Guest Speaker: Jess Newman, McCain Foods

Jess Newman is the Senior Director of Agriculture & Sustainability at McCain Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products and appetizers. Her team of agronomists and field representatives are responsible for all the vegetable crops purchased directly from farmers. They also implement McCain’s 2025 sustainability goals related to agriculture: 100% of farmers implementing regenerative practices, 25% reduction in farming CO2 emissions intensity, 15% improvement in irrigation water use efficiency in water-stressed regions, and the launch of three Farms of the Future.

Jess works remotely from her home state in Michigan and travels frequently to support her teams.

Jess is passionate about sustainability in agricultural supply chains. Her philosophy is to meet farmers where they are and help them move along the sustainability spectrum – while creating profitability too! Working with farmers is what energizes her. She has worked at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Ecologic Institute, New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Booz & Company, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Anheuser-Busch. She holds a bachelor's from Harvard, a master's from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a master's from the MIT Sloan School of Management (with Sustainability Certificate). She loves baking bread, sci-fi/fantasy, and cats.