Big Announcement : Funding from Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (Constance Gewa)

https://foundationfar.org/

Deadline is December 17th to apply for funding! 

https://foundationfar.org/grants-funding/opportunities/packaging-innovation-program/

In this conversation, Cory Connors and Constance Gewa discuss the importance of collaborative partnerships in the food and agriculture sector, focusing on the role of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. They explore innovations in sustainable packaging, the structure of funding programs, and the impact of these initiatives on the agricultural community. Constance shares insights on the challenges faced by the industry and the importance of research in developing practical solutions. The conversation highlights upcoming events and opportunities for stakeholders to engage with the foundation.

takeaways

• Constance Gewa emphasizes the importance of collaborative partnerships in addressing food system challenges.
• The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research was established to increase public agriculture research investments.
• FAR's funding model requires a match from non-federal sources to ensure stakeholder investment.
• Innovations in sustainable packaging are crucial for compliance with upcoming regulations in global markets.
• The program supports various stages of innovation, from early research to market-ready solutions.
• Packaging plays multiple roles, including food safety, shelf life, and aesthetics.
• Real-world solutions are needed to address the challenges in the food system.
• The program fosters community and collaboration among innovators in the agricultural sector.
• Upcoming webinars provide opportunities for stakeholders to learn about funding and support.
• The foundation aims to connect academia with industry to create impactful solutions.

titles

• Innovations in Food and Agriculture
• Building Collaborative Partnerships for Sustainable Solutions

Sound Bites

• "I'm so excited to have you on."
• "Packaging has so many roles."
• "We're excited about that."

Chapters

00:00
Introduction and Event Reflections

02:56
Constance Gewa's Background and Role

05:53
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Overview

08:49
Collaborative Programs and Packaging Innovations

11:37
Innovative Solutions in Sustainable Packaging

14:23
Application Process and Program Impact

17:16
Community and Collaboration in Innovation

20:06
Future Events and Closing Remarks

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.

