Food Footprint Revealed: Kai Robertson's Sustainability Insight

There’s a moment in this week’s Going Zero episode that stopped us in our tracks.

It’s simple. It’s true. And when you really sit with it, it changes how you see everything from the groceries in your cart to the future of global supply chains.

In this episode, we sit down with Kai—a sustainability strategist and food systems expert who’s worked with brands like Walmart, Unilever, and McDonald’s, and organizations like WRI and WWF. She helps us unpack a deceptively simple question:

What’s your food print?

The answer touches everything—climate, water, soil, health, equity, and economics.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

🌍 Why we’re “using 1.75 Earths” and how our food choices play a central role
💧 The hidden water in everything we eat and drink (yes, even your morning coffee)
🥬 How soil health directly impacts public health—and why regenerative ag matters
♻️ Why food waste is both a climate risk and a business opportunity
💡 The “Act, Advocate, Ask” framework that helps businesses and individuals take real action

Kai also dives into the science of behavior change and how simple shifts—like changing plate size or rethinking date labels—can spark system-wide impact.

Why this conversation matters:

We often talk about emissions, offsets, or policy. But food? It’s one of the most immediate, intimate ways we interact with sustainability every single day.

Kai reminds us that this is personal. What we eat matters. What we waste matters. And who we listen to—especially growers, frontline workers, and consumers—matters.

🎧 Listen to the episode now on Spotify

👉 And if something in this episode sparked a new way of thinking, we’d love to hear from you. Just hit reply and share your thoughts—or your own story.

Until next time,
—The Going Zero Team

P.S. What’s one small change you’ve made around food that felt meaningful? We’re gathering stories for a future episode. Hit reply and let us know.

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The Going Zero podcast of sponsored by Emerald Ecovations.