Stonyfield Organic

Lisa Drake [0:01]
You know, joining this community, it’s one of those things like if you want to go fast go alone. And if you want to go far go together. I really think coming together as a community of businesses and sparking of movement in the long term will have a really big impact on the world.

Benn Marine [0:21]
From dirigo collective, this is Responsibly Different. sharing stories of certified B corporations and our journey of joining them in leveraging business as a force for good.

In this episode, Stonyfield organics, Director of sustainability innovation, Lisa Drake hopped on a call to answer all my questions about Stonyfield, their journey to B Corp certification, and all the incredible work they’re doing for people on planet. Lisa has led the development and implementation of innovative sustainability practices at Stony field since 2002. stony field certified as a B Corp in 2016. And today with their playfree initiative, COVID-19 Yoga donation program and their global efforts to support farmers with open team. It is clear that Stonyfield organic is responsibly different.

Lisa, kind of kick us off. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? And what brought you to Stonyfield?

Lisa Drake [1:30]
Yes, well, I’m originally from Vermont, and I went to school at Tufts University outside of Boston. And I majored in Civil and Environmental Engineering. And so I and I came out of school, and, you know, having studied the movement of pollution and the environment, I got involved in hazardous waste related work. So assessing hazardous waste sites, planning remediation, and, you know, like really cleaning up the mess of industry. And, you know, it was really interesting work, a lot of chemistry and groundwater hydrology, and, you know, really interesting scientific work, but really, at the end of day was cleaning up the mess and eventually got inspired to think about how do we do things differently? How do we do things better? How do we, you know, make the things we need in the world with without creating such a mess. So, you know, I also was lucky enough to hear the founder, one of the founders of Stonyfield speak, and what well before years before I joined Stonyfield, and so Gary Hirshberg is so inspiring, you know, he really had always had a vision about running a business that was better for the environment, and was really inspiring and sharing that message. So when the opportunity arose to move to New Hampshire and join his team, I was,I was all on board.

Benn Marine [3:00]
That’s amazing. And your current role, you’re the director of sustainability innovation at Stony field, can you share with us a little bit about what your work looks like? Or maybe what a typical day looks like for you?

Lisa Drake [3:10]
Yeah, so you know, this is really about bringing a vision to life within a company, how do we operate more sustainably? How do we get our product out in to the world and look at how we source ingredients? And what kind of energy are we using to run manufacturing operations? How do we package the product? And at the end of the day, what kind of impact are we having? And how can we do better over time? You know, really, what kind of business do we want to be? And how do we want to show up in the world and so, you know, the job is about working across this business, because people are making decisions every day in the business that that ultimately are impactful and drive where we go to so it’s, it’s about sharing a vision, and, you know, working through decisions that because in the right direction, or the wrong direction, so about sharing goals and knowing that we’re moving the same direction, because you know, it’s hard work to innovate and to improve and to try new things when the status quo is working fine. So the idea of innovating around sustainability takes work. And so my job is to, you know, measure our carbon footprint and understand those impacts to set goals for where do we want to go and developing roadmap for, you know, how are we going to get there over time, and ultimately celebrating the wins? Because, you know, we have to do hard work, and then we need to celebrate when when we do well. So, you know, it’s really it’s it’s such interesting work. It’s very engaging with people. There’s the technology and science aspects that I love coming from my engineering roots. But you know, the challenge is really about organizational behavior as well. And then how do we move forward together?

Benn Marine [5:02]
I’m curious, for folks who maybe don’t have that role in their company? Do you have advice for them for like, yes, this is definitely a role that you would want to prioritize or, or, or ways that people could get started kind of thinking through that lens?

