Patagonia Provisions and McDonald’s could not be more different as companies and brands. Yet in 2021 both have had an undeniable impact on business and culture, far beyond the products they sell.
When Provisions, the iconic outdoor apparel company’s food spin-off, launched Long Root Pale Ale beer, in 2016, it wasn’t trying to create the next Budweiser. The brew was merely the best way to devote more agricultural acreage to a perennial wheatgrass called Kernza, a regenerative crop that helps build soil health and sequester more carbon. The beer amplified Patagonia’s mission to fight the climate catastrophe and make it easier for others to join them.
COVID-19 led to greater food insecurity worldwide, and in response, more major corporations accelerated climate initiatives, particularly regenerative farming techniques, to fortify fragile food systems. In May 2020, Budweiser reported better-than-expected success
