TCA Accelerator

🗞️ Our latest newsletter is live!

In this edition, you will find:
📺 Recordings from the True Cost Accounting Global Summit
💡 An article from Lauren Baker & Amanda Jekums reflecting on 10 years of TCA progress
💬 A Summit dispatch from award winning journalist Tom Philpott

mailchi.mp/tcaaccelerat...

Textile Exchange recalibrates for 2030 with a sharper focus on systems change Textile Exchange recalibrates its 2030 strategy, focusing on systems change and accountability to reduce fashion's environmental impact.

Textile Exchange is urging fashion brands to adopt #TrueCostAccounting!

💰 Better materials often come at a premium.

⚠️ "Brands must stop externalizing those costs onto producers and instead build supportive sourcing models."

Read the article: fashionunited.uk/news/fashion...

YouTube video by TCA Accelerator Alexander Müller: Opening Remarks

⏰“GDP is fake news.” It’s time for a more accurate picture of growth & progress.

Our Managing Director @alexandermueller.bsky.social gave opening remarks at the True Cost Accounting Global Summit in April. Watch his speech here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-F4...

Highlights below 🧵👇

Read @planettracker.bsky.social's latest guide for investors on health and global food systems:
planet-tracker.org/wp-content/u...

Human and planetary health are two sides of the same coin.

Investors can work to restore & improve both by embracing strategies aligned with sustainable, long term value creation:
🥗 Enhancing the affordability of healthier options
❌ Eliminating routine use of antibiotics
🍬 Reduce reliance on UPFs

“#Power is often absent from conversations about food systems.”— Olivier De Schutter, @ipes-food.org

These words resonated at our recent Global Convening on #FoodSystemsTransformation.

Explore more powerful quotes ⬇️

📩 Subscribe to hear more from the convening—coming soon: bit.ly/GA_subscribe

Global Farm Metric have released their updated framework - GFM 2.0.

GFM helps farmers adopt whole-farm sustainability through holistic measurement and tracking.

You can read more about the trials and framework in three short reports from Global Farm Metric: www.globalfarmmetric.org/framework/

True Cost Accounting Has Come a Long Way True Cost Accounting is a powerful tool to understand the costs and benefits of food production, distribution, and consumption.

Lauren Baker & Amanda Jekums, @futureoffood.bsky.social, reflect on our True Cost Accounting Global Summit, held at @fao.org in April.

Key themes:
⏩ Moving from development to implementation
💬 Effective communication to decision-makers
💡 Equity in data collection & use

foodtank.com/news/2025/05...

YouTube video by TEDx Talks What is the true cost of cheap food? | Kenneth Keavey | TEDxTUDublin

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

We have a golden opportunity to change the food system now - and restore nature, soils, and our health.

Kenneth Keavey's TED Talk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYi...

It’s time to stop the great food heist powered by big business. That means taxation, regulation and healthy school meals | Stuart Gillespie The global food system has been captured by a few rapacious companies that profit from public ill-health. We need a radical overhaul

Read Stuart Gillespie's article: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Read the 2024 State of Food and Agriculture report: openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/c...

To address these costs, FAO outlined policy interventions - similar to those described above.

💡 True Cost Accounting is the tool that can illuminate trade offs in designing and implementing these policies, ensuring benefits and costs are fairly distributed.

In their 2024 State of Food and Agriculture report, @fao.org revealed that the hidden costs of our food system amount to $11 trillion.

🚨 A staggering 70% of these costs are from unhealthy diets related to non-communicable diseases.

Colombia passes ambitious ‘junk food law’ to tackle lifestyle diseases The Latin American country is one of the first in the world to introduce a health tax targeting ultra-processed foods

💰 In 2023, Colombia became the first country in the world to introduce a tax on ultra processed foods.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Chile’s Comprehensive Food Policy Offers Global Lesson In Tackling Unhealthy Foods - Health Policy Watch Intense, pervasive marketing by food and beverage companies is central to profit-driven strategies to increase the intake of ultra-processed foods, and

📜 Chile leads the world on regulation restricting the marketing of junk food to children.
healthpolicy-watch.news/chiles-compr...