Lisa Drake [5:15]
Yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s a good role to have a central person. And certainly having someone in house with some state’s sustainability expertise can be super helpful. But you know, not all businesses are at the size and scale that they can afford that or, and so you know, that I think it’s really most important about integrating the work, like I can’t be everywhere and everything, making all those decisions, right. So so I can be central and I can be a resource and I can influence and I can, you know, I can try to set vision and goals and such. But the end of the day is the people integrated into the business that are making the decisions that are going to see follow through. And so I think any business can do you know, with or without a dedicated sustainability person, if they have someone who is charting a course setting the vision so that people can move together and then you can always find resources outside the company to bring expertise in that you need or to find some opportunities. But you know, the other day it has to be in the inner workings of the company for it to work well as my experience

Benn Marine [6:30]
That makes a lot of sense. I mean, I’m curious kind of looking back Stonyfield itself started as an organic farming school in New Hampshire. How have those roots informed the work that you and Stonyfield are currently doing as a company?

Lisa Drake [6:42]
Yes, well, that that is true. We were originally, the organization was called the Rural Education Center in Wilton, New Hampshire. And it was on a farm called the Stonyfield Farm. And Gary Hirshberg, and Daniel Kaman, were running the Rural Education Center, which was really a nonprofit organization that was committed to helping family farms to educate people about the value of sustainable agriculture, and literally hands in the soil how to farm in a way that protects the environment. And is, is really authentic to this idea about about people and food, they had seven cows on the farm, and it was making a lot of milk. And so they made yogurt with that product. And they started selling it purely as a way to make money to support the nonprofit organization, and soon realized that really, this was not only a way to make money for the organization, but it was actually a better vehicle for getting the message out into the world. And so it evolved from nonprofit to business, you know, really a truly early social venture. And so how that, you know, next to who we are today, and how we run our businesses, is really still about like always staying true to this idea about supporting family farms, supporting farming, specifically dairy farming in New England. And, and organic, you know, we at the time, when they were starting all that they were following the ideals of organic, but there wasn’t a USDA certification for products that are made organically. So that came about much later. 2002 is when the USDA Organic certification came along. But that has carried through and why we are so committed to organic sourcing organic ingredients and supporting the small family farmers to this day.

Benn Marine [8:39]
That’s really cool. I’m curious, too, if there were, you know, small family farms that are interested in organic farming, and are interested in working with you, how do you find those family farms? Like is it? Is it kind of you reach out to them? Or they reach out to you? Or what I’m just curious what that looks like,

Ben Cohen [8:53]
Yeah, it can happen. Um, you know, all of those ways. And, you know, we have had a very long standing wonderful relationship with Organic Valley, which behind Organic Valley is a cooperative of organic farmers across the country. And so their north east, dairy farmers, our majority of supply for our milk, but we but we also have about 32 farms that we contract with directly in New England. And so that, you know, was really a way of not only diversifying our supply, but really having direct contact with farmers and developing those relationships directly and helping them transition. So one of the challenges with organic is if you’re farming conventionally, you have to go through a period of time where you’re adopting organic practices, and yet you still can’t have your products not yet certified. So you essentially are taking on costs associated with being organic with getting without getting the premium pay of being organic. So we have helped many of those farms transition if they weren’t organic, and they wanted to become organic and become a supplier of Stonyfield, we help them cover that gap of a year’s time that they need to transition. And so you know, it’s really about, you know, continuing to support dairy farming in New England and supporting the next generation of dairy farmers, because the average age of dairy farmers is, you know, in the in their 60s, so we’re approaching retirement age, you know, they’ve been doing this for a lifetime. And it’s hard work. And they may or may not have a family that wants to continue on the transition that they’ll, you know, the long Cannings tradition in their family. And so we are also looking to recruit, you know, younger dairy farmers, whether it was in their family or not, to take a take on these farms and to keep them in active production in New England.

Benn Marine [10:58]
Wow, that is so cool. And I think that’s so great how, how you’re also encouraging people to go organic, and helping them through that process. Something that I thought was really fascinating was, in addition to your work in in supporting firms going organic, I think it was in 2018, you launched the play free initiative. Can you tell us a little bit about that, that mission and kind of how its unfolding across the country, because that’s kind of a movement in helping public spaces become organic, which is something I had never even entered my brain?