Transcript

0:07

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors presented by Atlantic Packaging. I'm your host, Cory Connors. In today's episode, I connected with Constance Gewa, and she is the Scientific Program Director at the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research. They are working on some exciting programs and actually have funding for sustainable packaging innovations. Stay tuned to learn how to apply before the December 17th deadline. Welcome Constance, I'm so excited to have you on. Thank you. Thank you so much for including us. Excited about this as well. It was great to meet you at demo day for the fresh produce association. That was such a neat event. What, tell me what you thought about that event. I liked it. I didn't know what to expect because again, it was my first demo, know, demo day. So coming in, I knew there's a chance I was going to meet the awardees and get to learn just about what they work that they're doing. But what was so amazing for me is really coming in, because I'm coming from, we read this in the proposals. Everything is on paper. I haven't seen anything. I'm coming in to see just how much work some of them had already accomplished and really seeing this in real life, seeing some of the products, testing them out. I think that was amazing. It was quite impressive. And then also just how they connected with each other. They were learning from each other. They were engaging with each other. I thought it was such a great meeting. Such a great opportunity for everybody. you more. It was totally impressive and I'm a very visual learner. So for me to see the materials and the presentations with actual samples was like exactly what I need to know to learn about these innovations. But before we get too far in things, I'd love to know a little bit more about your background. Okay. So my background, again, currently I'm serving as a scientific program director at the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. But my background is in public health and nutrition. I came into the organization in early 2023. I've been there for more than two and a half years now. But coming in from academia background where I was teaching and conducting research. mostly maternal and child nutrition, because that's really my interest within public health is in nutrition. But with this, I've learned over the years in research and coming from that side where you are applying for grants and now transitioning to a place where you are defining and designing and building and supporting grant programs is again, it's different, but it is related. And so a lot of the skills that I've learned over the years, the knowledge that I've learned over the years have now translated them into my current position. Again, where I get to engage with various stakeholders, be able to figure out what are the challenges that need to be addressed along the food system and how do we work together to develop these programs and support these programs that have the potential to provide the solutions that we are looking for. And it's been improving access and availability and access to nutritious foods, really improving the functionality of the U.S. food system. So it's an interesting background, but actually related to Rambutan. So I'm really grateful for being able to transition those skills that I've learned over the years. Well, it's a big deal what you're doing. And now to be a part of this new program where we've there's millions of dollars available to help companies, startups and newer companies with sustainable innovations is such an impact. So congratulations to you and to your team for the great work that you're doing. I wanted to say that before we get too far, because it's really impressive your efforts. Let's. Let's talk about the foundation for food and agricultural research. Can you tell us a little bit more about what does the foundation do and what's the goal? You mentioned making food healthier. Yeah. foundation for Food and Agriculture, and I'm really happy to talk about this, is a non-profit organization actually that was established in the 2014 Fund Bill to increase public agriculture research investments. And so what we do at FAR is to build these collaborative partnerships and these include both knowledge and funding partners. So it's not just one or the other, but it's really important that we catch up across the different stakeholders. So think about academia, we think about farmers, the industry, those who can co-fund various programs. And so we come together to work together to support the science that is needed to address today's food and agriculture challenges. Because that is the main reason, that was our mandate, is to build the collaborative partnerships that are needed, public-private partnerships, to address these challenges that we have within our agriculture and food system. And so FIRE receives funding from the Farm Bill. but we have what is called a match requirement. And so what that means is that to be able to release one dollar of federal funding from FAR, at least one dollar has to come from a non-federal source. So this can come, whether it is state money or it can be industry money, but it has to be a non-federal source of funding. Yes. Yes. you kind of have to get some skin in the game there. That's really cool. Exactly. You have to get some skin in the game. And that is really important because then when you're coming in to make that investment and be a partner, you are invested in the challenge, but you're also invested in the solution, right? And so it's something that makes sense to you. And so what we've seen that is so important for us with this kind of arrangement, the way FAR has worked over the years is that we have actually worked towards increasing that ratio over the years. And so we've moved from the one-to-one a ratio to now where we are actually matching every dollar with a dollar and 40 cents. And that really shows that powerful return for taxpayer investment. So that is something that is really important to us and being able to use these collaborations and the resources that we're able to pull together to the benefit of farmers, to the benefit of the stakeholders along the food value chain. Is it farmers? Is it food processors? Is it consumers? Is it the environment? So using that to support across the whole food vibration is something that is really important to us. That's wonderful. My in-laws are farmers. don't know if I told you that before, but they in here in Oregon, it's farming is not easy and there's a, it's an incredible work and so many hours they can't even count. So I'm sure that they could use any help that they could get. So thank you for the work that you and your team do. Thank you, So you have a program