In our vibrant industry, the topic of regenerative agriculture is more than just a buzzword – it’s a cornerstone of our ethos. For over a decade, OSC has been at the forefront of these discussions, supporting initiatives with a visionary group of members. The impact of their efforts has been nothing short of transformative.

Think of John Roulac, whose work helped produce groundbreaking films like Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. Consider David Bronner and his team, who brought forth the ROC Certification. And then there’s Jordan Rubin of Ancient Nutrition. Their R.A.N.C.H Project is ambitiously converting thousands of acres of farmland to Regenerative Organic certified.

Recently, we gathered at Ancient Nutrition’s R.A.N.C.H. (Regenerative Agriculture, Nutrition, Climate & Health) in Tennessee for our Spring CEO retreat, 12 intrepid OSC members from across the country. Our objective? To delve deeper into the innovative practices of the Ancient Nutrition R.A.N.C.H Project, which serves as a living laboratory for regenerative agriculture. And, as always, to engage our CEO members in collaboration,  regenerative leadership development, and fun.

Our first day on the farm was with a group of regenerative luminaries from Rodale, CCOF, ROA, Alive Publishing, the wonderful Ancient Nutrition and R.A.N.C.H teams and many others.  We witnessed the “flerd” – a multi-species herd comprising goats, sheep (including just born!), water buffalo, and cattle – move from one paddock to another, each rotation contributing to the regeneration of the land. Amidst the delightful cacophony, we marveled at the diversity of birdlife and explored teaching stations on soil health, sauerkraut making for cows, and chick hatcheries.

We marveled at the intentional balance struck at the R.A.N.C.H Project. While immense effort went into setting up this expansive ecosystem, there was also a profound respect for nature’s ability to self-regulate. Chicks were hatched on-site, seeds were saved and planted, and soil was nurtured, not trucked in. The result? A closed-loop ecosystem that’s not just sustainable but actively regenerative.

Sarah Shaw and Lara Dickinson at the Petting zoo.

Kristie Cerrutti and Jordan Rubin generously hosted the OSC crew for our own retreat the next day.  Our experience deepened as we spent time with the farm director, Todd Vincent, his wife and 14 children.  They shared their wisdom, wonderful cooking and hospitality. We learned about the inter connectedness of all living beings on the farm – from ducks controlling pests to water buffalo enriching the soil.

I had wondered why Kristie has a carefree email signature photo of herself with a water buffalo.  Todd and Kristie explained that these animals are like conduits.  When we touch them, they are able to take our anxiety or stress and ground it, leaving us feeling lighter.  Even euphoric.

Our conversation turned to our OSC Community potential for collaboration. We recognized each other’s unique strengths and contributions, from fresh perspectives, to far out visioning,  to social media savvy. Like the diverse elements of a thriving ecosystem, our individual roles are vital to the collective whole.

Leaving the farm, I found myself drawn to a piece of street art in Nashville – it struck me  that regenerative farming is not just about sustainability, but joy. When we nurture and steward a living, thriving ecosystem, we become part of something greater than ourselves – a symphony of life, belonging, and joy.  And how synchronous that our Fall 2023 OSC retreat member driven theme was around finding more joy.

Regenerative agriculture isn’t just a practice – it’s a celebration of life itself. And those water buffalo? They’re more than just animals – they’re ambassadors of joy, scattering seeds of hope and growth wherever they roam.

Here’s to cultivating joy, belonging, and regeneration in our industry and beyond.

The post Spring 2024 Retreat: Is Your Ecosystem Rigged for Joy appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: Where is your hometown?

AH Richmond, VA

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

AH: I’m an acrobat

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

AH:I am super passionate about regenerative agriculture and removing plastic packaging from CPG

AH: My Tata (Arabic for grandma) would make us the most incredible food from scratch. My favorites were grape leaves (Warak Enab) and Sfiha (Palestinian lamb pizzas)

AH: Running out of money.

