The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the challenges within our current food system. For those who have spent decades working on the front lines, it is a relief to finally see news headlines bringing to light the deep systemic flaws that exist and acknowledging the reality of so many […]
Community Food Centers are an exciting development in food system infrastructure and make up an increasing share of our work at New Venture Advisors. In this screencast I’ll share some of the elements we’re seeing come together in Community Food Centers across the nation. This screencast is the companion video to our Good Food Glossary […]
As many of you know, we publish a monthly Good Food Brief with the big and small stories that chronicle trends in the food industry. Sometimes we come across programs that we wish had news coverage so that we could share them with you. Programs that serve often excluded communities, that deploy capital to build […]
“Let thy food be medicine and medicine be thy food,” reads the famous Hippocrates quote that opens many forays into the topic. Imagine a world where nutritious food can combat illness and drug dependency. While the food-as-medicine movement has been around for decades, its prevalence in modern medicine is once again appearing in headlines, with […]
What is a food desert? The CDC characterizes a food desert as an area lacking in affordable fruits and vegetables, often found in rural, minority or low-income areas where access to healthy foods are limited (CDC 2011). In recent years, the term has been used to characterize a number of scenarios: a community’s low access […]
New Venture Advisors is privileged to work alongside powerful forces driving progress toward building food systems we can all be proud of. These forces—our collaborators, partners, clients, visionaries—are leaders in changing how we think about food. As a returning feature of our blog and newsletter, we will voice our gratitude and place the spotlight on […]
A year ago, we started work on a project for the Kansas-based Sunflower Foundation, in partnership with the Rural Grocery Initiative (RGI) at Kansas State University, to understand the challenges rural grocery stores face. Of particular focus was the issue of distribution in light of the recent consolidation of two major food wholesalers in the […]
Last night I had the genuine pleasure of sharing a few remarks about sustainable food systems with a group of food industry professionals in Chicago. It was an event hosted by Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, formed last year to catalyze the 4,500 food companies in Chicago into an economic engine to drive growth, create […]
Late last year, not long after then president Barack Obama reduced trade restrictions with Cuba, the chance to explore the state of sustainable agriculture in Cuba became an opportunity I did not want to miss. In early February, I was introduced to a world I knew existed but found hard to fathom fairly from the […]
A lot has happened since we first explored the idea of a rural grocery store housing a local food hub, almost two years ago! The concept is one we continue to be excited about and see tremendous potential in. A quick refresher: Independent rural grocery stores are facing challenges and going out of business at […]