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Fresh and organic vegetables at farmers market

December 2025 Littlefoot Newsletter

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Dear Colleagues,

Eight years ago, Littlefoot Ventures began with a simple hope: to make real, lasting change in the food system we all rely on. I started this strategy firm with a mix of conviction and (let’s be honest) obsession when becoming a mother of “little feet” of my own deepened my commitment to creating a more resilient food system for the ones who will inherit it. Our mission remains the same today: to help amplify and accelerate the strategies that truly move the needle on climate and food system transformation.

Since 2017, Littlefoot Ventures has grown beyond anything I could have imagined. We have now supported 60+ mission-driven organizations, helped secure more than $25 million for sustainable ventures, advised practitioners across five global regions, and earned recognition for our contributions to food systems and climate leadership. These milestones are not just metrics. They represent tangible progress toward a better food future.

You can explore some of these highlights below… all things I am incredibly proud of, and powerful proof of what’s possible.

Yet this anniversary also comes at a moment of profound change for our sector. This year delivered real political whiplash for the food and sustainability landscape — from a U.S. retreat in climate leadership and the effective dismantling of USAID, to domestic policy shocks that froze nutrition benefits. All of this unfolded against deepening hunger crises in Syria, Sudan, and Myanmar, and a likely record-hot world that is squeezing crops and water supplies, even as global climate leadership shifted toward new actors.

After 18 years working in this space, I’ve grown accustomed to uncertainty. While I’m not immune to its effects, I am more committed than ever to meeting this moment—just as we always have—with clarity, strategy, grit, and yes, plenty of giggles.

In the year ahead at Littlefoot, we’re excited to scale food loss and waste solutions globally, support the next generation of philanthropic heavy-hitters driving systems-level change, help build the financial case for the regenerative agriculture transition for farmers, and reframe so-called “nice-to-have” corporate food and sustainability commitments into defensible, indispensable, and profitable business strategies.

If you’re tackling any of these priorities in 2026 and looking for a thoughtful partner along the way, Littlefoot Ventures would love to support you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out anytime (eva@littlefootventures.com).

Yours in partnership,
Eva

 

Eva Goulbourne

Founder & CEO, Littlefoot Ventures

 

The Pulse @ Littlefoot

2025 Client Engagement Highlights

Philanthropic Strategy and Donor Engagement

Littlefoot partnered with a national food-rescue nonprofit to strengthen its expansion and fundraising strategy. We refined their messaging, optimized their grant approach, identified mission-aligned funders, and facilitated warm introductions. The engagement gave their team greater momentum in securing meaningful funding opportunities.

Fundraising Support

Littlefoot supported the COP28 Action Agenda on Regenerative Landscapes (AARL) Initiative by assisting with fundraising for the Cerrado Landscape Project and future global accelerators. Through a feasibility study, funder research, stakeholder outreach, and targeted prospecting, we clarified the capital landscape and strengthened positioning with investors. This work validated near-term fundraising potential and provided the foundation needed to confidently scale AARL’s impact worldwide.

Sustainability/Food Loss & Waste Strategy Development

Littlefoot helped organizations turn ambitious sustainability and food waste goals into clear, actionable strategies. We provided tailored roadmaps from redefining companywide targets to streamlining innovation processes to uncovering missed value in donation workflows that reduced waste, optimized operations, and strengthened leadership.

        

Multi-stakeholder Coalition Building

Littlefoot helped the U.S. Food Waste Pact translate its “Target–Measure–Act” framework into a 2030 strategic plan and roadmap. Through benchmarking, capacity mapping, stakeholder interviews, and a clear prioritization framework, we delivered an implementation-ready strategy that refined the Pact’s value proposition, strengthened governance, and improved decision-making. This positioned the Pact to accelerate progress toward SDG 12.3 in the final push to 2030.

                   

Messaging and Impact Narrative Development

Littlefoot helped organizations clearly articulate their value and strengthen market positioning. We refined narratives and messaging to support stakeholder engagement and business growth, and developed data-driven insights that reframed complex challenges like food waste as strategic industry opportunities.

             

Insights for Impact

Food and Beverage Industry Trends 2026

Innova Market Insights

We’ll explore additional 2026 trends (and “untrends”) in next month’s newsletter, but below are a few early food and beverage signals shaping the year ahead. These insights draw on 2025 year-to-date product data and consumer research, and reflect the converging forces influencing innovation in 2026 from health and pleasure to environmental pressures and affordability.

Key insights:

  1. Authentic Plant-Based: Plant-based foods are moving away from imitation and toward celebrating the inherent nutritional value of plants. Consumers increasingly want minimally processed, naturally protein-rich plant foods that stand on their own supporting both health and lower-impact diets without relying on heavy processing.

  2. Justified Choices: Sustainability matters most when it’s tangible and credible. Consumers are looking for transparent, everyday signals like support for local and regenerative farms, organic production, and ecosystem protection rather than vague green claims. Products that clearly connect purchasing choices to real environmental and community benefits are gaining trust.

  3. Worth Every Bite: Affordability and accessibility are now central to sustainability. Economic pressure is reshaping food values, with consumers favoring simple, minimally processed foods that deliver value without excess. This trend highlights the growing intersection of food justice, economic resilience, and sustainable diets.

View Report

Food was everywhere at COPs – except the negotiating table

ODI Global

At COP30, food systems were highly visible across panels, pavilions, and political declarations yet remained almost entirely absent from the actual negotiation text. Despite agriculture’s major role in both climate impacts and emissions, deep political, institutional, and philosophical divides continue to keep food systems on the margins of formal UNFCCC decision-making. Meanwhile, significant momentum was built outside the negotiation rooms through global declarations, financing initiatives, and country pathways, but without formal integration into COP decisions, these efforts lacked accountability and structural impact.

Key insights:

  1. Food systems were everywhere at COP except in the negotiated outcomes. Hundreds of events and multiple high-level declarations highlight food’s importance, yet the agriculture negotiating track remained narrow, contentious, and largely disconnected from broader climate decision-making.
  2. Structural and political barriers block meaningful progress. Trade disputes, disagreements over mitigation vs. food security, and competing visions for agricultural transformation create deep divides. As a result, the official UNFCCC agriculture work (SJWA) is limited in scope and has stalled over procedural issues.
  3. Real leadership is emerging outside the formal negotiations but needs accountability. Declarations like the Emirates and Belém documents show strong political will to integrate food systems into climate action. However, without inclusion in COP decision text or mechanisms for tracking progress, this momentum risks remaining voluntary and fragmented.

View Report

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report

FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 report shows that while global hunger has declined slightly from its pandemic-era peak, hundreds of millions of people remain undernourished and progress toward ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030 is off track. Persistent high food price inflation has eroded purchasing power, especially for low-income populations, making healthy diets increasingly unaffordable and slowing progress on food security and nutrition goals. Vulnerable groups including low-income households, women, children, and rural communities are disproportionately affected, highlighting the need for coordinated policy action and resilient food systems to reverse these trends.

Key insights:

  1. Persistent Food Insecurity: An estimated hundreds of millions of people still experience hunger and moderate or severe food insecurity globally.

  2. Impact of Food Price Inflation: Elevated food prices have reduced access to healthy diets for many, particularly in low-income regions, undermining both food security and nutritional outcomes.

  3. Uneven Progress: While some regions have seen modest improvements, other areas (especially parts of Africa and Western Asia) continue to struggle with rising hunger and malnutrition, underscoring the uneven nature of progress toward SDG 2.

View Report

Events