From regenerative organic practices that increase the climate resilience of crops to finance models that grow the health and wellbeing of farming communities, what can the natural products industry do to shore up agricultural supply and economic resilience for years to come?
Date & Time
Thursday September 21st, 2023 11:00am EDT
End Date & Time
Thursday September 21st, 2023 12:00pm EDT
Venue
Level 200, Room 201A
Address
Level 200, Room 201A
Philadelphia, PA
United States
Philadelphia, PA
United States
| SPEAKERS |
 Rebecca GildinerDirector of Sustainability, Daily Harvest Rebecca Gildiner is the Director of Sustainability at Daily Harvest, which makes chef-crafted food built on real, frozen organic fruits vegetables. She leads sustainability strategy, management, and program development across the business, with a focus on scaling regenerative, organic agriculture through a farmer-centric approach. Prior, Rebecca built the sustainability and social impact program at Sir Kensington’s, a Unilever-held natural condiment brand. Overall she has collected 14 years of experiences across the food system including farm labor, food education, foodservice, retail, corporate strategy, and waste management, all informing her career journey to learn everything about food and how to harness its power for good. Rebecca received her Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of the Environment and her BA from Colgate University. |
| Kellee James CEO, Mercaris Bio coming soon! |
 Bob QuinnFounder, Quinn Farm & Ranch Bob Quinn was raised on a 2,400-acre family owned and operated wheat and cattle ranch near Big Sandy, Montana that his grandfather started in 1920. He earned a BS in botany, a MS in plant pathology from MSU in Bozeman and a PhD in plant biochemistry at UC Davis. He returned home to farm and ranch in 1978. To add value to his wheat crops by direct marketing, Bob started Montana Flour & Grains, Inc. (MFG) in 1983. In 1986 he introduced ancient Kamut brand wheat to the natural food market and formed Kamut International (KI) to promote and protect the Kamut brand and sponsor research comparing ancient and modern wheat. That research has resulted in 35 peer reviewed journal articles (see Kamut.com). In 2011 he founded the Oil Barn which produces high-oleic organic safflower oil and in 2015 he started Big Sandy Organics (BSO) which produces Kracklin’ Kamut ancient wheat snacks. He was a partner in WindPark Solutions America, which developed Montana’s first wind farm in 2005 consisted of 94 - 1.25 MW turbines. In 1986 Bob planted his first organic certified crop and had his entire farm certified organic by 1991. He promotes regenerative organic agriculture throughout the county and all over the world while continuing to experiment to improve regenerative organic systems and find ways to grow dry land vegetables, fruit trees and berries on a commercial basis in North Central Montana. He is 75 and has been married for 51 years. He and his wife, Ann, have four daughters, one son and 20 grandchildren. Bob has been a member of Grain Growers, Farm Bureau, AERO, OTA the National Organic Farmers Association and IFOAM for many years and has received many awards from these groups. He wrote “Grain by Grain” with his co-author and friend, Liz Carlisle (published by Island Press in 2019) which tell his story and summarizes the tie between regenerative organic agriculture, good food and good health, the importance of local production of both food and fuel as well as the high cost of cheap food. In 2000, he sold MFG to his CFO. In 2018, he leased out his farm to 2 of his employees and sold BSO to his plant manager. In 2021, he turned over KI to his nephew, Trevor Blyth. And finally, in 2022 he sold the Oil Barn to a fellow organic farmer near Shelby, Montana. In 2023, he donated 800-acre out of the middle of his farm to create a non-profit regenerative organic research, education, and health institute. It will be called the Quinn Institute – innovative organic agriculture, research, and education for healthy communities. He expects this will be his primary focus for the rest of his life. |
| Nova Sayers VP Growth & Innovation, HowGood Bio coming soon! |
| Elizabeth Whitlow Executive Director, Regenerative Organic Alliance Bio coming soon! |
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