Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

Zero Foodprint is mobilizing the food economy toward agricultural climate solutions. ZFP was founded in 2015 but has advanced rapidly since 2019 when we began public-private collaborations and received our first operating grant. 

We make it possible for funds from businesses, organizations and individuals to directly shift acres of farmland toward climate beneficial practices. This sounds simple but had not existed until we established this framework in 2020 after a year of stakeholder engagement and discussions across sectors with policy makers, scientists, business owners, farmers and conservation experts.

At surface level, ZFP's work is comparable to Charity: Water. Businesses send a few cents per purchase for carbon farming (compost application, cover crop planting, silvopasture, etc. 

In terms of climate solutions, this is analogous to Solar City, but for removing barriers to the transition of working lands. And in the largest contest, our public-private framework for capital deployment is analogous to Community Choice Aggregation, but instead of improving the grid of energy, we make it possible to systematically, equitably and optimally transition working lands. 

We collaborate with Conservation Districts, University Cooperative Extension and trusted conservation networks through an advanced farm selection process utilizing carbon sequestration modeling. 

Our program integrates and extends government grant programs, unlocks private sector funding and can be seen as an on-ramp for (underdeveloped) carbon markets.

Since formally launching the Restore CA grant program in 2020, ZFP has awarded over $560k to 31 carbon farming projects expected to sequester a modeled 18,100 tons CO2e.

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How Project Affects Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions:

We work with state and local governments and businesses and consumers to direct a few cents from a purchase to local regenerative agriculture projects such as compost application, cover crop planting. Since 2020 we've generated and awarded $1.2M to 65 farm projects with an estimated GHG benefit equal to not burning over 4 million gallons of gas.

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

On the regenerative economy side, we make it possible for any business or individual to be part of the good food movement by sending a few cents per purchase to shift acres toward climate beneficial, carbon restoring practices. This stands in contrast to the existing mechanisms for change in the food system which primarily advocate for better (more expensive) choices, and merely reward farmers and ranchers who are already "sustainable." A simple example of this past impotence is how the organic movement is comprised of less than 2% of global or US acres. 

Our work allows a single penny or dollar or $1M to flow toward the direct change on acres.

On the grant side, we award over 25% of grants to BIPOC and historically underserved communities. We actively engage with regional farm groups with a BIPOC focus, such as ALBA, Kitchen Table Advisors, National Young Farmers Coalition, etc.

We are actively fundraising for a dedicated BIPOC grant program.

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