Will Our Good Food Organizations Step Up?
I've long been doomsdayery about our food supply. The fact is, our entire economy rests on cheap, industrially produced food. No matter how much we try, we can't "go back" to small farming and, well, we likely won't leave convenience behind.
So the emerging trend of VC-backed food solutions is mighty exciting. Because it disrupts the old strategy of trying to change our food supply by appealing to people's values and good sense.
But VCs only back proven horses that can win big. Most real food innovation doesn't have the power to deliver the kind of multiples investors need.
So, it's not the whole solution.
The other day, I stumbled on a Kickstarter for bourbon barrel-aged sriracha. It got me thinking about the possibilities of small farmers and small food producers using the platform to expand their business — buying refrigerated trucks for delivery, buying more land, buying seeds at the beginning of the year.
What it takes to accomplish something like this: audience and reach.
There are a lot of organizations, local, national and international, that have audience and reach. Their charters are to change our food supply and, thus far, they've made some inroads that likely feel like success to them. But in truth, have been largely ineffective. Their "success" has been slow and plodding, and likely not reaching beyond the converted, or nearly so.
It would take guts to go for this glory. It would take an organizational shift from focusing on perceived success to admitting actual mediocrity. It would mean helping others raise funds for real gains instead of raising funds for self-promoting goals.
Most organizations can't make this kind of shift, of course. It's dangerous and gutsy. You'd have to believe our very lives were at stake.
Of course, they are.
