So Erica, why agriculture?

I get this question a lot. People wonder why I’m fascinated by the food and agriculture space (former I-banker/Wharton student becomes agrarian..ok I kind of get it). But my answer is simple: Food is part of me and part of all of us.

As an MIT Legatum fellow, I spent this past year incubating ideas in the agricultural space. But I’m not ONLY interested in agriculture.  I am passionate about women’s health, innovation in education,  and sustainability. When launching any idea, you need to start somewhere. By focusing on agriculture, I’m thinking about how to bring sustainable food on dinner tables, raise farmer incomes to send children to school, and reduce the depletion of natural resources.

On a personal level, I believe in the sustainable agriculture movement, a closed loop process which is a self sustaining system in which waste is converted back into input. On a global level, I am energized by its high ranging impact: According to the World Bank Agriculture Plan, “GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in raising incomes of extremely poor people than GDP growth originating from other sectors.”

Those are my reasons on a high level, but there are plenty more. Bill Gates said it best: “Poor farmers are not a problem to be solved. They are the solution. The best answer for a world that is fighting hunger and poverty and trying to feed a growing population”