Episode 2: Carla Vernón on Leadership, Equity, and Scaling Good Food

Episode #2 Notes1:00 - What led you into the food industry?3:30 - How did your family influence your career trajectory?5:30 - What did you study in college?7:30 - What were some of your initial experience working your way up a large food company?9:50 - Did you feel like you faced additional challenges as a woman of color in the food industry?13:45 - How do you think the natural products industry got so white? And what do we need to do to change that?26:30 - Do you think the diversity, inclusion, and equity policies that have been applied to some procurement departments can ultimately help black farmers who have been disenfranchised?33:30 - What inspired you to move into Organic foods?37:45 - Under you leadership at General Mills, it embraced regenerative agriculture and responsiveness to climate change. How did you hustle that?43:15 - What kinds of impacts do you think these progressive policies around sustainability was General Mills hoping to have?48:45 - Are you seeing other players evolve along these same lines towards more sustainability and regenerative practices?51:30 - How do you think large food companies are responding to a greater need for food security and food access in the COVID landscape?57:00 - You’ve been a visible Black Lives Matter supporter at a high level in the food industry. How has this been received by your peer group in the food industry?103:00 - Black people have been historically disenfranchised by the food system. What does a food system designed by Carla Vernon look like?110:00 - What are three things you would recommend to a food industry leader to reverse the legacy of inequity and injustice in the food system?114:00 - What’s on your reading list?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.