About PACHA

Pacha makes organic gluten-free buckwheat bread. Our bread is made using simple ingredients with a lot of care. We soak, sprout and ferment our buckwheat to yield the most nutritious and delicious bread on the market. Our breads are certified regenerative through Soil Carbon Initiative and we package in certified home compostable bread bags. PACHA is truly bread that you can feel good about eating and serving to your family.

The post Member Spotlight: Adam Hiner, CEO of Pacha appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: Where is your hometown?

RV: New Canaan, CT

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

RV: I play the Oud

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

RV: I love that we can approach development in a different, more sustainable way

RV: The smell of freshly baked Armenian Easter bread with a totally unique product, Mahlab, made from the pits of a specific cherry of varietal

RV: The Taliban shutting down our operation due to the number of women we employ.

About Ziba Foods

Ziba Foods is a mission-driven company with a focus on introducing products distinguished by their superior quality and flavor. We’re the only retail exporter of heirloom and wild-grown dried fruits and nuts from Afghanistan and the first Afghan snack brand in the United States.

The post Member Spotlight: Raffi Vartanian, CEO of Ziba Foods appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: Where is your hometown?

BD: Portland, OR

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

BD: I am an open book, so it’s hard to say. Generally, I think most people don’t realize that in addition to being a scientist by training, I am also a creative person. I am a writer and musician. I was a classically trained violinist for years, and now am learning the electric guitar.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

BD: Organically Grown Company’s mission is to promote and inspire the growth of the organic agriculture movement. Organic food is better for health, the planet, workers and farmers. I am passionate about the health and wellbeing of current and future generations. Organic is the answer!

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

BD: My father was born on a farm and taught me how to grow things. I loved growing herbs, eating the corn from our garden and picking cherries from our backyard tree.

BD: Scientists are inherently conservative. The impacts of climate change may be much more serious than we currently anticipate. I think about future generations and the immense challenge it will be to adapt to the future state. We need to teach kids how to be nimble, flexible and adaptable now to help their odds in the future. It’s one way we can show love to humanity’s future.

About Organically Grown Company

With hands in the soil, Organically Grown Company was founded back in 1978. It was a company built on the belief that organic food is simply the best way to nourish people while protecting the planet. Since then, we have grown to serve the entire Pacific Northwest, and are one of the nation’s most respected independent organic produce distribution companies. Originally established as a nonprofit farmer cooperative, we evolved as the organic marketplace matured. Our spirit of caring for each other is evident in our progression from a nonprofit, to a co-op and later an employee-owned business (ESOP). In a move that took courage and vision, in 2018 we became the first company in the nation to be owned by a perpetual purpose trust. Our governance model served as inspiration to dozens of other companies, igniting a growing perpetual purpose trust movement that now includes Zingerman’s, Grand Central Bakery and Patagonia.

The post Member Spotlight: Brenna Davis, CEO of Organically Grown Company appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: Where is your hometown?

ES: Philadelphia, PA

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

ES: That I’m an introvert. I cherish my down time and make sure to get a good balance of alone time to recharge.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

ES: When I started Purely Elizabeth I was doing 1:1 holistic health counseling. The idea of starting PE was so thrilling as I could impact not just the 10 people I was working with but on a much greater scale. Today, that still ignites me, knowing that we are not only helping people thrive on their wellness journey and live healthier happier lives but also now having impact on our planet through our regenerative agriculture vision and commitment.

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

ES: Ironically, one of my favorites is that I was a relatively healthy eater but ate a ton of hot dogs. In grade school, my teacher had to call my parents because they thought it wasn’t healthy I was eating so many hot dogs!

ES: My team, making sure they are all happy and thriving!

About Purely Elizabeth

Purely Elizabeth helps you thrive on your wellness journey by creating foods to obsess over. We create naturally gluten-free granola, cereal, and oatmeal in ancient grain and grain-free varieties to make eating well effortless. Founded in 2009, by Elizabeth Stein, a certified holistic nutrition counselor.

