Podcasts about lotus foods

“If your soil is nutritious, all those micronutrients are now being born into your food.”—Caryl Levine   “There's no standing still. You're moving forward or you're moving backwards. To regenerate is to actually restore or bring to health, or bring to life, the living systems that sustain us.” —Ken Lee   Rice is the staple food for over half the world's population, providing essential nutrients and sustaining livelihoods. Yet, the true potential of this ancient grain remains largely untapped. From heirloom varieties to regenerative farming practices, the story of rice is one of resilience, innovation, and global impact. As the co-founders of Lotus Foods, Caryl Levine and Ken Lee have dedicated over three decades to promoting rice biodiversity, empowering smallholder farmers, and championing sustainable agriculture. Their unwavering commitment to transforming the rice industry has positioned them as trailblazers in the realm of conscious consumerism and regenerative food systems. Tune in to this captivating conversation as Caryl and Ken share their journey, from uncovering hidden rice treasures to spearheading the regenerative organic certification movement. Discover how Lotus Foods is addressing misconceptions, educating stakeholders, and navigating challenges to drive innovation and create a more nourishing and equitable future for rice. Meet Caryl and Ken: Caryl Levine and Ken Lee are the co-founders of Lotus Foods, an organic heirloom rice company they started in 1995. With a shared passion for promoting rice biodiversity and supporting smallholder farmers, Caryl and Ken have dedicated over 30 years to building a purpose-driven business that creates positive social and environmental impact. As pioneers in the organic and regenerative food movement, Caryl and Ken have led Lotus Foods to become the first rice company to achieve Regenerative Organic Certification. They have championed innovative farming practices like the System of Rice Intensification, which reduces water usage and labor-intensive work, particularly for women farmers.  Through their commitment to education and advocacy, Caryl and Ken have worked tirelessly to address misconceptions about rice cultivation and elevate the voices of smallholder farmers in the global food system. Their vision for a more sustainable and equitable food future continues to inspire and guide the evolution of Lotus Foods.   Connect with Lotus Foods: Website Facebook Instagram LinkedIn YouTube Pinterest TikTok Connect with NextGen Purpose: Website Facebook Instagram  LinkedIn YouTube Episode Highlights: 03:59 The Road to Entrepreneurship 09:32 Smallholder Farmers  20:53 Education and Consumer Perception 29:35 The Importance of Maintaining Company Culture 33:32 Staying True to Company Values  

This show is made possible by you! Help us meet our year-end goal to raise $25,000, the cost of producing an episode. Please make a year-end donation => https://LauraFlanders.org/donateTake Our Survey: Vote for your favorite LF Show episodes HERE Description: A bold experiment is taking place among Black farmers in the Southeast — a story of hope in an area with a history of plantation slavery, land theft and white violence. The Jubilee Justice Black Farmers' Rice Project is pioneering regenerative farming practices as a means to address systemic racism and make repair. This innovative project combines restorative economics, regenerative agriculture, and asset ownership as the path to address the harm done to Black farmers, and the environmentally harmful methods of rice production. In this exclusive report from The Laura Flanders Show, Laura Flanders reports on-location from Alexandria, Louisiana, where she meets Jubilee Justice Co-Founder and President Konda Mason, veteran civil rights crusader Shirley Sherrod and the Black farmers at the center of this story. Through knowledge sharing, collaboration and community support, this project endeavors to bridge the racial divide and foster a future rooted in justice and healing. Join us to discover how Jubilee Justice helps repair the damage from long-term racism and plant the seeds for a healthful and healing future. Guests:Nwamaka Agbo: CEO, Kataly Foundation & Managing Director, Restorative Economies FundDonna Isaac: Farmer, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectMyles Gaines: Head of Innovation & Experimentation, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectKonda Mason: Founder & President, Jubilee JusticeShirley Sherrod: Executive Director, Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education; Co-Founder, New Communities, Inc.; U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Equity CommissionBernard Winn: Operations Specialist & Mill Manager, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectCaryl Levine and Ken Lee: Co-Founders & Co-CEOs, Lotus Foods; Partners with Jubilee Justice Black Farmers' Rice Project Full Episode Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more.Music In the Middle:  “Freedom and Progress” by Nicole Conte featuring Zara McFarlane from his full length album Umoja released on Far Out Recordings.  Additional music included- "Steppin," by Podington Bear.

