The Modern Acre

Anthony Corsaro is the Director of Business Development for Regenerative Food Systems Investment (RFSI). Anthony connects with stakeholders across food & ag to create meaningful connections that catalyze the regenerative transformation of our food system. Anthony is committed to building food supply chains that incentivize the production and consumption of healthy, nutrient-dense foods.

Anthony was a third-generation family contributor and executive at Indianapolis Fruit Company before joining Questor Corp. Anthony oversaw the sales & marketing team that provided fresh produce products and services to over 2,500 retail customers across 20 states. Anthony's professional background in food distribution and personal health journey led him to his commitment of building regenerative food systems. Anthony is an active investor in multiple regenerative food ventures, and he is an entrepreneur in the space as well.

Anthony holds a B.S. in Business from the Kelley School at Indiana University, where he was a varsity athlete as a tight end on the football team.\

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Claire Smith is the founder and CEO of Teffola, a CPG company that exists to create bold, fresh, and innovative granola for the health-aware consumer. They do this by creating whole-food plant-based snacks sourcing at least one ingredient per product from their 7th generation family farm.

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Jeff Nobbs is the co-founder and CEO of Zero Acre Farms, a food company replacing destructive vegetable oils with healthier, more sustainable oils and fats made by fermentation.

With over 15 years of experience in the health and nutrition space, Jeff has co-founded several startups to offer better quality ingredients and nutrition-forward food to people and communities, including the fast casual restaurant chain Kitava. In 2020, after seeing a drastic decrease in accessibility to fresh food, Jeff co-founded HelpKitchen to connect food-insecure individuals with partner restaurants for a free meal via SMS. Jeff also served as the chief operating officer for Perfect Keto and General Manager of Rakuten, which acquired his first company Extrabux.

Jeff writes about health, nutrition, and sustainability at jeffnobbs.com and @jeffnobbs.

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On this edition of Acre Insights, Tim and Tyler share their latest thoughts on regenerative vs. organic, including Tim's recap of attending the Organic Produce Summit. They also provide an update on The Modern Acre Co-op and what to expect as part of the membership.

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Mike Hemman is a veteran of the global agriculture and manufacturing industries, previously working at Corteva Agriscience (including DuPont and Dow) and Pioneer Seeds. In addition, he has extensive lobbying experience in the irrigation industry and holds a bachelor's degree from California State University in Fresno in Plant Science.

Mike heads the U.S. division of Netafim, the pioneering company that invented drip irrigation more than 50 years ago. Netafim USA's entry into the U.S. marketplace 40 years ago transformed the face of U.S. agriculture by increasing farmers' adoption of sustainable practices, especially in California's Central Valley.

Under Mike's leadership, Netafim continues to be at the forefront of transforming U.S. agriculture by increasing farmers' ability to optimize their water use, increase their crop yield, and reduce lower labor costs by adopting precision irrigation technology.

Specifically, Netafim is helping farms transition into the new era of digital farming by offering modernizing irrigation solutions such as NetBeat which monitors, analyzes, and automates irrigation systems from practically anywhere.

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Kristy Lewis is the founder and CEO of Quinn Snacks, a CPG company reimagining classic snacks by bringing real ingredients and transparency back to the snacks you love. Kristy joins the podcast to tell us about the founding story, Quinn's focus on their farmer-partners, their approach to regenerative ag, how they have scaled, and much, much more. Tune in!

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Han Chen is the Co-Founder and CEO of ZeaKal, a plant traits innovator that helps crops capture more carbon and sunlight, leading to healthier, nutrient-rich food and feed. ZeaKal is committed to building a more equitable and resilient agricultural system on a smaller environmental footprint. Their plant traits dramatically improve the yield and composition of staple crops, resulting in carbon capture for better nutrition, as well as higher incomes, lower costs, and efficiencies along the ag supply chain.

Han brings with him over fifteen years of management and venture experience. He has been a pioneer in changing how agricultural trait technologies are commercialized, focusing on innovative public-private partnerships between industry, venture, and research. To date, Han has started and successfully raised financing for three startups, totaling over twenty million in capital.

Han is also the co-founder and Managing Director of Kapyon Ventures, a technology incubation firm behind the pre-venture development of ZeaKal. Prior to founding ZeaKal and Kapyon, Han was the Investment Manager for Finistere Partners, a San Diego based life science venture capital firm. He was responsible for seeding the deal flow of a nine million dollar strategic investment fund that resulted in the formation of several startups, generation of millions in research funding and also several technology licensing opportunities.

Han graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and has a master's degree in international business from the University of California, San Diego. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

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Pete Oberle is a Managing Partner at Trailhead Capital, a mission-driven investment firm creating outstanding financial, societal, and ecological returns by backing entrepreneurs who are building the regenerative future of food and agriculture.

Pete has 23 years of finance and investing experience. Since 2014, he has been an angel investor in the agricultural, food, renewable energy, environmental and human health spaces. Pete joins us to share more about his background and starting Trailhead Capital. We go deep on his approach to investing in regenerative ag in the current economic climate.

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Nicole Atchison is the CEO of PURIS Foods, a family-owned company founded in 1985 in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Built with intention over 30 years, PURIS' plant-based food system benefits every link in the chain of production: flavorful and nutritious choices for people, profitable opportunities for growers, flexible ingredients for food makers, and practices that nourish soil, the environment, and life on earth. Nicole is the daughter of the founders of the company.

Nicole Atchison is responsible for leading innovation and business development across PURIS' portfolio of companies including ingredient technologies, processing technologies, seed genetic strategies, product development and go-to-market strategies, insights, and support for plant-based brands. PURIS develops and supports continued innovation in a spectrum of pure, plant-based foods and ingredients from U.S.-based organic and non-GMO sources. She is the CEO of PURIS Holdings and the CEO of AcreMade, a consumer facing plant-based egg company and latest innovation from the broader PURIS team.

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Adrián Ferrero is the Co-Founder and CEO of Biome Makers, one of the foremost global AgTech leaders setting the standard in soil health with BeCrop® technology. Built on industry-leading AgTech expertise and driven by data and science, Biome Makers connectsoil biology to agricultural decision-making to optimize farming practices and reverse the degradation of arable soils. With labs across the globe, customers on 4 continents, and 1M+ acres of land impacted, Biome Makers revitalizes soil functionality and agricultural sustainability worldwide.

With recognition from the Spanish Government, Illumina Accelerator, and MIT Technology Review —Adrián is a self-described entrepreneur on a mission to improve the world. He holds a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Salamanca and a Master of Environmental Management from the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration.

Growing up in an agricultural region of Spain inspired Adrián to co-found, together with Alberto Acedo, Biome Makers Inc., and create its patented BeCrop® technology. From there, Biome Makers has received many awards worldwide (AgSum in Japan, agripreneur 2019 in Greece, WINnovation in US, or Best innovative startup by AgFunder) and attracted over $24M from investors. Prior to Biome Makers, Adrián has founded three start-ups and worked as an innovation consultant for more than nine years.

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