Lisa Drake [11:31]
Yeah, you and many others. Yeah. So this was something that we, we learned about, you know, just being in the organic world about how many toxic chemicals can be used to manage playing fields in the US and the millions of kids that play on a sports field and the families that spend time there and the pets. And, you know, when you’re managing and you’re using all those harmful pesticides, there’s potential for exposure. And kids, you know, how kids are playing, they’re playing, they’re playing hard, and they’re down in that dirt, right, and they come home dirty, and they bring it home with them on their clothes on their shoes. And so it’s really inspiring for us to think about, you know, how it doesn’t have to be that way, just like food doesn’t have to be grown with all kinds of toxic chemicals. Same thing with our playing fields. And maybe this is a new way to make a good contribution in communities and to further people’s thinking about the role that chemicals play in their life in ways that it can be avoided. So for our 35th birthday, if you will or anniversary, we committed to working with 35 communities across the country, to help them change how they manage their playing fields, and to eliminate pesticides. And so that means, you know, really getting hands on in these communities. Our very first one was actually up in your neighborhood in South Portland, Maine, is our very first community and we, you know, bring in some expertise, you know, look at what fields they have, what how they’re managing them, and how they can do it in a more organic way. And, you know, really thrilled to say that over in this, we’re in the third year of the program, and we are going to hit the 35 communities this year, we’ve worked we started in Maine, but we’ve been all across the country now in different communities of all sizes, small and large. And, you know, it’s really about training them. In a single instance, we commit to one field as a pilot, but then they’re learning skills and information that they can then adapt across their town or city, and really change it all together. So we think it’s, you know, some great movement in these communities. they’ve gained knowledge as the city employees, if you will, but also we’ve reached out to, you know, through having community celebrations about the work and such, we’ve engaged the people there too, and the citizens and giving them information that they can also relate to their own property to their yards and what they do and how they manage their, their own turf, if you will, at home.

Benn Marine [14:15]
That’s so cool. Andyou guys have a really neat video about it, too. And it says something about, like 65% of public playing fields use harmful pesticides, which I had no idea about. So that was very informational. And I’ll definitely throw a link to that video in the show notes for folks to check out to. So in speaking of kind of community works, I know in response to the covid 19. outbreak, you launched the yogurt donation program, and have donated over a million yogurt products over the course of 2020. Can you share with us what that looked like? And is it a program that’s still running? And if so, how can folks get involved?

Ben Cohen [14:49]
Yeah, so we it is still running typically in a in a normal year, if you will. We are on the road where it’s celebrating the playfree program. in communities, we’re at 5k races, we’re, you know, we’re out and we enjoy being out in the community and bringing our product out there to folks. And you know, in March of 2020, we realize this is not going to be the case this year, it’s going to be a different year. And, you know, although we need needed to change how we were doing things, there’s a need for social distancing, you know, didn’t relieve us of our social responsibilities. And if anything, we think, you know, we recognize our role in the community, we recognize the many families that have impacted by COVID, and the economy, and you’re really in need of nutritious foods. And so, as a member of this community, I think we can persevere not just despite this crisis, but we can grow our community connections. And so this is what we set out to do this year. And so we have given away over 1.2 million products in 2020. And that’s across seven states, and over 50 organizations that we’ve supported. So this is, you know, food banks and, you know, medical communities and such that could really use the extra help in this year. So we’re still going 2020 – 2021, our new tagline, “We have yogurt, and we’re here to help”. So if you want to nominate an organization, you can go to stonyfield.com/nominate, and you can give us your suggestion, if we can reach that organization we will do so.

Benn Marine [16:34]
Oh my gosh, that’s amazing. I’ll definitely make sure that link lands in the show notes as well for folks. Can you share with speaking of communities and local communities here in the kind of Greater Portland, Maine area? I can you shared me a little bit about your partnership with Wolfsneck Center for Agriculture and the Environment.

