Business. 

Busy-ness.

The root of the word “business” has a great effect on its essence. The first perception that typically comes to mind is movement, action and perhaps an underlying sense of purpose. Being busy. Moving. Doing the work. Livelihood. Everything about its essence assumes momentum and actionable energy. Rarely does the word business evoke the vision of a quiet old growth forest or serene ocean setting. (Unless of course, you’re envisioning a vacation resort or place where you go to get away from the daily grind of the business you’re in.)  And yet, every single business is affecting the natural world in some way.

Oftentimes when a business is being evaluated for its effect on the world, we measure success through financial capital alone. We look at things like profit margins, investor returns and costs of goods sold. The bottom line becomes the laser focused measurement to determine a business’ viability.

But what role is that business playing in the greater world? Many times we will see businesses that are built to be extractive in nature, but they will overlay a mission or ESG measurement into their plan, in effort to distract from or “polish” underlying damage being done to the natural world. This can be seen as efforts to produce clean energy or carbon capturing when the core purpose of a company is to extract coal and oil from the earth’s resources.

In these times of climate crisis and a raised awareness around the extractive nature of our world, businesses are now making efforts to play see-saw, trying to balance their extractive practices with counter efforts. The affected natural resources are what we call “natural capital.” When we don’t see the value of natural capital as it relates to financial success of a business, we risk damaging our planet, possibly beyond its ability to regenerate.

I recently attended a webinar with Lynne Twist, author of “The Soul of Money” and co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance. Lynne’s experience is a lifelong journey of fundraising, and she has seen it all when it comes to money mindset, generosity and greed. In this webinar, many attendees (including me) spoke up about our challenges with money, noting the prevalent economic imbalance in our country.

It was then that she reminded us that money (financial capital) is a human created system that was designed to simplify the act of trading goods and services. It is not a part of our natural world, but instead a concept that only humans hold as a value. Hence, we can often feel challenged by the often disproportionate distribution of financial wealth. As one of our reNourish staff members put it, if you put a million dollars in the bank account of a tree, the tree wouldn’t care. As such, the power of money exists only because we humans give it meaning. It is this meaning itself that holds the power to either degenerate or regenerate natural capital as we strive to address systemic environmental concerns. 

Let’s invite some living systems thinking into your world for a moment. EVERYTHING that money makes accessible has its roots in the natural world. We cannot create products without the resources of the Earth. Literally the paper we use to print money and the computers that generate virtual value through credit cards or cryptocurrency would not exist without the Earth’s resources. She supplies everything we value in the world, from the water we drink, to the food we eat, to the lithium and petroleum needed to fuel our cars. Humans have become masterful at finding ways to make human lives better, but too often, it’s at the irrecoverable expense of our natural world. 

Money, status, comfort and security have become our primary measures of success in the human world,  while the effects on natural resources are often dismissed and seen simply as a benefit to humans in a short sighted approach, unconscious of regenerative practices or possibilities. 

As you consider your own business, think through the values you hold around natural capital. Likely as a reNourish blog post reader, your business is adjacent to or working with food directly.  Since food is directly sourced from natural capital, it’s likely easy to perceive how these resources flow into and out of your business.

Every choice within a business has a connection to natural capital in one way or another, and if we’re to shift the food system, natural capital (the source of food itself) needs to be an elevated value system in our businesses.

But, how do we measure these things in order to establish value? How do we ensure customer satisfaction and investor support while holding the natural world as a valued form of capital? Can you actually measure improvements in nature that are a direct result of your business?

I’m holding in mind an inspiring presentation that I saw at Expo West 2024 around measuring success in organics. Honestly, only one story actually landed in a meaningful way for me, and that was the story of Lundberg Family Farms and their new ingenious marketing campaign claiming “Ducking Good Rice.” 

Brita Lundberg took the conversation on stage away from the typically data-focused approach by stating that their family measures success by first, ensuring a healthy environment for the ducks in their rice fields.  As harvest approaches, they recover duck eggs from the fields and move them to safety for incubation.  Their website boasts, “When we find a duck’s nest in our fields, we hand carry the eggs to safety. And if we care that much about ducks, imagine how much we care about our rice.” 

Clearly, Lundberg holds a high value for the natural capital investment in their land – for themselves and the ducks. This approach to brand elevation highlights their reverence for the land, not just for the sake of growing rice and providing nutrition to eaters, but as a thriving ecosystem that supports other living beings. 

Magically woven into this “measurement” are all of the unspoken benefits to the ecology of the land as well as the caring nature of the brand itself.  They don’t call out the use of “natural duck fertilizers” or assign any purpose to having ducks on property – but we can assume that the benefits are mutual, as they often are when animals and land synergistically unite.  Plus- it makes for excellent storytelling and marketing, creating customer appeal with the cutest baby ducks parading through their campaign.

We’re starting to see some exciting shifts in the food world, with organizations and investors opening their minds (and wallets) to impact driven companies. Though financial returns and ROI’s still dominate the decision making process, more and more conversations in the regenerative space are demanding that actual environmental improvements be a part of the return in value. As a mission driven business, seeking to support a thriving and living food system, what do you hold in mind as ways to measure your systemic effect on the natural living world? And what might the cost be to not see natural capital as a part of your business? 

There’s so much more to value than money alone – and when we see our businesses this way, we can explore ways in which our missions can extend way beyond the capability of a single business entity.