Ep. 172 Are We Eating From A Toxic Food System? Tackling Issues within the American Food Industry with Robyn O'Brien

I am honored to be interviewing Robyn O’Brien today! Robyn is a globally recognized voice in the food industry and has been called “food’s Erin Brockovich” by The New York Times. Her TEDx talk (based on her book, The Unhealthy Truth) exposes the shortcomings of our food system and has been viewed millions of times. It has influenced policy, legislation, and product formulation. For the last fifteen years, Robyn has advised CEOs and executives at multinational CPG companies, startups, and farm organizations. Robyn is the co-founder and managing director at rePlant Capital, a financial services firm ambitiously determined to reverse climate change through the deployment of a series of proprietary funds focused on U.S. farmers and their transition to regenerative and organic agriculture.

It can be hard for those who want to make real change in our broken systems to initiate change or know where to begin. Robyn O’Brien doesn’t just make noise about problems. She builds solutions and encourages her audiences to participate by identifying their skills and experiences to leverage them as entry points for systems change. In Robyn’s story, capital is an entry point for catalytic change. If biodiversity is resiliency on the farm, Robyn deeply believes that diversity is resiliency in governance. 

In this episode, Robyn explains how rePlant Capital is pioneering climate solutions by tackling soil health through a model of agricultural financing that no one else is providing. She also speaks to the importance of diverse governance and leadership in addressing these existential food, health, and climate issues.  

I am very grateful to Robyn for writing her book because it has profoundly impacted the trajectory of everything I am doing right now! Stay tuned for more!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

• Robyn shares her background.
• Robyn's motivation for investigating how our food gets produced.
• The additives in our food that drive allergies and food sensitivities.
• Some of the shocking facts that Robyn discovered about food allergies and American children.
• How Robyn realized that she had to use love and gratitude rather than fear when sharing her knowledge.
• The issues with the American food industry.
• Robyn talks about rePlant Capital.
• The difference between the conventional farm-debt industry and regenerative farming practices.
• Why we should never be afraid of starting small.
• The differences between various types of soil composition.
• Why water security is as critical as food security and national security.
• The importance of diversity.
• What you need to be concerned about regarding GMOs.
• Why we are seeing an escalated rate of allergies in our children.
• The importance of transparency in the food industry.

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Kiss the Ground website

The documentary, Kiss the Ground (On Netflix)