Unknown Speaker [16:51]
Yeah, so Wolfsneck Center is in Freeport, Maine, so right in your neck of the woods up there. And it’s been a farm for about 60 years. But it is much more than a farm. It’s an education center, it really is working to connect people with their food, you know, much like the the Rural Education Center, that Stonyfield was born out of over 35 years ago. And it’s a you know, also become a center for research and demonstration in agriculture. So they’re really doing great work. They’ve been an amazing partner, we’ve we’ve found them and found that we shared so many interests, the first major endeavor we did with them was to help them launch an organic dairy farmer training program. So as you’re talking about earlier about the next generation of farmers, you want to learn the trade, where do you go. And so they’ve set up a program where they can take up to four apprentices at a time to work with their active organic dairy farm. And really, they can learn all aspects of the business from caring for the animals for managing pasture for feed, and you know, and all the different aspects of the farm so that they can come out and be ready to manage a farm and also they own their own farm. So that’s been really, really exciting to build that program and provide opportunities for people that can see. And the other really big exciting thing that we’ve been working on with them for a few years now is the development of a program called Open Team. And this is a really great cutting edge work that we’ve done in partnership with not just Wolfsneck but also the foundation for food and agricultural research. And also, USDA has a program called land PKs, which is about land monitoring and soil health monitoring. And we’re bringing all these partners together because what we want to do is develop a technology platform where that farmers can access to really understand soil health, so they can track their practices on their farm and improvement practices that will improve soil health, which can impact the economics of their farm can impact the resiliency of their farm to drought or to flooding or whatnot, but also can be a contributor to mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon into the soil and having the tools at the ready to be able to do that. And so for example, measuring you know, the soil current carbon content is changing their practices, improving their practices, changing how they manage animals on their pasture, land, etc. And then over time To build soil carbon and learn from what they’ve done so that then they can continue to innovate and sequester more carbon. So we really think that this is enabling farmers to own their data to own their decisions, but with the best possible technology tools and to contribute to research so that the understanding about practices and outcomes is really clear. And all farmers around the world can truly learn from each other.

Benn Marine [20:29]
That is so neat, and that was called Open Teams?

Lisa Drake [20:32]
Yeah. Open Team. And so there’s a website openteam.community.

Benn Marine [20:40]
Awesome. That was great. And is that is that open to like any farmer that wanted to come check it out? Or is there like an application process or how?

Lisa Drake [20:46]
Right now in pilot mode, so there’s small numbers of farms, currently using a tool tools, there’s interconnected tools across this platform. And so we’re building it up to a point that more and more platforms will be able to participate over time, and ultimately, any farm will be able to so in 2020, we have, six, I think Stonyfield, organic dairy suppliers, working in the program, and next year, there’ll be 10, or 12. So we’re we’re increasing the numbers of farms that are participating, learning, working out all the kinks, what’s working, what’s not working, how can we improve it, and ultimately be able to roll it out on a much larger scale?

Benn Marine [21:33]
Oh, that’s so cool. That is really, really cool. So pivoting a little bit towards B Corp land. I’m curious what led Stonyfield to pursue B Corp certification, and what did that process look like?

Unknown Speaker [21:46]
So yeah, Stonyfield was not one of the earliest adopters of B Corp. We considered it quite a few times over the years, and some of the early, early companies startedbecoming B Corp certified as early as I think 2007/2009. And, you know, we, we looked at it and you know, at first, it didn’t rise to the top of our priorities, it’s a lot of work to get certified for anything, right? And so from a certification perspective, at first, we didn’t join, but we, you know, ultimately, what we started to see build was that it was more than a certification. It was a community, and it was a community of companies that we considered are our peers, and a place that we really wanted to be, you know, we saw, you know, Seventh Generation was one of the early B Corps, Patagonia, Ben and Jerry’s. You know, we started to see companies that we, we connected with, like Eileen Fisher, Locally Badger, for us in New Hampshire, Pete & Gerry’s Organics. And, you know, we said, these are people, we should be there, this is a community This is more than just a certification. And so ultimately, we got serious about it in 2016. And we certified at the end of that year. And so it’s, it’s, it’s a It is, it is a process, it is a commitment. But you know, once we saw it as joining a community, rather than just a certification, felt different and felt like it was worth that work.