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support!Description:  A bold experiment is taking place among Black farmers in the Southeast — a story of hope in an area with a history of plantation slavery, land theft and white violence. The Jubilee Justice Black Farmers' Rice Project is pioneering regenerative farming practices as a means to address systemic racism and make repair. This innovative project combines restorative economics, regenerative agriculture, and asset ownership as the path to address the harm done to Black farmers, and the environmentally harmful methods of rice production. In this exclusive report from The Laura Flanders Show, Laura Flanders reports on-location from Alexandria, Louisiana, where she meets Jubilee Justice Co-Founder and President Konda Mason, veteran civil rights crusader Shirley Sherrod and the Black farmers at the center of this story. Through knowledge sharing, collaboration and community support, this project endeavors to bridge the racial divide and foster a future rooted in justice and healing. Join us to discover how Jubilee Justice helps repair the damage from long-term racism and plant the seeds for a healthful and healing future.“Restorative economics calls on us to first acknowledge the hurt and structural harm caused by economic systems of extraction and exploitation. It then requires us to engage in a conversation about repair.” - Nwamaka Agbo“My goal is to not just grow organically and to be regenerative . . . but to do it in a way that's affordable so that everybody has access. Everybody has a right to good, nutritious food.” - Donna Isaac“How can we balance all of the farming principles that we want to hold on to? How can we build soil health? How can we have a productive mill? . . . That's the mission.” - Myles Gaines“As Black farmers, we rarely own the land . . . And we are completely dependent upon a third party to say yes to my crop . . . What that mill represents is a vertical integration of their crop from growing it to milling it, to distributing it, and making their own decisions . . . We have to own the means of production.” - Konda Mason“. . . It's not just the big guys who can come in and grow rice where it's not even healthy and feed it to all of us . . . We can pick our area, we can do it right, we can show care and love for each other, and that comes out in the food we provide.” - Shirley Sherrod“We as a cohort have the deeds to this [rice mill]. It's going to be ours. If all else fails, we still have a building for people to come to, that they need . . . This building here is a stronghold for me and my heart.” - Bernard Winn“Farmers are aging and their kids don't want to take [the farmland] over. So that land's going to go somewhere. Is it going to go to developers or is it going to go to people who care passionately about changing how the food that we eat is grown, for the betterment of society?” - Ken Lee“. . . If you take care of the soil and if you farm regeneratively, you are going to not only get a better crop . . . but it's going to be more nutritious for the consumer and better for the environment. Regenerative is the future and we're totally committed to it.” - Caryl LevineGuests:Nwamaka Agbo: CEO, Kataly Foundation & Managing Director, Restorative Economies FundDonna Isaac: Farmer, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectMyles Gaines: Head of Innovation & Experimentation, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectKonda Mason: Founder & President, Jubilee JusticeShirley Sherrod: Executive Director, Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education; Co-Founder, New Communities, Inc.; U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Equity CommissionBernard Winn: Operations Specialist & Mill Manager, Jubilee Justice Black Farmers Rice ProjectCaryl Levine and Ken Lee: Co-Founders & Co-CEOs, Lotus Foods; Partners with Jubilee Justice Black Farmers' Rice Project Full Episode Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more.Music In the Middle:  “Freedom and Progress” by Nicole Conte featuring Zara McFarlane from his full length album Umoja released on Far Out Recordings. FOLLOW The Laura Flanders ShowTwitter: twitter.com/thelfshow Facebook: facebook.com/theLFshow Instagram: instagram.com/thelfshow/YouTube:  youtube.com/@thelfshow ACCESSIBILITY - This episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Director of center store for Town & Country Markets and winner of the 2023 SFA Leadership Award for Outstanding Buyer, Dwight Richmond has helped bring prominent specialty food brands to retail, including Xinca Foods, Lotus Foods, and Siete Family Foods. In this episode, George Hajjar, associate editor at SFA speaks with Richmond about enabling makers to self-mentor, understanding the spark that makes a good business, and the familial element that's inherent in the specialty food industry.Spill & Dish is Powered by Simplecast.

