I’m so pleased to report that this week, we wrapped up an incredible sixth annual Trust In Food Symposium in Nashville. Our team along with approximately 120 sustainable agriculture leaders spent quality time together hearing updates from the front lines of climate-smart agriculture, considering challenges and opportunities ahead, and exploring more ways to collaborate in a way that helps farmers and ranchers succeed. I encourage you to read the climate-smart Top Producer farmer panel recap authored by my colleague Rhonda Brooks and featured in this newsletter. These producers shared that while they haven't yet seen the carbon market opportunity, they're nonetheless energized by climate-smart innovations in agriculture and eager to try new things. That's an encouraging note for anyone working in this important space. There are several universal truths about meetings such as this one: They’re never long enough to cover all the topics you’d like, to the depth you’d prefer. Everyone wants practical insights to take home. But more than that, they want real action to follow.
That’s where you and I come in. Advancing the big mission of scaling climate-smart agriculture requires a big cross-functional team. Even the small steps can add up over time. As Chief Terry Cosby of USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service told the Symposium audience this week: “We have a once in a lifetime opportunity and it is going to take all of us.” (Thanks to Trust In Beef partner Samantha Werth, executive director of the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and senior director of sustainability at NCBA, for capturing this quote and sharing it on LinkedIn!) Events such as the Trust In Food Symposium are wonderful because they bring us together, encourage us, feed our curiosity—and challenge us to get better at what we do. They remind us of the people we’re serving through our collective efforts, the farmers and ranchers whose natural resource stewardship creates resilient businesses and communities.
Whether you joined us at Symposium this week (and if so: thank you!), have invested your time in other events or both, use this moment as an opportunity to reflect. What have you learned? Where are you and your team going? What’s one thing you could apply – based on what you’ve heard recently – to get closer to the ambitious climate-smart goals you’ve set?
Take that step now. Enjoy the journey.
Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
President, Trust In Food™
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