Benn Marine [23:30]
Yeah, I’m curious to that end, what was kind of the most challenging aspect of going through the assessment? And how did you kind of manage working through it?

Ben Cohen [23:38]
Well, I think it’s unique, and how comprehensive it is, there’s no one person in the company that could by any stretch, answer all the questions because it is by its nature, it’s really looking at all aspects of your business. And so it really, truly takes people from across the company to contribute. So I think, you know, it takes a focal person to manage a process and to bring all those people in. Once somebody really has to dive in and own it, but it is, you know, also at the same time, really, the process is reinforcing of our practices that Yeah, our practices really are strong, they really do measure up against a pretty critical standard. And, you know, so as a company who has grown and evolved and changed so much over the years, I think it was really good for us to come out and just see that, yeah, we really are doing well, not only by our own opinion, but by other people’s standards. And at the same time, there’s always more to learn, you know, there’s always there’s always places within that assessment that we could do better. And so it gets it gets easier over time. Because you do have to recertify every three years. And so it’s always an additional level of work, but at the sense of once you get through it once you know what to expect, and, you know, the lab doesn’t make it easy in the sense that once you achieve certification, you still have to continue to improve, there’s a intention to continually raise the bar, and to not let us sit and just sit on past wins. So it is it is a process that is about continuous improvement.

Benn Marine [25:35]
Do you have like a team of folks internally that are B Corp exclusive? Or how like, what is your point? Like? Are you spearheading the B Corp? certification? Or how what does that process look like?

Unknown Speaker [25:47]
Yeah, I currently am the first time we did it, I did not I was a contributor on the environmental portion, it but we had a different person who managed the project initially. So you know, since then, I have inherited, I’ve given myself the title called the B Keeper, and champion, the B Corp work within the company. And so yeah, this time, we’re preparing for recertification this year, and I am being that key person, which again, is really about pulling in the expertise and the knowledge from across the business.

Benn Marine [26:26]
I’m curious how has being a B Corp certified business, I’m kind of going through the B impact assessment, how has that helped the business?

Ben Cohen [26:34]
Well, one thing is that we’ve come to appreciate the assessment as a learning tool. Because, you know, we can really see where we’re at, we can see where we have room to improve. And in some senses, it’s a guide to best practices. And, you know, for, for example, our human resources team, they were to routinely use it as a reference when they’re considering changes to benefits or policies, they’re often turning to the B Impact Assessment to see if we change this, if, you know, how can we improve it? What are the qualifications for this kind of policy or program? And, you know, using it as a benchmark? So that’s, that’s been really, that’s probably been one of the biggest benefits in addition to joining this community, and, you know, really movement?

Benn Marine [27:26]
Yeah, I’m speaking of the kind of community aspect of it, I’m curious, have you done a lot of partnerships with other B Corps? And if so, with who? And what did those look like?

Lisa Drake [27:35]
Yeah, we’ve done a lot of things are different B Corp. And you know, because of these, a lot of companies when the B Corp movement are, you know, we do consider our peers and that we share a lot of interest with, you know, it can be fun things like we’ve done sweepstakes, and you know, giveaways, together, contests, consumer facing contests, you know, and we’ve done educational communications to better spread awareness about what B Corp is, and what it stands for. And then, you know, I think that it continues, the B Corp community continues to evolve. And, you know, now we’re working together in some pretty serious collective action work, and one that Stonyfield has been involved in is about climate change. And within the B Corp community, there’s a group called the climate collective. And so this was a started with a smaller group of companies. And it brings some leadership to the B Corp community of how can we act together on climate? How do we set the standard for what responsible and committed companies do to act on climate change? And, you know, so for example, a group of B Corps joined some other companies this past year to do virtual lobbying on Capitol Hill to talk about how do we recover out of COVID and this economy that we’re in at the same time, while addressing some really important issues, particularly climate change, but also environmental injustice issues, that, you know, we see an opportunity to move out of where we are to find some real durable solutions to problems that existed prior to COVID. But that this is our opportunity to invest and to build back better truly to make the economy work better for everyone coming out of this and to really address climate change. And so, you know, we also are supporting a number a number of B Corp are supporting the youth that are organizing the youth climate strikes. The Earth Day live program that happened last year in lieu of climate strikes, you know, that really taking the lead of these young people and lifting their voices. And so, you know, I think it’s this. This is where this B Corp work is really exciting and has become so much more than a certification. You know, I spoke about it being we see movement from just a certification to joining a community. And you know, really now it’s joining a movement, because there’s so much energy within this community to create change to lead, not only by example, but to use our voices to advocate for things we believe in and to make an impact on the world beyond our business borders, and really influence things in a in a larger way.

