The Regeneration Podcast (The Regeneration Podcast)

In this episode, I’m meeting with Marcy Coburn, CEO of CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) a non-profit organization dedicated to growing thriving communities through the power and joy of local food. We are talking about their educational programs and farmers' markets, building consumer-farmer relationships, regenerative agriculture, navigating climate chaos and how each and everyone can contribute to a better food system. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow 
Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Caroline Cotto, COO of Renewal Mill, a next-generation food company helping reduce global food waste by upcycling okara. Okara is the pulp from organic soybeans that is turned into a nutritious, versatile flour. We are talking about the food scene in Oakland, the company mission, where Renewal Mill is heading in the future, what large corporations can learn from smaller food startups and how to build a company with a circular mindset. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow
Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Reilly Brock, Content Manager at Imperfect Foods (former Imperfect Produce), a company on a mission to reduce food waste by saving and selling imperfect produce and food products. We’re talking about what makes a fruit or vegetable "ugly", how to scale a business quickly, hacks for zero waste at home, why it’s so important to know who’s growing our food and where Imperfect is heading next. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Matthew Johansen, co-founder of the shared kitchen and co-working space for food Forage Kitchen in Oakland. Their mission is to expand the local food economy by supporting its producers and making the starting of a business a bit easier. We are talking about the challenges with starting and scaling your own food business, how to get started in the food space and how to successfully collaborate. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Chris Chimenti the Co-manager of Alemany Farm, the largest urban farm in San Francisco. Alemany Farm wants to support food security in the city, providing organic, healthy food to community members and teach more people about urban agriculture. We’re talking about the programs they run at the farm, what is easy and really challenging to grow in the Bay Area, how climate change is affecting the farm, how to work with food security in the community and what happens to people when they come in contact with the soil. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Nina Ichikawa, Executive Director at the interdisciplinary research, action and education institute The Berkeley Food Institute. They seek to transform food systems to expand access to healthy, affordable food and promote sustainable and equitable food production. Berkeley Food Institute empowers new leaders with capacities to cultivate diverse, just, resilient, and healthy food systems. We’re talking about how to work with food policy to change the public health crisis caused in part by unhealthy diets, why soil health is so important, the different food activities on the UC Berkeley campus and what every single person can do to contribute to a better food system. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m talking to Mike Lee, founder of The Future Market, a futurist food lab that explores what the future of food might look like over the next 5-25 years. We’re talking about what we will eat in the future, the trends Mike sees in consumer behaviors, what our future grocery stores will look like and how we can support biodiversity. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Geetika Agrawal, program director at the non-profit business incubator La Cocina. They support talented, working-class food entrepreneurs, primarily immigrant women and women of color, in building successful food businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. We talk about La Cocina’s amazing graduates who are now running their own restaurants, all the things you learn in the incubator program, struggles with running your own restaurant business in the Bay Area, and what’s behind La Cocina’s success. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Kevin Bayuk, co-founder of the Urban Permaculture Institute San Francisco (UPISF). They strive to make permaculture design relevant and accessible to people living in cities for individual and community resilience. We’re talking about how to create resilient communities in the time of climate chaos, the history and principles of permaculture, how UPISF is making permaculture more accessible to everyone, remembering ourselves as nature through promoting eco-literacy and the distorted paradox of our current food system and everything we can do to change it. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I'm meeting with Michael R. Dimock, President of Roots of Change. They are a think and do tank that works with California industries and communities to ensure that every aspect of our food—from when it’s grown to when it’s eaten—can be healthy, safe, profitable and fair for everyone in California. We're talking about the healthy soil programme, their work with sugary beverages taxes, driving change through food policy, how to incentivize farmers to use more sustainable practices and how everyone can contribute to a resilient and equitable food system. Host is Elise Johanson. Read more about Roots of Change here. Listen to their podcast 'Flipping the Table' here. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with the co-founder of Blue Lobster, Christine Hebert. Blue Lobster is a platform that enables small-scale fishermen to sell their fish for a fair price and allows restaurants to buy fresh, sustainably sourced seafood. We’re talking about how to source fish and seafood sustainably, digitalizing a very analog industry, how the company is changing the current supply chain with their platform and what’s next for Blue Lobster. Host and creator is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with the co-founder of the rooftop farm ØsterGRO, Kristian Skaarup. ØsterGRO started in 2014 as the first rooftop farm in Denmark, in the heart of Copenhagen's Climate Neighbourhood. ØsterGRO covers 600 m2 with fields of organic vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, a greenhouse, henhouse, and three bee-hives. We’re talking about how to design cities for the future, what it’s like to farm on a rooftop, the small eco-system they’ve built here, what everyone can do to change our food system on a daily basis and what’s next for ØsterGRO. Host is Elise Johanson. Find more at Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m talking to Sorosh Tavakoli, a Swedish entrepreneur and the co-founder of Noquo Foods. A company on a mission to reinvent the foods we love, in their case cheese. They're on a journey to invent the next generation of plant-based cheese and are currently in the lab creating their first product. We’re talking about how Sorosh went from being a tech entrepreneur to enter the food space, why he saw great potential for creating a really good vegan cheese product, what we need to reinvent in our food system as a whole, and what’s next for Noquo Foods. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.

In this episode, I’m meeting with Søren Ejlersen, a Danish chef, author, and entrepreneur who is the co-founder of the meal subscription service Aarstiderne. We recorded the episode at his new project BaneGaarden in Copenhagen, back in January. It will turn into a community space and site that explores the future of food with farmers and fish markets, sustainable eateries, cooking classes, and a plant nursery. We also talk about his school garden project Haver til Maver, how to give access to healthy and sustainable food for everyone, eating wild plants, how to be transparent as a company, the most urgent changes everyone needs to do in their diet, why plant-based processed food is so problematic, and Aarstiderne’s new concept ’Planetar’ - meaning being a planetarian, eating well for the future of your planet and community. Host is Elise Johanson. For updates follow Elise Vega.