The post Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Stein, Founder & CEO of Purely Elizabeth appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: Where is your hometown?

KC: San Francisco, CA

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

KC: Clo the Cow (beloved mascot for Clover Sonoma) and I share the same birth year. Our 50th birthday was in 2019 and we had a great year of celebrating before the world shut down in 2020. Clo and our 50th birthday will always hold a special place in my heart!

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

KC: What I love most about TM is that it is a company that truly thinks about its impact on the world (people and the planet) in most everything it does. I love that as a company we are about to turn 50 and the conversations we are having are around the impact we want to make over the next 50 years versus celebrating all that we’ve done.

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

KC: Ice Cream. On some weekends when my parents slept in, I used to sneak into the kitchen and rather than cereal or toast, I would serve myself a big bowl of ice cream for breakfast. Probably not the most nutritious, but something I still love today!

KC: I worry about our country and how divided we are as a nation. We need to come together to fight issues like climate change, so we have a healthy planet to leave to our grandchildren. However, it seems like people have forgotten how to work together and collaborate for a greater good — making the world a better place than we found it.

About Traditional Medicinals

Traditional Medicinals, Inc., a California Benefit Corporation, Certified B Corporation and California Certified Green Business, is a leading seller of herbal tea in the U.S. and pioneer of the wellness tea category in the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 1974, Traditional Medicinals is an independent company that embraces sustainability, ingredient quality, and social and environmental activism. Offering the highest quality plant-based medicines formulated by herbalists, Traditional Medicinals is passionate about connecting people to the power of plants.

The post Member Spotlight: Kristel Corson – Chief Marketing Officer at Traditional Medicinals appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: What is your hometown?

RB: Milwaukee, WI

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

RB: I think most people don’t know that I am an artist, and was on a track to pursue that career in New York. When my painting practice turned my attention towards the plant world, I got hooked and my life took a different turn.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

RB: What really ignites me about Fat and the Moon’s mission is that Self Care, pleasure and joy are conduits of profound ecosystemic and social change. In our current paradigm, ‘self care’ can be perceived as a kind of selfishness, or consumptive overindulgence. True care for ourselves is caring for our communities and our planet. When we tend the soil, the taste of a tomato, a bean, a squash grown in that soil is incredible. The pleasure we get from a bite of a sun kissed, juicy tomato inspires us to continue to make the compost which yields delicious fruit. I want Fat and the Moon to connect these dots through herbal body care. When we use non toxic, handmade, consciously sourced bod care, and find they are effective and wonderful, we are creating a new paradigm where toxins, environmentally degrading, extractive processes and cruelty to animals is totally unnecessary.

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

RB: Eating cherries off an enormous cherry tree in my cousin’s backyard in Slovenia.

RB: What keeps me up at night is waste. Waste does not exist in non-human nature. In every non-human, natural process, everything is food for something else. Humans need to find a way to close our loops. The world is being poisoned by our waste.

About Fat and the Moon

Founded in 2012 by herbalist Rachel Budde, Fat and the Moon is an herbal body care company based in Grass Valley, California. Our handcrafted products reflect our values, they are conduits of connection to our bodies and the earth. It is Fat and the Moon’s mission to create a thriving culture of Self Care which taps the true source of wellbeing: social and ecosystemic harmony.

The post Member Spotlight: Rachel Budde – Founder, Herbalist & CEO of Fat and the Moon appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: What is your hometown?

BR: West Hartford, CT

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

BR: Since I was about 8 years old I wanted to be a farmer. Not a fireman or a famous athlete like most of the kids on my block, but a veggie farmer. When other kids were playing street hockey or kill the carrier (a less organized spin on football) I was most often found pulling decorative plants out of my mother’s garden to make room for some corn or tomatoes….My wife Blair thinks I’m a rabbit at heart.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

BR: At the heart of what we’re doing at Big Tree is supporting and improving opportunities for marginalized farmers. I love working with our farmer partners; spending time at their homes and in their food forests. I love the land and everything that we do to steward the resource through our company model.