Benn Marine [30:36]
That is so cool. And, and kind of speaking more to kind of those community pieces I know we had last season, we had Fiona Wilson on the show from the UNH B Impact Clinic. And we’re super excited that we’re going to be part of the clinic the spring semester. And I know that you worked with the impact clinic as part of your recertification process. I’m just curious, what was that? Like? Do you have any tips or advice for us as we start that process and begin working with students or maybe some thoughts for folks that are thinking about getting involved in a program like that to help them get certified?

Ben Cohen [31:09]
Yeah, I think I’m really glad you’re doing that. Because I think it is a great experience. I mean, first for the students, it’s an amazing experience. It’s It’s such a hands on learning opportunity outside the classroom, to really work as consultants with a real live company is just it really unparalleled experience. And they are smart, and they’re engaged, and they’re so eager to jump in. So students, it’s really great. And for the companies, the certification work can be really hard. And this excitement I have about the B Corp community is part of the energy that carries me through the hard work of doing the assessment and asking an answering what seems like endless questions. But by joining this, you know, community, you’ll be in parallel with other companies who are on their B Corp journey in some way, you know, the energy of these students. So I think it’ll really be a good experience for you, you know, the different companies that have participated over the last few years. I think they’ve all gained but they’ve, they’ve had different kinds of experience and had different final products based on how they framed what they wanted to get out of it with their students. So I think that’s, you know, my main piece of advice is to, to really focus on what is it that you want to get out of the experience and make sure the students are clear on what it is how they can most help you and what they can deliver to you at the end of the day.

Benn Marine [32:40]
Thank you for that. That is super helpful. We’re really excited. I’m curious, what advice would you give to businesses like ours that are, you know, either in process of certifying for the first time or or maybe are thinking about pursuing certification?

Lisa Drake [32:53]
Well, I would definitely I think any business can benefit from participating in the UNH clinic. And there’s there’s learnings, for any for wherever you are on the journey, whether you’re not even sure you want to certify, you want to just start with understanding where you are on the spectrum. There’s something to be gained there. So I think that’s one amazing tool that we have here in our community. And, you know, I think, I guess the advice is to, you know, think of this as an opportunity to make yourself a stronger business, that there is a wealth of resources there, too. That will give you spark ideas of how you can do things better and differently, how you can have greater impact in your workplace or in your community. And it’s one of those things that you can do by joining this community, there’s a lot to gain and a lot to learn. And in the big picture beyond just certifying, you know, joining this community, it’s one of those things like if you want to go fast, go alone. And if you want to go far go together, I really think coming together as a community of businesses and sparking of movement in the long term will have a really big impact on the world. And so certification itself, that work can be a lonely process, but it’ll make you stronger on the other side, and will really enable you to contribute to a greater good, that’s great.

Benn Marine [34:25]
Anything else you’d like to add or kind of impart on listeners?

