”Think about food design as a system. We are innovating at the product end, but we’re also trying to innovate ….to get food that would be otherwise be wasted back into the food supply chain…(including through) canned (and frozen) fruit and vegetables, which are really good accessible nutrition,” especially in the face of climate change. Dr. Lara Ramdin on Electric Ladies Podcast
As we commemorate Thanksgiving in the U.S., and do so on the heels of the huge UN climate conference COP26 when businesses and governments pledged “urgent action and investment” to shift to sustainable farming, we need to talk about how to feed the 2.37 billion people across the world who are food insecure.
Listen to Dr. Lara Ramdin, Chief Innovation Officer of Dole Sunshine Foods in this enlightening and inspiring interview with Electric Ladies podcast host Joan Michelson about how they are finding creative ways to do so.
You’ll hear:
- What a circular food supply looks like, from farm to table to plant to table.
- How surprisingly nutritious canned, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables are – especially for people living in “food deserts” where fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce.
- How packaged fruits and vegetables help combat climate change, and reduce food loss from it.
- How design thinking is reinventing their process of developing new and more nutritious fruit and vegetable products, and more sustainable packaging for them that also retains the food’s nutrition.
- Great career advice, especially for women in mid-career.
“Look for things outside of your comfort zone…And, I think that, especially in mid-career and above, what becomes more important is…that whoever it is that you report to…understands what it is that you bring to the organization and what your strengths are and allows you to be authentic to yourself…and is also able to give you feedback and allow you to grow.” Dr. Lara Ramdin on Electric Ladies Podcast
Read Joan’s related Forbes articles here too.
You’ll also want to listen to:
- Michele Wucker, thought leaders and author of “You Are What You Risk: The New Art & Science to Navigating an Uncertain World.”
- Gabrielle Rubenstein, Managing Partner and Founder, Manna Tree Partners, investors in food companies making our food supply more transparent and healthier.
- Robin Currey, Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at Prescott College.
- Jackie Roberts, AppHarvest, on their massive sustainable indoor farm
- Cindi Bigelow, CEO, Bigelow Tea, on converting a 75-year old tea company to combat climate change.
- Haley Lowry, Dow Chemical’s Sustainability Director on reducing the carbon footprint of food packaging.
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Joan Michelson, MBA is a highly accomplished business leader and award-winning strategic social impact and ESG – environment, social, governance – leader, who drove breakthrough results at Chrysler (in EVs), American Express and Deloitte, small businesses, and government agencies. She is an instructor on ESG issues to professionals, leaders and board members across industries. Her specialties include leveraging ESG solutions and partnerships strategically for maximum benefit, helping organizations recruit innovative, diverse women, and helping these women thrive in their careers. She is based in the Washington D.C. area.
Joan is also an accomplished journalist who has worked with top media organizations and hosts and produces the acclaimed Electric Ladies podcast (formerly known as Green Connections Radio), about innovation and leadership in energy-, climate- and sustainability-related issues across industries, featuring women experts.
She writes regularly for Forbes on these issues and has also been in the Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, TheAtlantic.com, Greenbiz, The New Economy magazine (distributed at the World Economic Forum), New Thinking magazine, regional business journals; and various other media. She coproduced segments with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” ABC News, and “The Crusaders,” and television specials on NBC.
Joan has spent her career working in energy-sustainability-climate-ESG issues and in marketing communications, including as head of communications and co-leader of the sales and marketing team of Chrysler’s Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), driving “best year ever” growth and significantly accelerated the adoption of electric vehicles. Prior to GEM, she led marketing communications efforts to high-net-worth and high-visibility clients in management consulting-financial services companies Deloitte and American Express. She's a native of NYC and has a BA from UCLA, an MBA from Baruch College at City University of NY, and post-graduate studies at Harvard Business School, The New School and The Aspen Institute, among others. She has a Sustainability and ESG certification from Competent Boards.
