Daniel Lubetzky

The following is an informative article and an important issue.  It is clear from reading Michael Pollan’s ‘The Omnivore’s Dilemma’ that the US Dept of Agriculture and other food regulatory agencies are biased against the small producers and toward industrial manufacturers, many of whom produce stuff you should not call food. But on the other side, an obsession with the locavore movement is probably misplaced as blind support towards ‘organic’ food.

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The fierce entrepreneurial spirit that founded KIND, really shines true in this segment from Entrepreneur Magazine.  In this video, Daniel does a great job capturing KIND’s spirit and vision and we are so proud to call him our CEO! Check it out here:

Innovator – Kind Snacks from OC Creative Media on Vimeo.

by Adeena Schlussel

I loooved reading this article that my team member Elle forwarded to me.  It does describe a certain crazy gene you have to have in order to start a new venture – whether business or social – particularly when you are trying to challenge conventional wisdom, or fill in a gap or prove something can be done which others think cannot.  The funniest thing is looking back as if facing down a precipice after climbing a mountain, and wondering how you were so crazy to go for it. Yet once it’s done, hopefully it all makes sense to others!  They may never know how perplexed you actually are, upon reflection, that it actually worked out!

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Cone Communications is behind another study that claims consumers buy products because of their social mission – this time emphasizing mothers and young people are at the forefront of this trend.  As much as I am a committed social entrepreneur whose life is dedicated to find creative ways to advance social goals using market mechanisms, I have from my experience always been skeptical of this claim.  There are enormous benefits to being socially conscious, not the least of which is that it gives you meaning.  And it attracts the best team to join you on your journey, and generates loyalty, goodwill, word of mouth, media attention, and more.  But purchases ultimately are made by consumers primarily based on whether a product fits their personal lifestyle, and price, quality and taste are foremost facts when these choices are made.  That said, I do sense over the last 15 years that consumers are becoming more educated and supportive of socially conscious ventures, particularly when they can be seen to be sincere.  So whatever the actual behavior has been, it certainly is shifting more and more towards enlightened capitalism.

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by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

This great article in ReadWriteStart features a story about Startup Weekend, a Seattle based team of developers, marketers, and managers looking to facilitate startup launches, who recently partnered with the Peres Center for Peace (PC4P).  The goal? To enable Palestinians and Israelis to collaborate on projects that both produce valuable items and build bridges.  The Startup Weekend philosophy echoes the PeaceWorks belief that populations in conflict regions can cooperate in business endeavors and eventually build something much greater than the good or service they produce.

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"He is a bastard.  But now he is our bastard!"

- From a friend who shared how they had recruited a controversial  mega-star to their circle.

by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

This article explains the many values of sardines.  Sardines are a plentiful and sustainable fish, but aside from being healthy for our environment, they are good for our bodies as well.  Unfortunately, except for some brands like BELA (a high quality Portuguese brand of Sardines built by my friend Joshua Scherz), most sardine brands are floundering due to their fishiness.  This is why the Sardinistas are trying to “reinvent the sardine” and earn it a spot on the American mainstream palate.  Hopefully their saintly marketing effort will be successful because it is too bad that they are unpopular today.

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I just re-read an essay I wrote (as therapy, I guess) back on September 11, 2001 and a couple days after, trying to capture the thoughts and feelings of New Yorkers after the World Trade Center terrorist attack.

It is worth remembering what the city and its people went through.

It is worth honoring the heroes and the fallen.

And it is worth reflecting on how we can deny a victory to the terrorists, back then and today, not just by apprehending them, but also by the lives we lead and how we lead them.

The original essay, Etiquette and Resilience in the Face of Calamity, is in the PeaceWorks Foods archives.  A copy is pasted below.

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Andrew Rice wrote an excellent article in the New York Times Magazine on online journalism entrepreneurs and the future of news.  Quite a shaky ride for the industry.

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At KIND, PeaceWorks, and OneVoice, almost by definition, I think our team members are motivated by the desire to make the world a better place, and the empowerment and joy comes with the journey.

And yet I found myself really intrigued to follow this video that breaks down these implicit assumptions and helps us all understand – what drives us, and how can we "manage" in the most motivating and empowering way?