Beer is the Answer!
The (3rd) Beer Edition of the Negative Foods Newsletter
To stoke your optimism, go for a long spring mountain bike ride with Barrett Hoover in Pisgah National Forest, and then sit in the sun to enjoy a local beer with scruffy dogs and scruffy cyclists at The Hub, my second* favorite bar in the entire world.
I like dogs. I like mountain bikes. I like beer. Those factors converge in the friendly bars in the Blue Ridge Mountains around Asheville, North Carolina. Also, the company I founded, BrightFarms, is celebrating the opening of its newest greenhouse in that community today (register here for the grand opening 11am eastern May 7th). Thoughtful leadership converges in these mountains, where the water is pure.
We also see thoughtful environmental leadership in the beer industry, both near Asheville and beyond our borders.
I’m a big fan of Sierra Nevada, with their commitment to protecting the environment, and in particular their long-standing efforts to protect American rivers. Check out the “Sustainability Map” for their North Carolina brewery, which is just up the road from The Hub and BrightFarms. How can you not support a beer that supports hiking trails? By capturing and reusing the naturally occurring CO2 from fermentation processes in their brewery, Sierra Nevada is dramatically reducing their emissions. Drink Sierra Nevada beer!
Next, see the Product Review below for Carbon Negative Certified Fat Tire Amber Ale, which is also located in Asheville.
If it made you optimistic to visualize beers and bikes in North Carolina, let’s cross the pond and consider the world’s first carbon negative brewery. BrewDog, in Scotland, worked with Professor Mike Berners-Lee to develop a carbon negative strategy.
BrewDog says that its Lost Forest is capable of “pulling 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere”. From BrewDog’s sustainability plan: “Every time someone buys a BrewDog beer, the world gets less carbon.” BrewDog CEO James Watt: “We are now carbon negative and we remove twice as much carbon from the air as we emit … and by 2024 we will have removed all the carbon we have ever put into the air since our inception as a business.”
Beer is The Answer. We strive to reduce consumption when it comes to our corporate and individual carbon footprints. Is the right answer for BrewDog to reduce how much beer it makes? For you to drink less beer? No! Your patriotic duty is to drink MORE beer from BrewDog, and for BrewDog to scale their model to remove more carbon from the atmosphere. We are now at the crux of this newsletter. When we encounter carbon negative foods (and beers), the consumption of such products is a lever to reverse climate change. Enjoy your beer!
BrewDog’s carbon negativity is an inspiration. I don’t (yet) know Professor Mike Berners-Lee, but it seems like other thoughtful companies should beat a path to his door. And society should mint more of his kind.
Your other patriotic duty? Point me to other inspirational foods with carbon negative footprints. Share your ideas in the comments.
Your Feedback: It’s Global
I was pleased to hear from Virginia Petrie (a distant relative on my mother’s side?), a farmer’s daughter in Australia committed to lightening her footprint, and remembering how much less consumptions occurred in her childhood. And also from Jane Oglesby (married to Chris, a member of YPO’s Sustainability Network), who has a “beef suckler herd in the North West of England, driven by regenerative agriculture techniques“. So exciting to hear from leaders who care about getting to carbon negative from all over the world! Keep the feedback coming.
Product Review: Fat Tire Amber Ale. Thank you Matt of Neutral for pointing out that Fat Tire Amber Ale is the first nationally distributed beer to earn carbon neutral certification in the United States. In addition, Fat Tire’s parent (New Belgium Brewing) is committing to make its entire business carbon neutral by 2030. Enjoy the story of Fat Tire’s emissions reductions, and also their programs to offset remaining emissions.
This is great beer with a great story. Fat Tire was conceived on a bike! Drink Fat Tire beer to save the planet and have fun!
For your further consideration:
Small World Consulting (Firm of Professor Mike Berners-Lee)
Fat Tire Beer was Conceived on a Bicycle
Sustainability at Sierra Nevada
Chef Dan Barber Receives a New Type of Michelin Star
Footnote:
* You are wondering what in the world is my first favorite bar? The Barn in Egremont, MA.
I will join for a beer, bike ride, hike, fishing trip or evening at the Barn any time. I appreciate the framework that offsetting carbon can be fun.
Patriot duty or moral imperative? Great article! Any cicada recipe recommendations?