that you work with the USDA and Clemson and the Fresh Produce Association. Can you tell us a little bit about that? How you're helping them with that distribution of those funds? Yes, I'm definitely happy to. So again, as I said, again, part of what we do is, know, and really important is to build these partnerships and bring the partners together in this, in this particular program, the packaging innovation program. We are working with all the partners, USDA, Clemson University, Fresh Produce Association, to put together a program, a research program that is really looking at supporting the development of packaging and packaging alternatives. for specialty crops that we think about, we want them to be compliant with the upcoming, know, we have this imagined regulations that are coming up in the various global markets, whether it's in the EU, the UK, Canada, Japan and other key markets. And so the US producers and exporters have to be able to meet those regulations to maintain that market. Otherwise they'll lose it. So for example, just as an example, if you look at the EU by 2030, for example, they will require that exporters of fresh produce these fruits and vegetables, that they eliminate single use plastic packaging for retail sales of less than 1.5 kilograms. So that means that we have to figure out how do we work together to really find solutions to that problem because we don't want the U.S. exporters to lose that market. So that's how we're coming together to work. And so in this arrangement, FAR is providing what we call administrative support. So we are providing that grant administration support that is needed. We have a system, we have systems in place, we have a grant system in place. We are able to act pretty quickly because of those systems that we already established over the last 14 years in existence. And so in this partnership, we will be using our grant system to accept and actually process the applications. We are working with our partners to build what these requests for applications look like. What needs to be put out there for the public to see for them to react to. And then, so we are building that with them. We are using our system to accept those applications. We will also manage what is called the peer review process and we should put together what is known as a rigorous peer review process. So far we'll reach out to external experts, be able to invite them into the system and ask them to review all the applications that are coming in. and then process all that with our partners to ensure that they make those decisions in a timely manner and that they make the right decisions in terms of identifying the grantees that are likely to actually have the potential for succeeding and also be able to provide the solutions that are needed for these problems. So that's how we are working with them. I was totally impressed with the solutions that we saw on demo day. And I think we should mention a few of those, maybe talk about some things like some of the coatings that they were offering and Sway, which was an innovative material made out of seaweed. was great to see Julia Marsh present that and those new bags that they've created. Do you want to talk about any of those ideas or? They are, and those, was amazing coming back that day, seeing whether it was the pods or the, you know, inserts or the coatings. But yeah, those are just examples of the innovations that this program can support. So some of them include compostable packaging, whether it is compostable packaging at home, because that's something that is really needed. A lot of compostable materials end up at the industrial composting places. If we could even compost at home, that would actually provide an added level and an solution to this problem. And so we are thinking about those examples, compostables. We talked about, and some of the examples we saw are edible coatings, sticky labels that are compostable for fresh fruits and vegetables, devices that can actually help track, collect, and actually return reusable containers or reusable packaging. So it's a long list of potential solutions. Because I always think about packaging. Packaging has so many roles. You think about the packaging has food safety role, shelf life, aesthetics, providing information. If your package meets any of those conditions that are needed and really distribution of food, if you can come up with a solution that is more sustainable than what we have right now, I think you will fit somewhere. within the program. And the way we've defined, I don't know if you want to share how much we've defined the program. I'm happy to share that as well. So we've defined or designed the program in three different tracks. And that is because we want to be able to look at those solutions that are in different stages of development. So what we saw at the demo day actually came from what we refer to in the application as track three. And in this track, mean, track two, actually, not track three, track two. And in this track, we are focusing on technologies or solutions that have, they've at least demonstrated some industrial relevance. So they're quite advanced along that pathway. And so what they need at that time is being connected to the markets, business development, for example, being able to test in real world settings or real world environments. So they need a different kind of assistance. So that was one track. And then we also have a track that focuses on innovation that are pretty early on. They are at the laboratory stage, but they show some promise. They show immense promise, actually. And so with those particular ones in that track, what we call referred to as track one, we are looking to support them to be able to at least progress them from the laboratory stage. to the stage where they're able to pilot that innovation, that potential solution. So that's another track. And then there is another track, we refer to as track three. This one is looking at, is more advanced than track one, but not as advanced as track two. And so here we are looking at those solutions that they advanced enough and they need the support for at least some pilot scale manufacturing and being able to transition into commercial production. So with that, we are tackling those different stages, looking at early on, but also paying attention to who needs to get into the market immediately. And so we are hoping that our approach will be able to find these different solutions and be able to advance them across time to be able to meet the needs that are coming up. That's such a great point because not every solution is ready for market yet. And so you and your team and the team at USDA and Fresh Produce Association have said, okay, we're going to put you in this group because you need