Our Story
In October of 2008 Anthony Myint and Kara Leibowitz rented a small snack truck to serve something called a "PB & J"(Crispy Pork Belly & marinated Jicama on a buttery scallion pancake-ish flatbread). This quirky experiment drew a line of people that looped around the block and eventually grew into the (unintentional) start of the pop-up movement!
As they settled into a permanent pop-up called Mission Chinese, they welcomed a child. Along with their daughter came the anxieties that often accompany new parenthood—they worried about the food they were feeding her and the kind of world they'd leave behind. Again, they dove headfirst into new territory, learned about food politics, pioneered a methodology to assess a restaurant's carbon footprint, and discovered the immense potential of regenerative farming practices to restore our climate.
More than a decade later, Zero Foodprint (ZFP) has grown into a movement with chefs, farmers, scientists, and regional governments working to change the food system from the ground up.
"Zero Foodprint’s strategy is clear, direct, and impactful. Their model is to pay farmers to practice regenerative agriculture to sequester carbon, which is both good for the soil and good for the climate."
Kristin Thalheimer at Dean’s Sweets
Meet the
Changemakers
Regeneration
We promote regenerative agriculture, which works to undo the damage that extractive agriculture has done to our planet, health, food, and people. It’s not enough to reduce emissions or limit pesticides — we must remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Collective action
Meaningful change requires systemic investment in sustainable farming as part of a renewable food economy. We work to connect the public with policy makers and stewards of the land who are creating systems to "improve the grid of food,” with the goal of a movement that includes all of us.
Justice
Climate change is an issue of environmental justice as much as it’s a scientific challenge. We activate a diverse group of partners, members, and grantees in a community of collaboration built on respect for different identities and experiences in order to promote sustainability, access, and equity.
Prosperity
Healthy soil is not only good for the planet, but it is also correlated with profitability and resilience for agricultural businesses. Healthy soil practices reduce vulnerability to drought and flood, while reducing input costs. Bringing wealth back into the soil through a new “Table-to-Farm” movement is a win-win-win for humanity.
Reciprocity
The small act of planting seeds ensures a future harvest, we believe economic reciprocity—even small investments—can add up to reverse the climate crisis and ensure a livable environment for future generations. You could think of it as indigenous wisdom, internalizing the externalities, or just common decency.