20 Moral Eats in Canada

Team 31 Poster

Team Reflection 

While reflecting about the innovative practices of Moral Eats, their commitment to animal welfare and sustainable food production especially compelling can be observed. This business approach, which consists of allowing cows to raise their own calves and completing crossbreeding techniques to yield more sustainable beef, demonstrates their commitment to human and environmentally friendly practices that are not usual in traditional commercial farming. The story about the founder of this, who is called Sander Van Stee´s, was equally striking. His personal struggles made him question the quality and ethics of standard agricultural practices and inspired him to create a better alternative.

As we reviewed his insights, we were able to recognize the importance of setting a new industry benchmark, for both, moral eats and other farms that may be inspired by this type of model. This company not only is pushing boundaries with innovative farming techniques, but also actively attempting to make ethical, sustainable practices that can be attained for larger commercial farms – a challenge that has stymied the agricultural sector through the years. Van Stee´s decision that led him to convert an existing commercial dairy farm, rather than to start from scratch, stood out to us as a practical and ambitious way to drive change at scale.

Their story sparked deeper questions about the role of business in promoting both, social and environmental goods, especially in those industries such as agriculture which are often viewed through the lens of profit maximization and environmental exploitation. Moral Eats is linked with the concept of the “triple bottom line”, people, planet, and profit, through its integration of sustainable practices with commercial farming. Rather than sacrificing profitability or the other way around, Moral Eats seeks to harmonize these goals, which is a challenging balance, but it could also be what redefines commercial farming.

As students of business and sustainability, we have been exposed to models and frameworks that emphasize corporate accountability and the broader impact of business on society and the environment. Nevertheless, the application of the concepts to the pragmatic, challenging setting of a commercial farm has deepened our understanding of their complexity. The Moral Eats model challenged some of our main assumptions about the compromises often necessary in commercial enterprises; here it maintains the profitability but at the same time, prioritizes welfare, sustainability, and transparency.

This also led us to filling in the gaps of our knowledge about all these topics. In this case, while we understood everything about the basics of sustainable agriculture, the concept of cow-calf dairy, which consists of letting cows raise their own calves, was something that we had not encountered, highlighting a question that we faced regarding this: Why are practices that seem so humane and beneficial not standard across the industry? The answer to this question seems to be economic, as traditional farming models don´t really prioritize these practices as they are normally costly. However, Moral Eats shows that ethical practices can be profitable with innovation and a direct-to-consumer model.

Our thoughts about the SDGs also expanded, as we appreciated how Moral Eats directly addresses goals such as the “Responsible Consumption and Production” (SDG 12), and “Life on Land” (SDG 15), and indirectly promotes goals like “Good Health and Well-Being” (SDG 3). This is not only about offering better food quality to the society, but the potential of ethical farming to improve consumer health and change industry standards for the better can also be highlighted. This deepened our understanding of SDGs interconnectedness, particularly in how a positive impact across society and environment can be driven by a responsible practice in an area of business.

Moral Eats journey is both an inspirational and challenging one. After assessing the company and reflecting on its innovations, we see that sustainable actions and innovations done by a single company alone, is not enough to bring about significant change in traditional industries like agriculture, there needs to be industry collaboration among different firms/companies for real change to become more evident. This collaboration can be hard to achieve as some farms, due to their own organizational constraints or economic responsibilities, might not be willing to adopt these sustainable/ethical practices that Moral Eats has embedded into their culture. As Van Stee expressed in the interview, there is an opportunity here for Moral Eats to be a role model for other farms, and to help establish some type of network that operates with these standards of animal welfare and environmental responsibility.

By participating in AIM2Flourish and the COIL activity, the idea of the crucial role firms play in adapting to the demands of its market and the role it plays in guiding them towards greater social and environmental responsibility have been made clear and become significantly important. This activity also makes us question how we, as future managers, will approach future business projects in a way that both increases profitability and still honors and respects the environment and all stakeholders in a way that promotes social justice. We have concluded that to incorporate sustainable practices and not just “talk the talk”, businesses must think more holistically and have an outward looking perspective rather than an internal perspective, to ensure genuine action and eliminate greenwashing.

Individual Reflections

Cristina Altolaguirre Lozano

Having had the opportunity through this AIM2Flourish activity through COIL, I can definitely confirm that it has been an enriching activity in many aspects. On the one hand, not only have we had the chance to work with people all over the world (including Canada, Saudi Arabia and Spain), which has broadened my global perspective and has deepened my knowledge about sustainable business practices.  On the other hand, this experience has taught us some useful skills that we will be able to use in the future such as cross-cultural communication and time management as we needed to determine a time for our weekly meeting that was accurate for every team member. I would also like to highlight that we were able to work as a team, and to divide the several parts included, so everyone could proportionally participate and be active. I would like to conclude by expressing how thankful I am for this activity, which brought all of us together and gave each one the opportunity to embrace ourselves and to deepen the knowledge in all the fields that we have worked on, also teaching us the skills that will be needed in the future.  Finishing by stating how thankful we are for Moral Eats, and the responsibility they have had for us and how helpful they have been, as other firms were way more difficult to contact or did not reply to us back. Having concluded everything above, I could not be more grateful by how much this project made us improve in several ways.

Amabel Akhimien

This COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) experience and AIM2Flourish activity allowed me to work in a virtual international team and meet people who I might not meet in the real world, as we are from various parts of the world, in different time zones. My team consisted of people from Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Canada, so it was exciting and interesting figuring out when to plan meetings at times that were appropriate and convenient for everyone. We were all very communicative as a team and ensured to plan our meetings at a time that worked well for everyone, and we all gave regular updates on where we were on track with our various responsibilities in the group chat. We worked through the activity fairly easily through effective teamwork and division of labor, we assigned roles to each other and held each other accountable. Participating in the AIM2Flourish activity deepened my understanding of sustainability and refined my critical thinking skills. It also prompted me to reflect on how these insights I have learned throughout this experience and in my MGMT 3020 course will affect my future behaviors as a manager. My instructor was also immensely helpful during this process, he made sure to remind the class of all the weekly deliverables and offered us resources like a mock interview, to help us better understand how to do the activity. Overall, the COIL experience was a unique one and I really enjoyed it.

Modhi Mubarak Aldawsari

When we started this project, I thought it would be exhausting and difficult to complete. However, the project has helped me add to my experiences and information that I could not add on my own. The project also helped me develop my communication skills in English, and while I thought that language and time differences were the biggest problems in this project, the subject of language and communication turned out to be easier than I thought. We were also able to solve the problem of time difference by looking for the most appropriate time to connect our three countries. The whole group and I agreed to write the questions, and this stage passed easily. It is possible that choosing the company and interviewing them is a difficult matter due to the lack of commitment of some companies, so I also thank Moral Eats Company for their cooperation. I had difficulty interviewing someone who speaks English, but I think that I succeeded in doing it with Evie, and I consider it a beautiful and new experience, as it was the first interview I did, and also in a language that is not my mother tongue, so I see it as an achievement and a beautiful experience. Shahad and I also worked on the poster, which I found enjoyable because of my love for drawing and design, and I thought it was fun to work on designing the poster. So, I see this project as a beautiful and exciting experience, as I tried new things and tried talking to people from different countries. It is also worth mentioning that Moral Eats’ work is amazing and has greatly amazed me. During the interview, I noticed the manager’s passion for the work and the project idea and his interest in the human aspect.

Evie Wiltshire

Throughout this COIL experience alongside the Aim2Flourish activity, I felt as though the group worked really well together and managed challenges such as time differences and different perspectives efficiently and with consideration and patience. It was an enriching experience and one I enjoyed from both an individual perspective as well as a career perspective to expand my experience in working in groups such as this. In terms of planning meetings, I felt as though this was done successfully as everyone had agreed on times, being flexible in terms of when they were able to meet. In terms of the work divided, I feel as though this was done equally and each member was willing to contribute. The three deliverables were divided equally between everyone, and everyone completed their work on time, whilst confirming with the rest of the group if what had been done was approved with each member. I found the interview process with Modhi to be an enjoyable and positive experience as we helped each other through the process, making the interview a smooth and easy experience. Using a mixture of weekly Zoom meetings as well as an Instagram group chat made communication easier, as we could give regular updates and ensure anything that was not mentioned during the weekly call was still able to be communicated and understood by all members. The interview with Sander Van Stee as part of Moral Eats I found to be a particularly inspiring experience as the advice given on starting a business as well as his clear passion for what he does and caring for animals was extremely motivating and refreshing to see.

Overall, this process and experience has led to growth and a passion for working with others, as well as inspiration for how businesses can run ethically and help society and the environment not for personal gain but purely for wanting to help a cause. I feel as though I can take a lot from this and have gained transferable skills I can then take into my future career.

Shahad Mohammed Al Qahtani

As a member of the virtual team, I was excited and motivated to participate in the “Sustainable Business Innovation” project, which is an interactive online international learning (COIL) experience. Working on a real-world innovation case, Moral Eats, allowed me to apply theoretical ideas to practical solutions. I appreciated the diversity of perspectives and knowledge that my team members had, which enriched the experience. Managing multicultural development required respect and an open mind. Mindful of cultural nuances and language barriers, I made sure my communication was clear and considered. Digital tools facilitated communication, and we established clear roles and responsibilities to avoid confusion. Managing multiple schedules was a challenge, but we found a plan that worked for everyone. I had to be flexible and adaptable to seasons that required discipline and structure. During this experience, I gained valuable skills in virtual collaboration, cross-cultural communication, and project management. I learned to appreciate the power of ideas and to solve challenges in a virtual environment. The program’s focus on sustainability and innovation resonated with me, and I am proud of our team’s commitment to making a positive impact. Overall, this COIL experience was a valuable learning opportunity that expanded my horizons and skills.

References

Milne, M. J., & Gray, R. (2013). W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(1), 13–29. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-012-1543-8

Cho, C. H., Laine, M., Roberts, R. W., & Rodrigue, M. (2015). Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 40, 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2014.12.003