We need to transform the food system. The governments already stepping up to do so:
🍽️ The Brazilian government funds healthy meals for millions of school pupils, a third of which must be bought from farmers who practice organic, low carbon farming.
redraes.org/en/brazil-ce...

"Our global food system is not nourishing us. The good news is we now know why, and we know enough to turn things around."

Dr Stuart Gillespie describes how our current food system is driving malnutrition and environmental degradation, and highlights countries already taking action.

Did you know that biodiversity is essential for food security and nutrition?

Here are 5️⃣ reasons why biodiversity matters for our agrifood systems and why we must act now to protect it. 👇

#ForNature #BiodiversityDay

Voices from the #TCAGlobalSummit2025

🍔 "When I wrote Fast Food Nation, 25 years ago, I didn't realize I was doing a True Cost Accounting of the fast food industry and its impact, not only on my country, but the world." 🌍
- Eric Schlosser, Writer

Voices from #TCAGlobalSummit2025 - Hauwa'u Hamisu Haruna

⚠️ True Cost Accounting is not just about uncovering hidden costs.

💡 TCA also illuminates hidden benefits, and in the world of finance, this can mean telling the story of investments' positive impacts beyond financial returns.

Voices from the #TCAGlobalSummit2025

Wondering how True Cost Accounting might be relevant to you?

We are sharing videos from our diverse community, with members explaining why TCA is important to their work.

💡Next up, Marta Echavarria, from Ecodecision!

📺 J. Robin Moon tells us why she's excited to attend the #TCAGlobalSummit2025, and about the Summit dinner, organised by World Farmers Markets Coalition and Fondazione Campagna Amica.

We will be posting more videos from our TCA Global Summit, hosted by @fao.org. Stay tuned!

Voices from #TCAGlobalSummit2025

Rayan Kassem from @sdgbenchmarks.bsky.social tells us:
💡 Why he's excited to be at the Summit
🏙️ How to make the business case for True Cost Accounting

To find out more, watch the video 👇

World Farmers Market Coalition and Campagna Amica are organizations that champion the true benefits of local markets, deeper connections with the sources of our food, and farming rooted in dignity, transparency, and care for the land.

#scalingtca #TCAGlobalSummit2025

At the dinner, we ate food produced at the nearby Regina Viarum farm. It was a privilege to eat delicious food, crafted with care, and grown in a way that nourishes people and nature.

We are so grateful to World Farmers Markets Coalition and Fondazione Campagna Amica for providing our wonderful dinner for the TCA Global Summit.

Brooke Gentile from Organic Association of Kentucky and Janet Maro from Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania in discussion!

Brooke and Janet reminded us of the importance of supporting and including farmers, and potential to transform degraded landscapes through farming.

#TCAGlobalSummit2025

"TCA studies aren't an end in themselves - they should be used to advocate for change."

Swati Renduchintala speaking at #TCAGlobalSummit2025, hosted by @fao.org

#scalingtca

@jennxer.bsky.social opens the True Cost Accounting Global Summit, hosted by @fao.org!

As Jenn said in her opening remarks:
"This is our moment to align, commit, and act. The future of food systems depends on it."

#TCAGlobalSummit2025 #scalingtca

The TCA Accelerator team has landed in Rome!

We are excited to see attendees at our #TCAGlobalSummit2025 tomorrow, hosted by @fao.org

We will be taking stock of TCA achievements so far, and exploring opportunities and solutions to dramatically scale TCA by 2030.

Stay tuned for highlights!

🚨Tomorrow (April 1) is the deadline for registrations for our TCA Global Summit!

At the Summit, you will:
🤝 Connect with the global TCA community
🔉 Hear from inspiring TCA leaders
🎯 Take part in interactive workshops on TCA scaling opportunities
...and more!

🔗 summit.tcaaccelerator.org