Agriculture & Food, Food Safety, Food Security
Resources & Information related to Sustainable Agriculture, Food Safety, Organic Food, Fair Trade and more.
Monsanto Fails UCS Test for Sustainable Agriculture
Monsanto likes to think of itself as a sustainable agriculture company. They proudly trumpet their commitment to improving crop yields in the face of an ever-increasing human population, which they put forth as the very essence of sustainability. In truth, they are pursuing a sustainable objective in an unsustainable fashion. UCS senior scientist Doug Gurian-Sherman claims that Monsanto, “is producing more engineered seeds and herbicide and improving its bottom line, but at the expense of conservation and long-term sustainability.”
Unilever Launches Foundation to Help One Billion People
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Unilever announced the launch of the Unilever Foundation, a global charity that will be key to helping the company reach its goal of improving the health and quality of life of more than one billion people around the world. This is an ambitions goal, but it’s one that fits very well with Unilever’s brand and strengths.
Consumer Demand for Grass-fed Will Rise in 2012
It’s a new year and a good time to check the pulse of consumer interest in animal welfare certified foods.
New Life for a 100-Year-Old Flour Mill
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here. By: JM Hutch The Hayden Flour Mill currently stands derelict and deserted like a sentinel at the century-old [...]
Millets Need a Comeback for a More Sustainable Indian Diet
In India, millets have formed the core of the everyday diet for millenia. However after the Green Revolution, subsidies for wheat and rice, and the food distribution system millets are slowly dying out.
Wrapped In Nature: New Biodegradable Food Packages
An Israeli company is developing biodegradable food packages that perish within 180 days. The Tipa packages are currently suitable for soft foods and the company is developing packaging for beverages as well. The company hopes to enter the market with several pilot products by the end of this year
Monsanto’s Foray Into GMOs Goes Into the Weeds
As many critics have long maintained, the proliferation of genetically modified crops would eventually lead to the proliferation of herbicide-resistant superweeds. Hence, we now have a dangerous escalation of chemical warfare in the fields from which our food is being harvested. The “new” herbicide 2,4-D that Monsanto’s latest corn will be resistant to, is actually one of the two active ingredients in Agent Orange of Vietnam War infamy.
UN Calls Sustainable Development a Top Priority
The UN High-Level Panel Global Sustainability released its report in Addis Ababa yesterday entitled “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing.” The panel’s 99-page report, which will serve as an input to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June, (otherwise known as the Rio+20 Summit) is a call to action, “to address the sustainable development challenge in a fresh and operational way.”
Solar Power to Boost Agriculture Yields
The global power industry leader ABB of Switzerland recently pumped $20 million into California’s GreenVolts solar technology company, and the investment could pay big dividends for U.S. farmers. With fuel prices rising, a switch to solar power could ease the bottom line for the domestic agriculture sector, and GreenVolts has just announced a partnership with [...]
Pasture-Raised vs. Industrial Organic: An Egg-cellent Stakeholder Engagement Lesson
The biggest farmers market in San Francisco has revised its standards for egg sellers, limiting approved vendors to those who pasture-raise their chickens (i.e. keep them outside where they can peck and scratch and eat grass and bugs) and kicking out farmers who keep their hens in barns and feed them grain exclusively. So far so good. The story gets interesting when you realize that the change impacts only one vendor: Petaluma Farms.
India Needs More then the Food Security Bill to Alleviate Hunger
After a lot of debate, the Indian cabinet finally cleared the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) amidst doubts of whether this would really help create a hunger-free India. According to the Food Security Bill, India will need 60 – 61 million tons of grain to feed people who will be eligible for assistance. This means food [...]
From Detroit to Doha, Citizens Are Building a Greener Economy
My recent stay in Detroit and current trip to Doha have opened my eyes to how citizens are taking matters into their own hands and building more sustainable economies.
Sustainable Food Directory Brings Together Over 40,000 Businesses
Farm Plate is a fantastic sustainable food initiative – it is a rather newly launched website which features a searchable directory of more than 40,000 business listing across the US. Users can search the site by category and by location to find sustainable foods and drinks. Farm Plate links ”farmers, fishermen, foragers, food artisans, restaurants, markets, [...]
