Fall is hectic, not only for farmers engaged in harvest, but for all of us juggling work, life, back-to-school, and fast-approaching holidays. What to do when the demands on our time exceed the few open spaces on our calendars? Prioritize what matters, including the things you want to do. Things that give you energy and purpose. For us, such priorities include connecting with our portfolio and network, as we did this past month at Climate Week, and setting dates for inspiring events this fall.
From The Nest
When Hallie, our team member, attended her first NY Climate Week at the end of September, she found that while much of the city was buzzing about AI and data centers, the Food and Ag conversations told a different story. Speakers took on the efficiency myth, called for honesty about the health harms of our food system, not just the benefits of fixing it, and admitted that farmer financing still isn't solved. Amid all the shiny new tech, her biggest takeaway was that the opportunity is already here: organic and regenerative agriculture, and the work coming out of 1000 Farms Initiative, show we have everything we need to build resilience. (Read more at https://www.ecdysis.bio/1000-farms)
On Our Calendars
Brussels Climate Week, 12-15 October 2026, Brussels, Belgium
Barcelona4Impact, 9-16 October, Barcelona, Spain, the event celebrates innovation and the organizations driving positive impact and dedicated to building a better future.
Barcelona Climate Week, 13-20 October, Barcelona, Spain
SIAL Paris 2026, 17-21 October 2026, Paris France
The Shift Project, Webinar and Workshops, "Eating in 2050: towards a low-carbon, robust and sovereign food system,” Thursday, 22 October 2026.
GIIN Impact Forum, 27-29 October 2026, RAI Amsterdam
The European Food Is Medicine & Agri-Health Summit, 19-20 November 2026, Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam. Our Food As Medicine Foundation Program Manager, Justine Verstraeten will be speaking at the two-day event that connects individuals across agriculture, healthcare, finance, innovation, and policy to collaborate on building healthier food systems in Europe.
From the Farm
We are proud to see our farm, Domaine de Graux, be among the first companies in Belgium to recertify as a B Corp under B Lab's new standards, which were updated to align with the EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) directive. This month, our Impact Coordinator Johanna Delmelle was invited to speak on a panel about the recertification journey. At Domaine de Graux, we welcome this directive as we know transforming our food system requires well-informed consumers who ask the right questions. We are proud to be part of a community of companies that raises the bar for everyone telling a sustainability story.
In September, we also joined the launch of B Local Wallonie, a group of B Corporations in our region who connect to share experiences and best practices and collaborate on strengthening the role of B Corps in thriving economies.
From 27 October until 8 November 2026, Domaine de Graux will participate in Wonder Festival for the second time. The biennial festival, held in Kortrijk, Belgium, unites art, design, innovation, and technology. We will be sharing two contributions by students from Saint-Luc in Tournai as a preview of our future art trail: Fossile de demain by Maelan Meyer and Protéger le précieux by Lana Brion. Their work aligns with Wonder's focus on new relationships between people, materials, and the environment, and brings questions from Domaine de Graux regarding soil, landscape, and the care for living things.
On the farm, summer is winding down. Most of the summer harvest is waning, although we are still having some very warm days. The cattle are happy as the grass and forage in our orchards and fields are green and luscious again, proof of regenerative resilience and the way nature provides before winter. Fruit from the orchard has been harvested and transformed into jam and juice. Soon, the nuts will be harvested for oil and flour.
We love how the harvest and flavors change with the seasons. We are looking for a talented chef who shares our passion for seasonal cooking and who will work together with our farming team. This is a rare opportunity to help build our restaurant, The Harvest, from the ground up.
From the Foundation
Our second project call of the year, Food Heroes Wanted, will close soon on October 9. If you work with a pre-school or primary school and want to inspire children to build a connection with healthy food, consider submitting a project application. Details are on our FAM Foundation website.
Portfolio News
Edacious
Thirty-eight brands have placed their products with Edacious for nutrient quality and safety testing. The results? Publicly accessible, in-depth, transparent data that you can see for yourself on the Edacious website.
Zymofix
Zymofix announced on September 30, that it will locate its flagship manufacturing site in Deinze, Belgium, as the company begins industrial production. The news follows a Series A round led by First Imagine! with participation from existing investors VP Capital, HTGF and The Nest Family Office. The site will have a production capacity of 300 tonnes per year, enough microbial product to treat approximately 1 million hectares. Production is expected to begin in Q4 2027.
Other Portfolio News:
- Ardo: Ardo’s Karsten Iversen was featured in the Danish edition of FOOD & DRINK, talking sustainability.
- Agricarbon: The team from Agricarbon traversed rocky, steep, and challenging terrain in the US Mountain West for Cultivo, helping prove the positive impact of managed grazing for marginal ranchland soils.
- Färm: Eating Organic Without Breaking the Bank: Our 4 FÄRM Tips for a Serene Return to School
- Walden Mutual: Securing Farmland for the Next Generation of Farmers
Fund News
biotope by VIB: biotope added two new portfolio companies, EveryCarbon and Wren Bioscience. EveryCarbon develops high-performance materials, turning waste feedstocks into advanced material building blocks. Wren Bioscience enables dairy producers to identify heat resistant bacteria in milk, helping reduce waste for a more sustainable dairy sector.
In September, the incubator program held their annual Biotech for Planetary Health event at the iconic Wintercircus Ghent, including a panel discussion with Mark Kahn from Omnivore and Emile Redant of Zymofix.
Other Fund News
- Astanor: Astanor co-led a $140 million equity round for portco ProducePay.
- Blume Equity: Maritime Tech: Shipping moves 90% of world trade. Why is it only now getting the software it deserves?
- Omnivore: Omnivore published their 2026 Impact Reports.
- Pymwymic: Pymwymic partner Maarten Van Dam shares advice on building partnerships that create value on both sides.
- SP Ventures: SP Ventures announced their AgVentures III has been included in the pipeline of the BIP - Brazil Climate and Ecological Transformation Investment Platform.
Impact
As we define our impact management and measurement (IMM) approach, one of the frameworks we find useful is the Six Conditions for System Change. The framework is applied by the group Commonland in their landscape restoration work, reminding us of the connection between regeneration of natural systems and building a healthier food system.
Interdependence is at the heart of the framework, identifying six conditions that hold a current system in place: policies, practices, resource flows, relationships and connections, power dynamics, and mental models. Meaningful, lasting change can only result from changing multiple conditions across structural, relational, and transformative layers.
A second resource we are exploring is the Systems Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Toolkit for Food Systems. The toolkit is practioner-focused and brings real-world strategies to food system change.
What We’re Reading and Watching
Documentary films offer inspiration and immersion in a way that few other mediums can. Six Inches of Soil is one we love for how the UK-based film invites in people who are new to the idea that we rely on soil and the urgent mission to regenerate this precious resource.
What happens when scientists let regenerative farmers shape their research inquiry? In the Behind the Paper article, “Farmers’ questions changed my research agenda: the case of knowledge sources in regenerative agriculture”, Dr. ir. Loekie Schreefel of the Farming Systems Ecology group, Wageningen University, reflects on the power of making research accessible—and useful—to the audience who needs it most. It turns out that research, like other interactions, is best when it is reciprocal, not extractive.
Stories of Hope
The Deep Seed episode “How to Bring an Ecosystem Back to Life” featuring Astrid Vargas reminds us of the power of nature to heal, both itself and our communities, when we connect the three “S’s” of restoration: soul, soil, and society. From backyard butterfly habitats to regenerative farming, Vargas explains how we all have a role in ecosystem restoration.
