RICE with Anna Marie and Clara Purk

Inform Your Consumerism

In this episode of IYC, we learn about where rice comes from and how it is produced. We cover the fascinating global history of the crop: specifically how it's now surpassed wheat as the third largest produced crop in the world.
However this significant level of production does not come without a stark environmental impact. Project Drawdown estimates that rice cultivation is responsible for about 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions derived from agriculture. We learn the technicalities as to why this is the case, and unpack opportunities for climate friendly rice, through our conversations with our special guest rice experts.
About our guests:
Anna-Marie is the Chief Executive of The Natural Growth Company (NGC), a family-owned business established in 1998. NGC works alongside Thai smallholder farmers to produce and export high-quality, ethically sourced organic rices and sugars for global markets.

Prior to her current role, Anna-Marie managed NGC's Supply Chain and Export departments, having previously served as Head of Production & Organic Certification. Having grown up around the company and latterly as Head of Production, she gained hands-on experience on the farms and discovered her love for organic farming and its communities. With this, Anna-Marie continues to lead the company with a strategy centred around sustainability and grass-roots conservation. She works to forge deeper relationships with partner farmers, has secured NGC’s Carbon Neutral certification, and has recently completed a state of the art, environmentally-friendly organic processing facility in Thailand.

Anna-Marie holds degrees in Biological Sciences and Clinical Research In Nutrition from the University of Edinburgh and Imperial College London, respectively. In her free time, she enjoys meditation, traveling, exploring unfamiliar cultures and experimenting with cooking both novel and traditional rice-based dishes to share with others.
Clara is passionate about using data, technology, and science to drive agricultural solutions to climate change. As the VP of Operations at AgriCapture, Clara manages the Field Data, Carbon Projects and Agronomy teams to deliver carbon offsets, carbon insets and verified climate claims to climate-conscious corporations. She also oversees general business operations and is the Program Director for AgriCapture’s Climate-Friendly Rice Program operating under the USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities Grant.
Prior to AgriCapture, she co-founded and ran a digital marketplace for sustainable specialty crop farmers. She also spent 6 years as a Consultant at Accenture managing large-scale technology and operations programs for Fortune 500 companies. She received her MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business where she co-chaired the Sustainability Club and was recognized as Social Impact Leader of the Year.