The Secret to Staying Young at 150 🔑

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Read time today: 2:11 min

Hi friend,

It’s Friday morning. You are reading VITAMIN C 🍋 - your bi-weekly dose of food, science & climate insights, served fresh every other Friday.

I’m sending this newsletter from Italy, where pizza is my daily ritual and the beach my temporary office. Vacation with kids isn’t exactly a slow-down though, it’s more like swapping my to-do list for sandcastles and sunscreen.

But somewhere between trying to keep the little one from running into the ocean and getting the older one ready for kids’ disco, I made space to collect my top 5 food insights for you this week.

Here they are:

1. [Food for Thought] 🚫 How not to greenwash

Last week, I read a LinkedIn post from Nynke Eggen that really got me thinking.

Tony’s Chocolonely has been known for its “100% slave-free” mission.

But under EU rules, “slave-free” is a legal requirement, not a sustainability achievement. Claiming it as your unique benefit can even lead to fines.

Tony’s recent packaging shift from “slave-free” to “ending exploitation” shows how smart brands move before regulators force them.

The real power? Communicating what you do beyond compliance.

Read the full post by Nynke here.

2. [Study] 🚮 Americans waste $2.3B of food on vacation

According to new research from Ohio State University, Americans waste more than $2.3 billion worth of food each year on vacation.

That’s about 5% of your Airbnb bill — money you literally throw away.

Nearly half of travelers want to donate uneaten food, yet only 1 in 5 hosts gives them the tools.

I suspect the situation in Europe isn’t much better.

That’s a massive gap and a massive opportunity. Imagine if Airbnb flagged “sustainable hosts” who make food donations or at least composting simple.

Read more here.

3. [Fact] 📈 The easiest way to feed 150M more people

We talk about feeding billions. But we rarely talk about who grows the food.

Women farmers could produce 30% more if they had equal access to land, tools, and finance as men.

That’s without planting a single extra hectare.

Yet global strategies barely mention them.

As countries prepare their climate plans for COP30, here’s the opportunity: back women farmers and you boost yields and reduce the number of hungry people globally by 12 to 17%.

Gender justice in farming is one of the smartest climate solutions we have.

Read more about this important topic here.

4. [Startup Spotlight] 🌊 Seaweed takes on plastics

US-based startup Marine Biologics is transforming seaweed into a fermented “slurry” that can be used in food, cosmetics, and even replace plastics.

Think natural emulsifiers, packaging, and biomaterials - all sourced from sea farms. I love this idea, it’s eco-innovation riding the ocean waves.

Check them out here.

 5. [Inspiration] 🔑 The best anti-aging drug

I love this thought.

If purpose is the most potent “anti-aging drug,” then our food and climate work might be the ultimate prescription.

The next time your work feels heavy, remember: it’s not just saving the planet, it might be adding decades to your life.

So who knows… us food and climate changemakers might still be here changing the world at 150.

Stay awesome,
Lia

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