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

BR: I think there are three that stick out most… I remember my first carrot from the soil (it was a chantenay) and I remember being thunderstruck at how amazing it was and how I wanted to learn how to grow and harvest food. I also have distinctly fond memories of my grandmother’s apple pies which she would bake for almost every family gathering…now I make those apple pies with our coconut sugar in the fall in VT!

BR: I’m not someone that carries much stress to bed but that’s not because there aren’t plenty of challenges that need navigating. Cashflow, inflationary impacts on demand and cogs, long term sustainability of the Indonesian coconut sector…

About Big Tree Farms

We believe that food is at the heart of vibrant health for our bodies and our planet.

After living in Indonesia and working in sustainable agriculture for several years, my wife Blair and I set out with the mission to produce good-for-you foods that support a better-for-you world. That’s when we discovered the magic of Nira, the organic nectar of the coconut blossom.

By using regenerative farming systems to harvest Nira we restore soils, stay true to ancient practices, and protect our natural resources. The hand-harvested, delicious nectar is then transformed into organic, fair-trade products like our Coconut Sugars and Coconut Aminos that offer delicious, better-for-us alternatives to standard products made with cane sugar and soy.

Today, with the support of over 10k farmer partners, we have blossomed into one of the world’s largest and most sustainable coconut supply chains, and we remain committed to positively impacting our farmer communities, our health, and our planet.

The post Member Spotlight: Ben Ripple, Co-founder & CEO of Big Tree Farms appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: What is your hometown?

HS: Monterrey, Mexico

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

HS: although I appear to want to be the center of attention, I am an introvert.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

HS: Collaborating to try to help save the planet by using sustainable and upcycled ingredients

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

HS: My grandmother’s kitchen and her cooking mole

HS: Cash burn

About Tia Lupita Foods:  

Tia Lupita Foods is a better for you Mexican inspired food brand that uses clean simple ingredients in all of our products and we are the first brand in the USA to introduce cactus or nopales as an alternative functional sustainable ingredient in our line of tortillas and grain-free tortilla chips.

The post Member Spotlight: Hector Saldivar, CEO & Founder of Tia Lupita Foods appeared first on One Step Closer.

OSC: What is your hometown?

JR: Portland, OR. 

OSC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

JR: Growing up, I secretly wanted to be in a boy band.

OSC: What is it about the mission of your company that really ignites you?

JR:  Healing the planet, Feeding the world & Transforming health

OSC: What’s a favorite childhood memory of food that you have?

JR: My parents were health nut hippies, and I can remember being so excited when Rice Dream came out with novelty ice cream substitutes! My world was made.

OSC: What’s one thing that keeps you up at night?

JR: Not knowing what I don’t know i.e. macroeconomics, supply chain…

About Ancient Nutrition:  

Regenerative Agriculture is in our roots! Ancient Nutrition founders Jordan Rubin and Dr. Josh Axe both believe in the power of regeneration and operate two farms spanning 4,000+ Certified Regenerative Organic acres. Ancient Nutrition relies on organic farms for many ingredients used in their products, including many superfoods grown on its own farms, and now the company is making strides towards creating supplements that can be fully regenerative organic certified. Ancient Nutrition’s mission is to transform the health of every individual on the planet with history’s most powerful superfoods, and that’s why Ancient Nutrition dedicates 1% of all revenue to the R.A.N.C.H Project, their commitment to Regenerative Agriculture, Nutrition and Climate Health. Partnering with the Rodale Institute to further efforts to heal the planet, their goal is simple: give back to the soil, instead of just taking from it.

The post Member Spotlight: Jordan Rubin, CEO & Co-Founder of Ancient Nutrition appeared first on One Step Closer.