Every culture has a different use of rice and how to grow it. Some farm practices harm our environment by damaging the soil through massive disturbances. In this episode, Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, Authors of Rice Is Life and Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Lotus Foods, explain that the future of food lies in the practice of regenerative agriculture. Minimizing the physical disturbance of soil keeps a huge amount of carbon dioxide from releasing into the atmosphere. This practice of building organic matter on the soil not only helps mitigate climate change effects but also creates a resilient environment where plants thrive, resulting in more productive yields. Tune in to this conversation and learn more from Caryl and Ken as they share more insights about the future of food and regenerative agriculture. Key takeaways from the episode:· How rice is grown using less water· Benefits of regenerative farming· Practical steps to try regenerative farming· Why Rice Is Life· The movement to fight climate change through changing methods in agriculture Guest Social Links:· Website: https://www.lotusfoods.com· Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lotusfoods/· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lotusfoods/· TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lotusfoods· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LotusFoods· Caryl Levine's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-levine-a507897/· Ken Lee's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-lee-871882b/Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, & share! https://caremorebebetter.com Follow us on social and join the conversation! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/caremorebebetter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CareMore.BeBetter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareMoreBeBetter LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/care-more-be-better Twitter: https://twitter.com/caremorebebetter Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/club/care-more-be-better Support Care More. Be Better: A Social Impact + Sustainability PodcastCare More Be Better answers only to our collective conscience and aims to put more good into the world. As a listener, reader, and subscriber you are part of this pod and this community and we are honored to have your support. If you can, please help finance the show: https://caremorebebetter.com/donate.

AC and Kyle chat with Caryl & Ken of Lotus Foods. We learn about Lotus Food's origin story, their mission to keep the biodiversity of rice alive, and how they're partnering with smallholder farmers to produce regenerative rice using the “System of Rice Intensification.” Links: Website Instagram Jubilee Justice Follow Kyle and AC on LinkedIn

Every culture has a different use of rice and how to grow it. Some farm practices harm our environment by damaging the soil through massive disturbances. In this episode, Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, Authors of Rice Is Life and Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Lotus Foods, explain that the future of food lies in the practice of regenerative agriculture. Minimizing the physical disturbance of soil keeps a huge amount of carbon dioxide from releasing into the atmosphere. This practice of building organic matter on the soil not only helps mitigate climate change effects but also creates a resilient environment where plants thrive, resulting in more productive yields. Tune in to this conversation and learn more from Caryl and Ken as they share more insights about the future of food and regenerative agriculture. Key takeaways from the episode:· How rice is grown using less water· Benefits of regenerative farming· Practical steps to try regenerative farming· Why Rice Is Life· The movement to fight climate change through changing methods in agriculture Guest Social Links:· Website: https://www.lotusfoods.com· Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lotusfoods/· Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lotusfoods/· TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lotusfoods· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LotusFoods· Caryl Levine's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryl-levine-a507897/· Ken Lee's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-lee-871882b/

Over the past 25 years, Lotus Foods has imported over 25 million pounds of certified organic rice from a multi-country network of rice producers whose lives and communities have been transformed by access to markets and organic and fair trade premiums. In this episode, Co-Founders Caryl Levine and Ken Lee share how their commitment to organic and regenerative practices is generating more rice from less land, preserving valuable genetic biodiversity, saving hundreds of millions of gallons of water annually, and reducing methane gas generated by rice fields by over 40%. Caryl Levine and Ken Lee Caryl Levine and Ken Lee are Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of Lotus Foods. Lotus Foods is one of the most innovative, organic, and fair trade specialty rice brands in the country. Its products have received many awards from the Specialty Food Association and Natural Products trade groups. Ken has over 20 years of experience importing rice from smallholder farmers in developing countries who had no previous export experience and providing them access to a global marketplace. Responsible for establishing Lotus Foods' primary account base, Ken has developed extensive personal and capacity-building relationships with the company's suppliers throughout the world. Caryl leads Lotus Foods marketing and sales and is primarily responsible for the image and positioning of the Lotus Foods brand, the development of all packaging and merchandising materials, and new product development. Resources Learn more about Lotus Foods at https://www.lotusfoods.com/ Connect with Lotus Foods on LinkedIn Visit leadwithwe.com to learn more about Simon's new book or search for "Lead With We" on Amazon, Google Books, or Barnes & Noble. The Lead With We podcast is produced by Goal17Media.

