Food, Fashion and Climate Change

Certainly, climate change is becoming a daily conversation in every single industry we touch. Many industries are starting to realize the havoc they are creating on our environment or be honest about it.

In full transparency, I invested in Evrnu 2015. The founder, Stacy Flynn, saw the writing on the wall. She traveled to China to work on fabrics and could not see the driver on the other side of her car when they both got out. That is how much pollution was in the air. She decided she had to do something. She built Evrnu to create fabrics from discarded clothing without brown water, creating a circular ecosystem. She is one of many voices in the fashion industry doing something about the unprecedented waste in the clothing industry.

The fashion industry is responsible for approximately 4% of global emissions. The actions needed are changes in the supply chain, production waste, and the decarbonization of materials, including switching to renewable energy sources and producing less. Encouraging changes in consumer behavior is part of this too.

Large food brands such as General Mills, Mondelez, Nestle, and Pepsi are beginning to realize they are also a huge part of the problem. What does regenerative agriculture look like? Big food companies are acquiring smaller, nimble companies who can create healthier products, but the largest issue is in the supply chain. Electric trucks carrying products vs. gas guzzlers is one big piece.

Carbon Neutral is a saying that is being battered about. It is a huge task for our world to become carbon neutral. First, we need to hold our largest industry responsible for change and reward them for doing so. We all must have an urgency around climate change, and we should hold the big business responsible if they aren’t making the appropriate changes. Otherwise, I fear for each season as the years go by.