There is No Environmental Sustainability Without Social Sustainability
Social issues are intrinsic to environmental issues. As long as there are people living in poverty, we won’t be able to protect forests or clean lakes. Poverty is not only lack of economic opportunities, but also lack of educational and meaning-making opportunities.
Video Interview: How Can We Sequester Carbon while Growing More Food?
there is a way to both sequester carbon and grow more food in one fell swoop: composting. Soil is one of the biggest carbon pools on the planet with a few gigatons of carbon potential.
Big Three Fast-Food Companies Say NO to Pink Slime
Food Safety Network recently reported that fast-food giants McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Burger King are no longer going to be using ammoniated beef in their products. Ammoniated beef is just a fancy name for ‘pink slime’ which has been the subject of controversy the past few years.
The Clif Bar Story: An Interview with Director of Environmental Stewardship Elysa Hammond
Forget the triple bottom line: the folks at Clif Bar manage for five separate objectives. Find out how they manage it.
Genetically Modified Plants to Resist Intense Drought
Applying genetic modification technologies, the company developed plants that can overcome harsh conditions of seawater irrigation. CEO, Amir Avniel: “This experiment is another step towards production of improved plants that will provide farmers with excellent yield even in drought conditions”
US First Country in the World to Impose Catch-Limit for Fisheries
In a rare show of bold bipartisanism, the United States recently made a move ”to impose catch limits for every species it manages, from Alaskan pollock to Caribbean queen conch,” according to The Washington Post. This is the first law in the world that establishes a catch limit for all species.
Humane Society Makes Strategic Stock Purchase in Major Fast Food Chain
In recent years, advocacy organizations like Greenpeace, PETA, and others have been able to leverage the stakeholder engagement trend and the power of social media to focus public attention on their key issues and put pressure on companies to take action. Recent news from The Humane Society of the US (HSUS) reveals that these organizations have added yet another influencing tactic [...]
Can Corporate Sponsorship Make Organics Affordable to All?
For the most part, organic food is expensive. The main criticism of organic is that it’s an elitist movement and leaves poor people out of the mix. Here’s a thought I’d never even considered…could organic food be “sponsored?” After all, the brilliant content you rely on from TriplePundit every day for your daily dose of [...]
Fair Trade USA: Why We Parted Ways with Fair Trade International
In recent months, Fair Trade USA has caused a ripple in the Fair Trade movement by boldly questioning the status quo and moving in a new direction to significantly increase the effectiveness and reach of the Fair Trade model. President and CEO Paul Rice explains his new strategic vision, Fair Trade for All, which aims to double the impact of Fair Trade by 2015 by innovating the model, strengthening farming communities and igniting consumer involvement.
Grocery Chain Delves into Packaging Technology to Save 800,000 Strawberries
Do you like strawberries? There’s a good chance you do. After all this is one of the tastiest fruits around and if you buy local strawberries when they’re in the season, you’re guaranteed a heavenly taste. There’s only one problem – you need to eat them quickly because strawberries are highly perishable and don’t ripen [...]
Beneficial Insectary Commissions GreenVolts Turnkey Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic System
Having recently unveiled its fully integrated, turnkey concentrated photovoltaic energy system, Fremont, California’s GreenVolts announced the commissioning of a fully warrantied 288-kW CPV system that should provide more than 80% of peak electricity needs at Beneficial Insectary’s production facility in the Shasta Valley.
EU Passes Law that Says: The Chicken Comes First
We’ve all heard the famous rhetorical question, “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Well, I’m here to tell to you that the answer is—it depends. If you’re the American egg industry, then the answer is clearly, the egg. In fact, they don’t give a hoot about the chickens and would do away with [...]
UK Sandwich Chain Helps Homeless and Ex-Offenders Get a Second Chance
UK sandwich chain Pret a Manger, is a great example of a company that has CSR integrated into its business model. The chain gives away almost two million perishable food items each year that have passed the ‘sell by’ date (but are still safe to eat). In one stroke, they have reduced the amount of [...]
