Sustainable Food Laboratory

The Sustainable Food Lab is an attempt to bring major transformation to the production and distribution of food across several continents. We have expertise. We have a shared vision. And we have partial funding from our members (member businesses pay as much as $42,000 per year) and from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, as well as from some other donors.

In addition to needing to supplementing that core funding, we are actively seeking additional funds to support current projects in the field, including:

• Bio-fuels Research that will compare the costs and benefits (financial, social, and environmental) of the most likely sources of fuel, for use by investors and policy-makers so that wise decisions are made on this critical issue that will have long-term impact on global food systems.
• Sustainable Livelihoods projects which funds researchers and NGOs to reduce poverty in Central America by working with food companies to assess and improve the accessibility of existing supply chains to small scale producers and to build the capacity of marginalized producers to participate in higher value agricultural markets. An illustrative example is supply chain work in Sierra de los Minas, Guatemala that is enabling coffee growers in this very remote region to cooperatively produce and market a higher grade of coffee to North American buyers. This work is improving the lives of poor farming families in the region.
• A Learning Journey to China scheduled for September 2007 that will bring Chinese and non-Chinese individuals together to explore aspects of the food system in the southern part of the country.
• School Food Service Learning Exchange among school food service officials in Rome and their counterparts in New York City and parts of Europe . Rome has completely transformed their food service system in only a few years, so it now serves food that is more delicious, nutritious, local, and sustainably produced. Their remarkable success has great potential for replication in other places.

Private and public sector investment in the work of the Sustainable Food Lab is necessary and will be greatly appreciated. Gifts of cash and securities are welcomed and are tax-deductible within the limits of the law.

For more information about supporting these and other projects, please contact Christopher Landry, Director of Development and Communications, at clandry_at_sustainer.org.