Lisa Drake [34:29]
I didn’t mention or, you know, one of the marketing campaigns that B Corp has used over the last couple of years is called vote every day. And so taking the idea of you know, the impact we have as individuals through voting, you know, that we have other ways we can influence and state are values to the world by voting every day in our decisions as individuals so that can be with your wallet, and how you spend your money. It also can be with your job, it can be with how you use your personal social media platform. And so you know, I think that idea of every day is really is a great message to pass on. Because you know, this is a movement, not just of companies, but of people. And whether you’re an employee or an owner of a B Corp or not, you can influence this movement that you can make a difference with your purchases, and with your decisions, and as I said, with your social media, and so, you know, I think when some of the most outspoken members have, and well known members of the B Corp community, like Ben and Jerry’s has been doing amazing work on speaking out about racial justice issues, and equity issues. Patagonia, you know, always is the champion, not just for the environment, but you know, they’re really directing their business in ways that are authentically consistent. So they’re choosing not to do corporate sales, to companies that don’t prioritize the environment. So if you want that nice, I’m not wearing mine today, your Patagonia vest with your Patagonia label on one side and your company logo on the other, your company that are have some opinion about about the environment. And so you know, like they both companies, they take some criticism too, because some people come at us with, you know, you should just stay in your business, you shouldn’t have political opinions. And, you know, if you’re saying this about that ago, then Jerry’s or Patagonia, you really haven’t been paying attention, because they’ve always been rooted in their values and living their business in ways and using their voices in ways that are authentic to those values. And the impact that they have, is because of their clarity about what it is they stand for. But you know, ultimately, they’re supported by customers who love their product, and are loyal to them over other choices. So as individuals, making choices, to, to buy and to support companies that align with your values is really important. And that’s what that’s what’s going to help continue to lift these businesses within the B Corp community, that we support each other, you know, not all B corpse are facing consumers the way we are. However, you know, we can business to business support B corpse as well we work with other B corpse in a number of ways. Also business to business. And so you know, there’s everybody can contribute in some way to this movement. And I’m just really glad your company’s on this journey. And we’ll be hopefully joining the community.

Benn Marine [37:55]
Absolutely. Oh,my goodness, thank you so much. This is so great. Super excited to have you on the show. Stonyfield an amazing product. And I think there’s our most grocery stores, right? I think people can find you?

Lisa Drake [38:06]
Oh, yeah, we’re in grocery stores. And yeah, we’re definitely in grocery stores across the country. And we’re continuing to innovate and evolve. products are our kids products, in particular, have been really fast growing and you know, moms and dads really may make different choices for their kids than for themselves, but we’re showing them that you can start with organic baby food and grow into organic kids products and those transitioning those children into adult products is continuing to to continue generation to generation. This the Stonyfield and the commitment to organic that we think is better for the planet and better for our health and we’re just continuing to to grow and help provide nourishing foods out into the world.

Benn Marine [39:18]
Thanks so much for tuning in. As always, I have links to all the various projects and businesses Lisa named in this episode in our show notes, which you can find at responsiblydifferent.com. Included in the show notes are links to where you can nominate some local heroes for free yogurt. Learn how to go organic in your own backyard, some bonus videos from Stonyfield about open team their play free initiative and more. If you haven’t been checking out the show notes definitely do. I always try to put some fun BONUS stuff in there for y’all to check out. Some news in the land of Responsibly Different we have a brand new Instagram page, check it out and follow us in the months to come. We’ll be posting B Corp best practices that we learn from different guests on the show, as well as some highlights from each episode. You can find us @responsiblydifferent on Instagram. And in the world of dirigo collective. We met with our student team of consultants from the UNH B Impact Clinic, and we are super psyched to start diving into the work with them. If you’re enjoying this podcast, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and leave us a review that helps more folks like yourself find this podcast. Next time on Responsibly Different I sit down with founder of Allagash Brewing Rob Todd.

Rob Todd [40:37]
It’s an assessment that grades you on all these fronts, but it’s almost in a lot of ways like a guidebook to doing better.

Benn Marine [40:46]
We’re all in this together. Till next time, be responsibly different.

This is a production of Dirigio collective music composed by our own Kevin Owens. You can follow us on social media @Dirigocollective or visit our corner of the internet at dirigocollective.com