Sustainable Food Laboratory

Call to Action

We, business leaders of global food and agriculture, recognize that we influence the way one quarter of the world’s population earns a living, half the world’s habitable land is cared for, and two-thirds of the world’s fresh water is used. With such influence comes opportunity and responsibility. We commit ourselves to establish standards of excellence in social, economic and environmental responsibility.

We invite all of our value chain partners and all of our competitors to join us in committing to:

• Apply social, economic and environmental responsibility throughout our supply chains and in all our processes and products;
• Strive for continuous measurable improvement in all of our practices, processes and products;
• Practice transparency in our dealings with each other and our stakeholders; and
• Collaborate on sustainability and social responsibility innovations and share our learning with each other..

We offer this Call to Action as an opportunity to leap to the front of the industry; enhance brands; meet new market demands; attract the best and brightest employees; ensure a reliable supply of food; avoid risks; harmonize standards and plant inspections; reduce the use of energy and materials; and create value for every player and society as a whole.

We, member companies of the Business Coalition of the Sustainable Food Lab, join more than seventy organizations including universities, private foundations, research agencies, environmental and social not-for-profits, and producer organizations. We share access to expertise and perspectives from around the world, and we engage in collaborative and innovative projects with players who—in many cases—have known each other in the past only as competitors or adversaries. We work together to ensure a sustainable food supply for generations to come.

Our vision is to make continuous improvement toward a sustainable food and agriculture system in which the fertility of our soil is maintained and improved; the availability and quality of water are protected and enhanced; the air is clean; biodiversity is protected; farmers, farm workers, and all other actors in value chains are treated fairly and benefit economically; the food we eat is affordable, safe, and promotes our health; sustainable businesses can thrive; and the flow of energy and the discharge of waste, including greenhouse gas emissions, are within the capacity of the earth to absorb.

Implementation

In order to implement the Call to Action each member agrees that they will :

• Undertake periodic assessments of supply chains and sourcing practices, and identify high-priority issues for action (see file below)¹.
• Put in place management systems that integrate social and environmental considerations into business and decision-making processes. Management systems include establishing indicators of social, economic and environmental performance, appropriate objectives and targets, and practicing continual improvement.
• Work with suppliers to source those goods and services which are more socially, economically and environmentally responsible in the way they are grown, manufactured, used, transported, stored, packaged and disposed of. Indicators, targets and improvement will be transparently shared.

Through membership in the Sustainable Food Lab, members receive coaching and referrals for tools, consultants, and partners to efficiently implement the above commitments. Members will share with one another information on implementation and results as appropriate.

View Business Coalition Members

¹The purpose of the self-assessment is for individual members to identify high priority issues and set targets for the improvement of supply chains and products sourced; and for the Business Coalition to identify priorities for the common development of tools. The self-assessment form currently in use is available here.