在德克萨斯州奥斯汀的Food @ SXSW的未来对话中，北美可持续发展局长朱莉·库恩（Julie Kunen）讨论了私营部门在建立更弹性和更新的食品系统方面可以发挥的作用。
燕麦牛奶公司是第一家燕麦牛奶公司，生产由燕麦制成的乳制品替代品。Kunen解释说，从可持续性的角度来看，燕麦是理想的农作物，因为它们是water efficient, can be grown in different ecosystems without many chemical inputs.
Oats are also good rotational crops for farmers, allowing them to return to more diverse farming practices. Kunen goes on to explain that there is a growing movement to adopt these diverse and regenerative practices more widely. But she acknowledges that these are not new farming techniques.
“The original farmers on this planet who were First Nations and other Indigenous Peoples farmed in harmony with the planet and they grew a vast diversity of crops,” Kunen says. “And we need to acknowledge that farmers of color, Indigenous Peoples, are the originators of what we’re today calling regenerative agriculture.”
Today, however, many systems “are not in harmony with the world,” Kunen argues. “We’re not making use of the system’s attributes that characterize the ecology and humans’ relationship with people on the planet.”
尽管对再生农业的支持正在增长，但摆脱传统农业实践可能会给种植者带来挑战。Kunen说，像Oatly这样的公司有义务支持生产者，以确保他们可以采用有益于环境的实践而不会失去生计。“我们要求农民冒险打破他们知道的系统并进行试验。我们必须帮助支持这种风险。”
通过这些方式，私营部门可以在改变食品系统中发挥重要作用。她说，在反思自己的道路上，她说，在学术界和非营利部门工作之后，她被吸引到像燕麦这样的任务驱动的公司，因为“市场在移动东西”。“人们的消费者选择，市场和我们所生活的这一资本主义经济框架是驱使这个星球变化的原因。”
但是Kunen还提出了警告，并指出虽然私营部门是关键，但它不能自行推动这一可持续性议程。政策，研究，倡导和营销都补充了食品企业的努力。“公司可以发挥至关重要的作用，但是每个杠杆都必须动弹。”
Watch the full conversation here:
