6 SDG 2 – Zero Hunger – Team 6

Team Reflection
During our stories we saw an overlap through business as they all have an effective of way of staying sustainable and help sustain the surrounding area, such as in Insprill as they were in Peru they did not just give their product to low income areas but they have created farms in those areas to help create jobs for those same people they help feed. Food-ATM story is the implementation of a smart card system that provides low-wage employees with prepaid meals. Paramo Snacks manufactures organic and oil-free snacks from Colombian products. It obtains its feedstock at fair prices from environmentally friendly crops grown by small producers. Ameriprise partners with Feeding America Food Banks to fight hunger by providing volunteer services or organizing food drives in the United States. Beatstro during the pandemic involved adapting their operations to focus on food delivery and preventing food waste, while also forming partnerships with organizations like the World Central Kitchen to scale up their efforts. Bayer Indonesia – Better Life Farming (BLF) initiative innovatively empowers smallholder farmers through holistic support, including access to resources, education, and market connections. Supermercados Peruanos S..A. ensures that food items that do not look “perfect” but still taste fine do not go to waste at the grocery stores. Instead, the products that do not sell because of their appearance are sent to organizations that will still use them, such as schools, social canteens, shelters and care homes. Eat My Lunch is finding a way to help ensure that children receive the lunch they deserve at school. They came up with a lunch program in New Zealand where anyone can order their lunch online, and for every lunch bought, one is donated to the schools to feed a child in need. Pino Foods, has innovated a new farming system out of Finland it has become a way for companies to use local grown foods that ensures farmers continues have demand. ButcherBox is to make good quality meat more accessible to everyone. They work with local farmers and fishermen who raise/catch their animals with safety and sustainability in mind.
After reading through the stories we feel that the role of businesses is in promoting social good, particularly concerning the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), reflects a deeply thoughtful approach towards corporate responsibility. By aligning their strategies with the SDGs, companies not only contribute to societal progress but also recognize the interconnectedness between economic success and social welfare. This conscientious engagement underscores a shift towards a more holistic understanding of business objectives, where profitability is intertwined with purpose-driven initiatives aimed at addressing pressing global challenges. It signifies a departure from traditional profit-centric models towards a more sustainable and inclusive approach to business, where the pursuit of profit is balanced with a genuine commitment to making a positive impact on society and the environment. In essence, this thoughtful reflection emphasizes the pivotal role that businesses play in driving meaningful change and advancing the collective vision of a better, more sustainable world outlined in the SDGs.
The stories, along with the outside sources, connected to our academic knowledge throughout this assignment. While learning the term “Triple Bottom Line” in class and through the lens of a Harvard website, it is clear that these stories have reinforced our views on what it means. The businesses in the stories we read are excellent examples for franchisees to learn from. As profits are not the sole focus for these businesses (Miller,2020), they instead are looking to make a difference in communities and the surrounding area. Also, we noticed that some of the businesses are using governments to help these businesses achieve the zero hunger SDG. We felt that we assessed the challenges from the gaps in our knowledge by looking up meanings and definitions in course content. Relating to the term accountability there is an article that states that some businesses use the SDGs to increase their sustainability efforts within their company but in some cases, they do not actually follow the SDG in their everyday business (Biermann, 2022). Fortunately, all the stories we were assigned are holding themselves accountable and following sustainable practices.
After exploring the AIM2Flourish stories, we said that it would affect the way we act and think in the future. As businesspeople in the future, there will be a connection between this exercise and how we will act; going off our SDG of zero hunger, if any of us go into the food industry, we will be much more cautious regarding food waste.
We learned about each one’s country and how each one works for the SDGs and dealing with it differently.
The learnings from our courses provided valuable insights and skills that greatly supplemented my teamwork efforts. Through courses focused on SDGs in each country, and leadership, we gained a deeper understanding of effective teamwork dynamics. Learning about different communication styles helped us navigate diverse team environments more effectively.
The work was conducted primarily through a combination of Zoom calls, teamwork, and efforts to understand each other. Zoom calls served as the primary platform for communication, allowing for face-to-face interactions despite geographical distances. These calls facilitated real-time discussions, brainstorming sessions, and progress updates, enhancing collaboration and ensuring that everyone was on the same page.
In our team interactions with this information, effective communication and adaptability were key strengths. Despite occasional technical difficulties and the challenges of distance, we maintained open channels for dialogue and remained resilient in finding solutions. While differing opinions occasionally arose, we embraced them as opportunities for growth and innovation. However, connectivity issues and time zone differences presented hurdles that required extra effort to overcome. Despite these challenges, our team’s commitment to collaboration and respect for diverse perspectives enabled us to navigate the complexities of virtual teamwork and make meaningful progress toward our goal.

Individual Reflection

Kelvin
I really enjoyed the Coil W2024 activity. Working on the project with my colleagues helped me gain a lot from them since they made me start seeing things from a different perspective. I learned a lot regarding the SGDs zero hunger and no poverty, with innovations and critical ideas towards creating a sustainable environment. I also learnt how this SGDs can be applied in my own country to drive towards eliminating hunger and poverty from our cultural set up.
The project also helped us meet and share extracurricular ideas with students from different races and countries thus gaining a lot from everyone of them. Each and every group member pulled out his/her best to ensure that tasks assigned to us were executed efficiently and in time.

References

Biermann, F., Hickmann, T., Sénit, C.-A., Beisheim, M., Bernstein, S., Chasek, P., Grob, L., Kim, R. E., Kotzé, L. J., Nilsson, M., Ordóñez Llanos, A., Okereke, C., Pradhan, P., Raven, R., Sun, Y., Vijge, M. J., van Vuuren, D., & Wicke, B. (2022, June 20). Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00909-5

The triple bottom line: What it is & why it’s important. Business Insights Blog. (2020, December 8). https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/what-is-the-triple-bottom-line