Can Synthetic Biology Produce Cheaper Biofuel? Should It?
News out of Washington at year-end included an announcement from the Department of Energy (DOE) concerning a breakthrough at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) in which scientists have developed a methodology for creating “RNA machines” which can be used to enhance or express certain characteristics in a living organism. This new capability is initially being [...]
Monterey Abalone Company: Selling Into The Green Supply Chain
Monterey Abalone Company is the first of four companies I will be profiling that have pioneered best practices for making money selling into the green supply chain. The other three profiled companies are large international companies. I wanted to begin this four-part article series with a small business to demonstrate that the opportunity for selling [...]
FDA Caves in to Lobbyists on Antibiotics, Putting Public Health at Risk
Maybe it all goes back to high school science. Maybe the reason I’m sitting here, writing, with urgency about the importance of sustainability, is because over the past fifty to a hundred years, businesses, with a few notable exceptions, have spent too much time concentrating on Physics and Chemistry and not enough time on Biology [...]
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Webinar: Feb 17Greening Stonyfield Farm: As a consultant with Stonyfield Farm for the past 12 years, Switzer Fellow Tim Greiner will discuss efforts to broaden and deepen sustainability within the company. He will discuss the company's efforts to track its environmental impacts, barriers the company had to overcome.
Webinar: Feb 29Product Scorecards for Sustainability: Product scorecards that detail and evaluate environmental and sustainability aspects of products are increasingly adopted by leading companies. This webinar covers the best practices in this area and a case study by Seventh Generation.
NY: Mar 19-20Wall Street Green: The longest running and most comprehensive environmental market event in the industry. The Wall Street Green Summit covers cutting edge content, industry developments and features the practitioners and the leaders of tomorrow.
Bay Area: Mar 22-23GRI Certified Training: Demand for sustainability experts is growing rapidly as companies look for proven professionals. For companies, GRI trained employees mean faster implementations and better use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. Join our partner ISOS group for this two day session. Early bird discounts apply!
SF: Mar 26-28Cleantech Forum San Francisco: The 2012 Cleantech Forum San Francisco will mark the 10th anniversary of Cleantech Forums, the annual gathering of the global clean technology innovation community. Our theme this year is “The Power of Global Partnerships,” an exploration of how strategic relationships are playing an ever more important role in the future of clean technology. For a $300 Discount use code "VIPofTriplePundit " More Info.
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Have your event listed here.
Webinar: Feb 17Greening Stonyfield Farm: As a consultant with Stonyfield Farm for the past 12 years, Switzer Fellow Tim Greiner will discuss efforts to broaden and deepen sustainability within the company. He will discuss the company's efforts to track its environmental impacts, barriers the company had to overcome.Webinar: Feb 29Product Scorecards for Sustainability: Product scorecards that detail and evaluate environmental and sustainability aspects of products are increasingly adopted by leading companies. This webinar covers the best practices in this area and a case study by Seventh Generation.NY: Mar 19-20Wall Street Green: The longest running and most comprehensive environmental market event in the industry. The Wall Street Green Summit covers cutting edge content, industry developments and features the practitioners and the leaders of tomorrow.Bay Area: Mar 22-23GRI Certified Training: Demand for sustainability experts is growing rapidly as companies look for proven professionals. For companies, GRI trained employees mean faster implementations and better use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. Join our partner ISOS group for this two day session. Early bird discounts apply!SF: Mar 26-28Cleantech Forum San Francisco: The 2012 Cleantech Forum San Francisco will mark the 10th anniversary of Cleantech Forums, the annual gathering of the global clean technology innovation community. Our theme this year is “The Power of Global Partnerships,” an exploration of how strategic relationships are playing an ever more important role in the future of clean technology. For a $300 Discount use code "VIPofTriplePundit " More Info.SF: April 10-12 Navigating the American Carbon World: The must-attend event for professionals in the carbon landscape. Over the past decade, NACW has consistently provided informative content, thoughtful discussions and outstanding opportunities for collaboration.Have your event listed here.
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