Sustainability Becoming Priority for Food Industry

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Friday, 11 February 2011 19:41

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 2011 — Two bold new reports released February 10 show that environmental sustainability at the farm level has become a growing priority for food companies, and an important measure of food quality around the world. “The food industry’s focus is shifting from practice-based to outcome-based sustainability measurements. Companies are looking at measuring key environmental performance indicators like the amount of energy used, and focusing less on the process used to produce the food” said Gordon Bacon, CEO of Pulse Canada. http://www.pulsecanada.com/measurewhatmatters More than 30 interviews were conducted with food industry leaders to find out what they think about sustainability, and what they plan to do about it. Leading food companies have made sustainability a top priority, and view their farm-level agricultural supply chains as the biggest opportunity to improve sustainability of their products. From hundreds of sustainability measurements, the food industry’s priorities can be narrowed to four: greenhouse gases and energy use, soil quality as an indicator of stored carbon and water quality, water use, and biodiversity. The pulse industry is using the reports’ findings to identify data gaps, and develop sustainability pilot projects with food industry partners, including life cycle analysis (LCA), carbon and water footprinting, and on-farm calculators. “Eighty to ninety-five percent of energy consumed in food production occurs at the farm level. Preliminary results from an LCA show that when pulse crops are added to annual cropping rotations, non-renewable energy use is reduced by 22% - 24%. Combined with the significant contribution pulses make to human nutrition and health, pulses have a big role to play in foods that deliver healthy people and a healthy planet.” said Bacon. The first report, Measure What Matters, was written by UK consultant Chris Anstey and looks at the ways social, economic and environmental sustainability are being measured by leading food companies around the globe. It tells the story of who’s out there, what they are planning to measure, and identifies the major challenges that are being encountered. Measuring Sustainable Agriculture, prepared by Pulse Canada, looks at the findings of Measure What Matters and pinpoints what these conclusions mean for the Canadian agriculture industry. It provides a snapshot of the food industry’s rapidly evolving focus on environmental issues, and compares the food industry’s sustainability priorities with agricultural stewardship practices that have been adopted (and continue to grow) in Canada. Pulse Canada is the national association representing growers, traders and processors of Canadian pulse crops (peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas). Canada is the world’s largest supplier of pulses, with exports reaching more than 150 countries. For more, visit http://www.pulsecanada.com/measurewhatmatters. SOURCE: Pulse Canada < Prev   Next >