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Fresh and organic vegetables at farmers market
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Fresh and organic vegetables at farmers market

November 2025 Littlefoot Newsletter

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Dear Colleagues,

Wishing all my American friends a warm and restful Thanksgiving. This season always reminds me how much our work depends on community, care, and showing up for one another.

Here are a few things on my radar:

  • The new EAT-Lancet report is a sobering nudge. And Mike Lee reminds us it still has to be delicious.
    We’ve now crossed a seventh planetary boundary, with food driving most of the breaches. The path forward is clear: lower food-system emissions, shift toward plant-forward diets, and finally fund this transition at the scale it requires. AND in the words of my friend, fellow Spoon Network Podcast host, and food futurist Mike Lee, “Logic doesn’t drive food decisions. Emotion does.” Read his practical and provocative insights on the report here.
  • Food insecurity in the U.S. is still far too fragile.
    The recent SNAP funding scare showed how quickly families can be pushed into crisis — and why resilient, tech-enabled access is non-negotiable.
  • Innovation is giving me real hope.
    I’ve been fortunate to support several pioneering clients this fall, from r4’s SMART Food Pilot redirecting surplus food to SNAP shoppers, to NFRA’s leadership on cold-chain solutions, to Sysco’s large-scale food innovation framework, and the U.S. Food Waste Pact’s strategic planning process work. Each one is proving that when mission, industry, and data align, real momentum follows.

As we prepare to close out 2025, I’m excited for next month’s newsletter, where I’ll share a final reflection on the year, and celebrate Littlefoot’s 8th birthday. It’s a milestone I’m deeply proud of, and one I look forward to marking with this community.

As always, I’d love to hear what you’re working on and explore how we might co-create what comes next.

Yours in partnership,
Eva

 

Eva Goulbourne

Founder & CEO, Littlefoot Ventures

 

The Pulse @ Littlefoot

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Insights for Impact

The EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems

The Lancet

The most recent and comprehensive scientific assessment of the connection between the planetary boundaries and our current global food system. The report redefines what a sustainable and equitable system must look and proposes pathways for transforming how we should produce and consume food.

Key insights include:

1. The food system is the biggest driver of global ecological overshoot and most of the burden is concentrated among the wealthy.

Food is the single largest cause of planetary boundary transgressions, responsible for 5 of the 7 breaches, yet less than 1% of people live within a “safe and just” space. The wealthiest 30% of the global population drives over 70% of food-related environmental impacts, underscoring a profound equity and responsibility gap.

2. Our food system is economically upside down causing more harm than good.

Although the global food system generates $10 trillion in value annually, it creates $15 trillion in negative externalities, mostly in the form of healthcare burdens. This means the system is destroying more value than it creates. Transforming it could deliver $5 trillion in yearly benefits through better health, productivity, and reduced climate/environmental damages.

3. Countries are not on track and current national plans are weak, underfunded, and insufficient.

Most emerging national food system pathways have vague, unambitious targets, rely on siloed interventions, and lack the $200–$500 billion per year needed for meaningful transformation. At the same time, research reaffirms that protein quality matters with nearly all long-term health benefits coming from plant, not animal, protein yet consumer and cultural barriers continue to slow dietary shifts.

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