FOOD2050
During San Francisco Climate Week, Kristin Coates had the honor of speaking on a panel following a screening of FOOD2050 alongside an extraordinary group of leaders, including Sara Farley (Rockefeller Foundation), Anna Lappé (Global Alliance for the Future of Food), Kat Taylor (TomKat Educational Foundation), Danielle Nierenberg (FoodTank), and Jose Corona (Agricultural Platform Collective). The evening was a powerful reminder that the future of food is about more than agriculture alone. It is about health, equity, ecology, economic resilience, and community agency.
Before founding Regenerative California, Kristin led a global portfolio on Food Systems and Nature-Based Solutions at SecondMuse. While in this role, Kristin led the team that designed and implemented the Rockefeller Foundation’s Food System Vision Prize, a global initiative that challenged communities around the world to imagine and design regenerative, equitable, and resilient food systems by the year 2050.
Reflecting on the initiative, Sara Farley shared, “The Prize isn’t exclusively about the visions that applicants submit. It’s about changing the global conversation. It’s about hope.”
Kristin recalls being transformed by the scale of imagination and innovation that emerged through the process, which received more than 1,300 submissions from 95 countries around the world.
What makes FOOD2050 so inspiring is that it does not simply showcase good ideas or abstract concepts. It tells the stories of finalist regions and communities already building real, tangible, and transformative models for the future of food. Actionable examples. Proof points. Communities stepping forward to demonstrate that another way is possible.
As Kat Taylor reflected during the discussion, “We already know enough to act. The question is whether we have the courage and collaboration to do it together.” Her words captured the spirit of both the film and the movement emerging around regenerative food systems worldwide.
The Food System Vision Prize revealed the power of regional visioning and inspired the creation of Regenerative California to bring together farmers, educators, businesses, nonprofits, researchers, and community leaders to collectively imagine futures rooted not in extraction, but regeneration. It reinforced a belief that communities already hold immense wisdom and leadership. What is often missing is alignment, resources, and the connective tissue to move from vision to implementation.
In a moment when so many systems feel fractured, FOOD2050 offers something deeply hopeful: evidence that communities around the world are already building the future, and that California has an opportunity to help lead the way.
Regenerative California will be hosting screening events of FOOD2050 - stay tuned for the details.