Food Design, Nutrition & Climate - Dr. Lara Ramdin, Dole Sunshine Foods

Sep 6, 2022

”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

We spend Labor Day weekend focused in part on food, from BBQs to picnics, to meals with friends and family. But our food supply is threatened by climate change – as we’ve seen with tons of food destroyed by droughts and floods. Today, there are 2.37 billion people across the world who are food insecure, including millions in the U.S.  Believe it or not, packaged fruits and vegetables may be a way to address these challenges.

How? Listen to Dr. Lara Ramdin, Chief Innovation Officer of Dole Sunshine Foods explain it and much more in this enlightening and inspiring interview with Electric Ladies podcast host Joan Michelson.

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: (some of these were recorded under our previous name, Green Connections Radio)

• 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.
• Rosemary Atieno, Women Climate Central International, on women addressing climate change through everyday activities like feeding their families
• 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.

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