Food Systems & Climate Change with Jonathan Reinbold of Thomas Foods

Dec 2

When we look at the sectors that are contributing significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, agriculture is responsible for 15 to 20 percent, but today’s guest believes that the food industry has an opportunity to do better; a lot better!

Today, we speak with Jonathan Reinbold, Sustainability Director for Thomas Foods, about the food industry’s impact on our health and the environment and the progress being made to turn any negative impacts into positive ones. Jonathan has worked in sustainability, agriculture, and climate action for over a decade now, and his experience spans sustainability strategy, CSR reporting, non‐profit management, food systems policy, renewable energy, and green design.

In this episode, we touch on how companies can benefit from an increased focus on sustainability and how taking a more holistic approach to agricultural practices can help companies become climate positive, and Jonathan shares some advice for brands entering into the sustainability space: identify your biggest opportunity areas and focus there. Don’t try and do everything! Tune in today to learn more about some of the major advances that the food industry is making when it comes to sustainability!

Key Points From This Episode:

Minimizing negative climate impacts in agriculture and throughout the supply chain.
The increasing focus on sustainability and how businesses stand to benefit in terms of profitability and reputation.
How companies can become climate positive by taking a holistic approach to agriculture.
The benefits of building a climate-positive mindset into your business model; start early!
Food and physical wellness as a common thread throughout Jonathan’s career journey.
Why healthy food is more about abundance and variety than it is about elimination.
What drew Jonathan to agriculture and his early roles in community and supply chains.
Learn about Jonathan’s previous role as head of sustainability at Organic Valley.
Some of the initiates worked on, including guiding Organic Valley to become the world’s largest 100 percent renewably-powered food company.
Time spent creating impact strategies, collecting data, running initiatives, and storytelling.
The value in viewing farmers as ‘price makers’ rather than ‘price takers’.
Integrated supply chains at Thomas Foods and how they align with Jonathan’s values.
How big brands like Mcdonald's are shifting strategies in ways consumers never expected.
Why it’s not all about packaging; identify your biggest opportunity areas and focus there.

Tweetables:

“As more information came out, we realized [health food] is not just eliminating a bunch of stuff. It’s actually putting more real stuff in your diet, having more variety in your diet, having more types of different fruits and vegetables.” — Gage Mitchell [0:06:53]

“Increasingly now, we see that a business that focuses on sustainability [tends] to be more profitable and [has] a better reputation than [its] competitors. That holds true in many different categories, from automobiles to cereal brands to dairy companies.” — Jonathan Reinbold [0:20:15]

“When we look at the sectors that are contributing to greenhouse gas emissions globally, agriculture is responsible for 15 to 20 percent. There’s an opportunity to do better – a lot better! Agriculture doesn’t have to be a contributor to climate change.” — Jonathan Reinbold [0:22:15]

“If you have limited resources, if you’re just entering into the sustainability space, identify the biggest opportunity areas and focus there. Don’t try and do everything.” — Jonathan Reinbold [0:41:31]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Jonathan Reinbold on LinkedIn

Thomas Foods

Organic Valley

Lopez Foods

Gage Mitchell on LinkedIn