enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends; make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls; sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”
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The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability focuses on sustainable food policy and programs that support local, sustainable agriculture, economic development in the region and access to healthy, culturally appropriate food for all residents? The Bureau works with the citizen-based Portland Multnomah Food Policy Council to advise elected officials on issues regarding food access, land use planning issues, local food purchasing plans and many other policy initiatives in the regional food system.
The Portland Multnomah County Food Policy Council is a citizen-based advisory council to the City of Portland and Multnomah County? The Council brings citizens and professionals together from the region to address issues regarding food access, land use planning issues, local food purchasing plans and many other policy initiatives in the current regional food system. The Mission of the Food Policy Council is to "Bring together a diverse array of stakeholders to integrate the aspects of the food system (production, distribution, access, consumption, processing and recycling) in order to enhance the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of the City of Portland and Multnomah County." Food Policy Council meetings are open to the public. Please come and make your voice heard. Meetings are held from 4:00-6:00pm on the second Wednesday of each month.
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