More and more individuals, foundations, and other institutions are showing an interest in investing capital in food companies that address social and/or environmental issues, a phenomenon both mirrored and encouraged by a growing number of conferences, panels, workshops, and even entire organizations dedicated to the field. At first glance all this activity might seem like great news–but if we dig a little deeper, there are some hidden impacts that good food advocates would be wise to examine a little more closely. I challenge all of us to begin to recognize and acknowledge the differences inherent amongst food system investors, entrepreneurs, and the organizations, events, and capital tools that serve them) in an effort to make appropriate connections between them.

Over the last several years, I have attended dozens of events highlighting investment opportunities in “sustainable,” for-profit food or agriculture companies. Most recently, I attended the panels that comprised the Food Systems Track (here’s a video explaining what it’s about) at the Social Capital Markets Conference (aka #SoCap10) in San Francisco. Six sessions featured over two dozen speakers covering a wide range of food- and agriculture-related investing topics, curated by Melanie Cheng of FarmsReach and Om Organics.

“I drafted an outline of the track, which was reviewed by at least 10 industry vets, from grant makers to investors to organization directors to entrepreneurs,” Melanie explained when I asked how she put together the lineup. “Needless to say, the content evolved a fair amount, most notably to include fewer cutting edge innovations in favor of ‘proven’ models that were ready to replicate and/or scale, and to add a separate strategy session just for funders to learn how to make the most impact.”

Based on my own informal list of metrics, the Food Systems Track scored extremely well compared to similar events: there was a good range of food system components represented (compared to events that focus only on, say, technological fixes or large-scale food manufacturers); a deep commitment to ecological issues (compared to a focus on, for instance, large-scale solutions designed to “feed the hungry” while disregarding cultural appropriateness or ecological risks); an excellent focus on investing opportunities (compared to rallying cries for sustainable agriculture without offering tangible opportunities for investors); and ample time for well-moderated Q&A from a highly engaged audience. Where the event fell a bit short was on coverage of social justice and labor issues (Melanie pointed out later that “though labor rights weren’t covered explicitly, we did focus on efficient, expanded distribution and affordable technology, both of which greatly impact farms’ bottom line and ability to pay their workforce better”) and in not providing enough time to discuss the full range of complications related to pitching farmland to investors.

The panelists represented an unprecedented diversity of food systems solutions, both in terms of the businesses (or funds) they run and the capital tools they used. “It was impossible to cover all the important issues in just six sessions,” Melanie noted, “but there was consensus amongst the industry advisers that what we were covering were the hot levers.”

I still found myself longing for a more explicit acknowledgment, from the moderators or the speakers, that not all investors have the same motivations or expectations for wanting to invest in the first place. Likewise, nobody pointed out the fact that each food system entrepreneur launches their business based upon a particular set of values, which may or may not be the same as the values of the next entrepreneur, and therefore finding a match between fundraiser and financier takes more than identifying the food system “lever” upon which to focus one’s efforts. (To be fair, none of the food & agriculture conferences or events I have attended reached this level of analysis, much less the diversity of presenters that Melanie did pull together, and I hope we will see a shift in this trend in the future.)

It never ceases to amaze me that participants in this movement generally agree that planting mono-crops is a limited answer to the challenges facing agriculture and hunger today, and yet many still seek the “mono-solution” when it comes to either launching entrepreneurial ventures, or choosing how exactly to invest in them; there were many instances when panelists, moderators, or attendees fell prey to the common temptation to identify the solution, whether entrepreneurial or financial, that would miraculously solve one (or multiple) food system issues.