a little bit more love and attention for a little bit more time. And then we're going to have you guys are this group and then you guys are over here and you're ready to go. and you're ready for pilots, you're ready for testing. Like Julia was showing actual bags they have ready to go. And some of the people were just saying, well, this is what we're planning and it's coming soon. So I think that's such a, it's an important part of development of sustainable packaging is looking at what phase it's in. Yeah, that's it. Great. again, the market has different needs. So how do you define your program in a way? Because it's not just research for the sake of research. It's research to get solutions to challenges that are there. So real world problems, real world solutions. So how do you define your program in a way to solve that need and support the people who are going to work towards those solutions? Is it too late to get money for if somebody's listening? Is it too late for them? No, it's not actually. We have just announced round two and the applications are due December 17th, 2025 by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and we'll be hosting an informational webinar that is coming up on November 10th at noon Eastern Standard Time. And if you want to know more information about the application, the RFAs itself, the Request for Application. of the webinar itself, you go on our website, which is foundationfar.org. And in there, you'll find information about the program itself and also the webinar. That's great. I'm just writing that down. That's really important information to learn for the people listening because there's so much money available and for these new sustainable applications, I think we need to get it into the right hands, into the right people that are making the true innovations. Yes. So what kind of effects are you seeing from these programs? Is it having an impact yet or is it too early to see? I want to say it may be early to see the full effect. However, if you can see, just think about even the demo day. The demo day is a true testament to what can happen when you are able to work together to address these challenges and work with the industry and academia to pull all this together. You were able to see those groups or those teams that have already developed something, a product that they're able to showcase and be able to show it to their potential markets. Right. So that is something that they may maybe not have had that opportunity. If you're not for this program, to be able to have somebody to take you, work with you and not only support what you're developing, but also to, you know, this is what the business is like. These are the things you need to learn. hear the markets that you need to be connecting with, be able to have those conversations with those potential markets and say, these are our needs. How can you really build this packaging innovation to meet our needs as exporters? So I think that is such an important connection that many people lack. So. we are starting to see where we're making those connections. We are seeing that there is potential for these to grow further. Some of the programs right now, some of the teams have already made those good connections with the exporters. Some of them are already testing some of their products with the producers themselves in the real world setting and trying to tweak and figure out how do we make it work better for you based on your conditions, based on the produce that you're actually exporting. That is really important, being able to develop that path towards the market. But also we are seeing with those at an earlier stage, right, for those who are maybe at the pilot stage, being able just to learn from each other, because these are, this is a cohort, these are cohorts. They get together, they learn together, they learn from each other and share that information. So you're starting to see people who previously did not even know the others exist. Yeah. they know there are people who are working on similar problems. There are people that they can reach out to and engage and actually share ideas and learn from each other. So those are things that are needed because sometimes we can work in isolation and that does not really help us. For us to be able to advance and move forward, we need to find opportunities where academia work together with industry and be able to communicate and find those solutions that make sense. because you can conduct research, but the research, just remains research. But for you to make something that has impact, you have to bring the right partners in place. And this program is helping bring the right partners in place for that to happen, whether you're in the early stage or you're at a more advanced stage where you're moving into the market. So there is, we are seeing those changes and we will see more. as they continue to engage and move their products into the market. So absolutely the answer to your question is yes. We are starting to see this. Exciting opportunity. And it's not just here's some money, good luck. It's here's a community of people that you can work together with and actually contribute to your success. I've had several of the people reach out to us at Atlantic Packaging and see, okay, is this something you could use? If not you, who could support us in this mission? Excellent. how it should be, right? We need to work together to make sustainable packaging actually work. So what's next for you, Constance? Any big events coming up or anything you want to tell us about? So I've mentioned our informational webinar that is coming up on November 10th. We're excited about that. And I know your listeners will find that useful. And also, as I mentioned, FAR supports research across the food value chain from pre-breeding all the way to the consumer. And so with that, we are always engaging different events, whether they are webinars or other events that I know, and also being able just to announce some related events that even if we're not the ones leading. So I would encourage again, your listeners, they will find this useful information. If they go on our website, they can actually sign up for our newsletter on the website to get more information. And also they can just see, you know, what else is coming up on our website. And that's ffar.org. No, that is foundation, foundation, F-A-R. So the whole word foundation, then F-A-R, dot O-R-G. Yes, yes. Great, I'll put that in the show notes so if you're listening, just scroll up and you can click on that. Really appreciate your time, Constance. It's been uh so good to see you again and to learn from you. Thank you so much. Thank you for inviting us and including us in this conversation. We'll see you soon. Thank you. you, bye.