Starting a business is daunting enough. Add a mission to it and it becomes all the more challenging. Mission-driven businesses often have a hard time finding partners, whether lenders or investors, that understand their mission. If they don't, it can lead to drastic results for their business and those they want to serve. Finding people who understand your mission will help you find a community that will support you and helps you thrive. In this episode, Caryl Levine shares her journey with Lotus Foods and how they partnered with RSF Social Finance. With the right partnerships, they were able to make the change they wanted to see in the world. You can create your own social impact — you just need to find people who are aligned with your mission and committed to helping you push it forward.If you want to find partners that will help you elevate your business and spread your mission, then this episode is for you!3 reasons why you should listen to the full episode:Learn how Lotus Foods is changing how the world grows rice.Discover why choosing the right lenders is beneficial for your mission.Find out why businesses need both patient capital and debt.Episode Highlights[05:18] How Lotus Foods Started[08:40] Introducing Black Rice to the American Market[10:10] More Crop per Drop[13:11] Reaching Small Scale Farmers[16:47] Economic Impacts[19:03] Bootstrapping Lotus Foods[21:27] Working with RSF[24:42] How RSF Has Helped Lotus Foods[29:48] On Capital and Community Pricing[33:48] Ken's Insights as a Financial Planner[35:15] Working with a Fractional CFO[35:54] Caryl's Final AdviceResourcesHer CEO Journey™ Patient Capital Series:The Ins and Outs of a Venture Capital Fund Part 1 & Part 2Investing in Social ImpactThe Value of Capital for Mission-Driven BusinessImpact Investing and Investment CooperativesHow to Heal the Planet and Create Shared Value for People with Regenerative FinanceConnect with Caryl: LinkedIn | WebsiteEnjoyed This Podcast?Write us a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into the show, then do not hesitate to leave us a review. You can also share this episode with the women you know so they can find financial empowerment and get their ideas into the world.Have any questions about business finance? You can contact our team through LinkedIn or schedule a discovery call with our Profit Reimagined™ experts. You can also suggest topics you're curious about for future episodes to help your business grow. Thanks for listening!For more episode updates, feel free to visit our website. 

Founders Caryl Levine and Kenneth Lee of Lotus Foods, discuss beyond organic farming practices with their Regenerative Organic Certification. Lotus Foods sources their rice from small-holder farmers, benefiting both people and planet.

Founders Caryl Levine and Kenneth Lee of Lotus Foods, discuss beyond organic farming practices with their Regenerative Organic Certification. Lotus Foods sources their rice from small-holder farmers, benefiting both people and planet.

Ken Lee together with his wife Caryl Levine founded Lotus Foods in 1995, a company that focuses on importing handcrafted rice from small family farms. Ken and his team are committed to organic and regenerative practices that is generating more rice from less land, preserving valuable genetic biodiversity, saving hundreds of millions of gallons of water annually, promoting long-term soil health, and removing greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. Tune in to learn more about: - Ken and Caryl's story on starting their rice business while travelling through China; - Small rice farms and the toll it takes on women's health; - The "More Crop per Drop" and “System of Rice Intensification” (SRI),which was developed to improve rice yields of low-income farmers to alleviate poverty and improve food security; - The story of Henri de Laulanié, a Jesuit priest and agronomist who developed the SRI in Madagascar in the 70s; - The golden rice, the genetically modified rice, that cannot solve any poverty, distribution or food waste problem; - Why what we do to the earth we do to people, and what we do to the people we do to the earth.  To learn more about Ken's work and Lotus Foods go to https://www.lotusfoods.com. 

Today we talk about how we vote with our dollars in the kitchen and some practical tips about how you can too. Our B Corp Standing Desks from Fully Gua Sha Facial Membership Gua Sha Tools from Wildling Butcher Box - $15 off Cotton Cattle (local to NY/NJ) Learn more about Propolis on Episode 101 of the Modern Mamas Podcast GF Cup for Cup Flour Our Favorite B Corps in the Kitchen: Dang, King Arthur, Navitas Organics, Alter Eco, Lotus Foods, Sir Kensington, Bee Keepers Naturals, Traditional Medicinals Tea, Numi Organic Tea, Gaia Herbs, So Delicious, Blue Marble Icecream, Nada Moo, Horizon Organic GIVEAWAY! To enter, Rate and Review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, screenshot it, and email it hello@lifeofgerety.com by September 24. You will be entered to win a full size container of Four Sigmatic Protein. We would love to hear your questions, comments and feelings: hello@lifeofgerety.com *When you shop using these links, we may earn a small commission. We appreciate your support!*

Lotus Foods makes organic, heirloom, and fair trade specialty grown rice (and many other rice-based products) that’s grown on family farms where the company holds a deep respect for women, water, soils and communities. The company was founded by Carol Levine and Ken Lee after they began importing black rice from China in 1995. You can find their products online via Amazon and World Pantry and at retailers nationwide.   Listen to Lotus Foods Co-Founders, Carol Levine and Ken Lee talk about making a product that was not so inherently healthy and making a healthier version more accessible to people. They share how they discovered their “beloved” grains in China after a 2-month trip to China and over 90 initial ideas generated, how they came up with the term Forbidden Rice® (their trademarked term for black rice), and where the name Lotus Foods came from.   The Lotus Foods story will inspire you to create something meaningful and provide value to the world.   Show Resources: Discover Lotus Foods products HERE. FOLLOW Lotus Foods on Instagram. Like Lotus Foods on Facebook HERE. FOLLOW Lotus Foods on Twitter. Check out Paul Hawkins book, Drawdown. Discover DELIGHTED BY Desserts ​HERE. FOLLOW​ DELIGHTED BY Desserts.

