Building a Sustainable Food System Together

·39 min·2 clips

Isaac says transformation only happens when farmers, CPGs, retailers, and manufacturers act together.

1. Yara's Crop Nutrition podcast episode, "Building a Sustainable Food System Together," centers on how crop nutrition fits into sustainable agriculture and food supply chains. 2. Scott Warr hosts Isaac Mpenga, Yara's Sustainable Food Solutions Director, whose background includes agriculture education, crop science, USDA work, and PepsiCo. 3. The episode asks what a sustainable food system is and why crop nutrition matters for emissions, soil health, and farm profitability. 4. Isaac says sustainable food systems must feed a growing world population equitably while using water, soil, and nutrients without damaging ecosystems. 5. He connects climate pressure to the topic by citing more intense heat spells, fires, drought spells, and less predictable rainfall patterns with flooding. 6. Isaac says more companies are publicly committing to science-based targets and regenerative agriculture practices. 7. He argues that Yara's low-emission fertilizers support the carbon reduction narrative while still meeting crop nutritional needs. 8. He says food chain companies depend on farmers for raw materials, and farmers depend on Yara and retail partners for solutions. 9. Isaac describes his daily work as explaining to food companies how crop nutritional programs affect emissions, regenerative agriculture, and soil health. 10. At PepsiCo, he developed regenerative agriculture roadmaps for growers supplying PepsiCo potatoes in North America. 11. He says those roadmaps include baselines and goals for emissions, water use efficiency, biodiversity, farmers' livelihood, and soil health. 12. Isaac says retailers and crop advisors are positioned to help growers meet buyer expectations because they work directly with farmers. 13. He emphasizes that return on investment is the starting point for Yara because farmers need profit to keep producing food. 14. He names cover crops, reduced tillage, manure, composting, and nutrient management as regenerative agriculture practices. 15. Isaac says the four R's, including choosing the right source, can lower emissions without compromising yield. 16. He warns that telling growers to "cut" inputs can trigger resistance if it sounds like yield loss. 17. He says tools such as Cool Farm Tool, USDA's Comet Farm Planner, and Field to Market can model agronomic programs and estimated emissions. 18. The interview style is practical and explanatory, with Scott pressing for examples and Isaac answering in step-by-step terms. 19. Listeners who work in agronomy, farm retail, CPG sustainability, or nutrient stewardship will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a narrative story or a short entertainment-first episode may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical case for sustainability that keeps the focus on productivity.

Yara Crop Nutrition treats sustainable food systems as a working agronomy problem, not a slogan. Scott Warr talks with Isaac Mpenga, Yara's Sustainable Food Solutions Director, and the episode keeps returning to one hard question: how to meet growing demand, protect the…

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Why you'd press play

You want sustainability explained in field terms, not corporate haze.

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