Regenerative Organic Agriculture with Patagonia Provisions and Paul Lightfoot
The brand Patagonia is renowned for its purpose-driven mission of finding solutions to problems, collectively working to battle climate change and help save our home planet. One of the solutions they’re focusing on is regenerative organic agriculture and food sourcing because, after all, everything we consume and eat has a profound impact on our planet. Today’s guest is part of that team working to create systems that foster healthier and “better-for-the-world” food practices. We are excited to introduce, Paul Lightfoot. Paul is the General Manager of Patagonia Provisions, the food business of Patagonia, and the Board Chair of Regenerative Organic Alliance, the non-profit that administers Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™). In our conversation today, we dive into the why behind Patagonia’s journey into the food industry, what inspired their collaborative craft beer program and delve into the Regenerative Organic Movement. To hear about Patagonia’s only acquisition and explore its initiatives to solving the environmental crisis, be sure to start listening now. Enjoy!
Key Points From This Episode:
Patagonia Provisions: why a clothing company decided to start a food company.
How Kernza® Grain happened and the why behind the collaborative craft beer program.
Patagonia’s journey from the apparel business to the food business.
Patagonia Provision’s pursuits and ambitions in the food industry.
Patagonia’s first and only acquisition and why crackers were the next space to invest in.
What fires Paul up about the Regenerative Organic Movement (and what irks him).
What ‘Regenerate, Rejoice, Restore’ means to Paul.
“The mission of Patagonia is really simple, and amazingly purpose-driven, which is to save our home planet — [and] we’re in business to save our home planet.” — @plightfoot [0:03:14]
“Regenerative, organic agriculture, can actually make things better. It can improve the biodiversity of the landscape, it can improve the soil organic matter, improve the amount of water that the soil holds, can clean the waterways around farms, it can improve the lives of farmers, and in addition, it can draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the ground or in biomass.” — @plightfoot [0:04:08]
“[At Patagonia] we spent years giving away money before we made money because we believed in the concepts.” — @plightfoot [0:15:19]
“The beauty of food — that you eat every day, is [that it is] an amazingly important social activity.” — @plightfoot [0:31:55]
“I’m dismayed to hear the word [regenerative] being used in ways that I think are irresponsible.” — @plightfoot [0:36:50]