Some foods are forbidden due to special diets, policies, or cultural stigmas. What do these taboos say about us and the way we eat? We've got stories about black rice, cutting carbs, the intersection of roast duck and government policy, and human milk. We try to understand the effects of forbidding foods and what happens when people consume them anyway. Meat + Three is powered by Simplecast.

Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, co-founders and co-CEOs of Lotus Foods, talk about supporting smallholder rice farmers through promoting System Rice Intensification. Read our favorite highlights of this episode as you listen HERE. While you’re listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” wherever you consume your podcasts. Apple Podcasts Stitcher Google Play Spotify Become a Food Tank member for exclusive benefits: join HERE! Follow Food Tank on Social Media: Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Youtube

Natural Products Expo West 2019 wrapped up in Anaheim, CA. last week. This annual trade show features natural, organic, speciality and functional products from over 3500 companies. Baltimore will play host to Expo East in 2019.Trends spotted in products were lower sugar, higher (healthy) fat, plant based products and use of oats. On my list of products to find and try are Brazi Bites new line of Empanadas, convenience items like Ramen in a cup from Pamela's and Lotus Foods and Bonafide Provisions' heat and sip cups. Finally, one of my favorite companies, Simple Mills, debuted their Brownie Mix.Congratulations New Hope Network for another great event. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode… Co-founder and CEO of Lotus Foods, Ken Lee, talks about the winding journey (literally, time spent traveling through China) that brought him and his partner, Carol, to the creation of Lotus Foods and why he says that “rice is the best thing we could have stumbled on.” Tune in to hear about… His best advice for people hoping to change the world in small—and big—ways. The System of Rice Intensification and why it could be a global game-changer—if only farmers are willing to try it. (Think 50% less water required, 90% fewer seeds used, no agrichemicals necessary… are you curious yet? And no, it’s not too good to be true.) What percentage of the world receives more than half of their calories from rice. The feminization of agriculture—why it’s oppressive in the rice industry and how we can flip it to be empowering. How Lotus Foods’ Do the Rice Thing and More Crop Per Drop initiatives feed into what they call their “audacious goal” to change how rice is grown on the planet

This episode's FREE downloadable guide Brokers are an extension of your sales team. Help them succeed through accountability to maximize sales, increase distribution & accelerate growth. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE STRATEGIC GUIDE: Simple Solutions To Maximize Broker Effectiveness Do you know what a vision quest is? It’s a search for a higher meaning and purpose. Learn how an iconic brand was born out of purpose and mission and is now leading an important movement and changing countless lives in the process. If you’ve been tuning in much, you’ve heard me say repeatedly I love talking to entrepreneurial leaders. I love hearing their stories, how their brand got started. Typically, their story begins with a solution that they were trying to fill for their own needs or for someone that they know, cared about, and love. Today’s story is really unique. You’re going to love it. Today’s story is about someone who took a vision quest to China, to a foreign country. She and her partner took the time to learn how the farmers are producing their product, the crop, the rice. They took the time to get to know the farmers, to understand how they produce the rice, why it was unique, and what is important about it, and then find a way to improve upon it. They seek to understand before they seek to be understood as Stephen Covey would say. As a result, they uncovered a new passion. They didn’t go to China to learn how to grow rice, to start a rice business. They went to China on a vision quest to find a purpose that was bigger than them, something that they could get behind. What they found was a love and a passion for new products, something that had been somewhat undiscovered. They instantly saw a niche, an opportunity to help the local community, the farmers, and to help provide a new sustainable source of income. They also identified a better way for them to produce their crops, and then take their crops to market. What I want to share here is what makes natural natural. What inspires natural are people that look beyond themselves, people that focus on solving a real problem, people that come up with a creative and innovative, and inspirational idea, build a solid selling story around, and add rocket fuel to it as a result. Today’s story is about Lotus Foods, their products, and how they continue to inspire and change the industry for good including their work with a Climate Collaborative, OSC2 and beyond, they’re taking a leadership role in the way that rice is produced, leveraging their strategy of one crop per drop. Here's Caryl Levine of Lotus Foods OSC2 The Climate Collaborative Download the show notes:  brandsecretsandstrategies.com/session56