We are overwhelmingly grateful - for our farmers, for our activists, for our communities, for all the folks out there who are fighting the good fight. We're grateful for our food and its ability to bring us together.
It's true: food is the universal connector. It bridges cultures, traditions, and timelines and allows us to connect to each other in very unique and genuine ways. Food is love, memory, identity, understanding. Joy.
Thank you to all those in our food system who are working to nourish, educate, and empower others - especially the farmers who make breaking bread with our loved ones so special during the holiday season. We see you and we are so grateful!
The New York Times
Climate Hub at COP26
After a vigorous application and vetting process, Glasgow University and The New York Times selected Farm from a Box as one of five moonshot inventions with the potential to make a significant impact in the fight against climate change.
Photo: Craig Gibson for The New York Times
Our Founding Partner and CEO, Brandi DeCarli, traveled to Glasgow to speak at COP26. The panel, focused on how climate-focused innovations can stay true to the needs of people and the planet, featured four other brilliant innovators:
Benjamin Njenga, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer ofApollo Agriculture Yasmine Encelade, CEO ofSMO Solar Process Hank Torbert, Chairman ofSunamp Bomi Fagbemi, Co-Founder and CEO of Bioloop
We are tremendously inspired by and excited to work alongside each of these innovators. As Bomi so perfectly said during the panel, "We're building a toolkit of technologies and methods that we can use to combat, mitigate, and adapt to climate change. I don't see these people as competitors - I see them as partners. I can learn from them... and they can learn from me."
The challenges we face as a global community are clear. The climate crisis is already pushing hundreds of millions of people into disaster - from floods and fires to extreme temperatures and unhealthy air quality to rising food costs. These impacts are falling disproportionately on women.
There were incredible discussions on technological innovations that can drive significant change and there were financial commitments from all sectors to support their development. But if there's one thing COP26 made clear, it's that our time to act is running out.
We need to try harder.
A powerful speech by Barbados prime minister Mia Amor Mottley was among the most memorable moments at COP26. The prime minister delivered a stark warning on the effects that a rise in global temperature will have on the people of Maldives, Antigua, Barbados, and other island nations.
We need to keep our promises.
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate called out world leaders for their lack of concrete action in her hard-hitting speech at COP26. Nakate reiterated to the crowd that the trend she sees at every COP is that leaders make promises and pledges, yet global emissions continue to rise.
But our greatest lesson is grounded in HOPE & OPTIMISM.
It's more than time for collective leadership and action. We need to invest in our future and correct course. It's clear that governments do not hold the solution, but person by person, community by community, we can courageously choose to make real change happen for a better future. It’s already happening!
Agriculture is in a unique position as one of the few sectors where the problem can also be the solution. Never before has there been so much momentum to transition our food system to one that is renewably-powered, regenerative, and localized.
Farm from a Box is committed to fueling this change by empowering smallholder farmers to sustainably build food independence across the world. With the majority of farms globally being smallholder farms, enough tiny changes made by enough small farms can have a massive impact. That's the beauty of the ripple effect.
Stay tuned for our upcoming Farmer Features where we'll be highlighting inspiring stories from the field from those that make it happen. Good things happen when people get their hands in the soil and grow their own!
In community,
Farm from a Box
Now Watching: Gather
Gather is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide. This documentary shares both personal stories and archival footage that contextualizes the continued violence against Native Americans.
This Thanksgiving, we invite you to (re)watch this film with us and learn more about Indigenous communities' fight for autonomy over their food systems.
