Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): food waste

3 ways Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods could affect agriculture and the environment

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 22, 2017

Photo credit: USDA

The vast majority of the media stories surrounding Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods have focused on how the deal could affect the cost of food, home delivery services, competition in the retail space and our overall shopping experiences.

While it’s still too early to predict what exactly Amazon will do with hundreds of new brick and mortar grocery stores, here are three possible implications for farmers and the land they rely on to grow our food.

1. Demand for organic could skyrocket

As of last month, organic products represented more than 5 percent of all grocery sales in the US – and organics have been one of the strongest areas of growth for many retailers and grocery stores.

Now, with Whole Foods under the Amazon umbrella, that demand could increase exponentially. POLITICO noted that if this happens, “domestic organic acreage isn’t positioned to handle such an expansion.” Read More »

Posted in Supply Chain / Also tagged agricultural sustainability, consumers, corporate social responsibility, cover crops, farmers, food, organic, Partnerships, precision agriculture, produce, supply chain sustainability, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, transparency, whole foods | Read 2 Responses

New climate change report is an urgent call to action for agriculture

By Rebecca Shaw / Bio / Published: December 2, 2015

Credit: Flickr user Bruno Monginoux

The USDA today released a new scientific assessment at the United Nations negotiations in Paris that found climate change will pose a significant threat to food security and to farmers.

National Public Radio’s Dan Charles said it best in his latest story:

“Chances are, you’ve picked up some chatter about the new global talks on climate change. If you can’t quite see how it matters to you, personally, you might want to take a peek inside your pantry. Or your candy jar. Because it might just affect your access to everything from cheese to chocolate.”

Today’s report represents an urgent call to action for food companies, policymakers and agribusinesses to collaborate in reducing emissions from food production and implementing farming practices that increase resilience.

We have the tools at our disposal to make sustainable agriculture a reality. But to implement these measures at scale, we need increased investment from the private sector and collaboration across the agricultural supply chain. We need to go beyond commitments and towards on-the-ground support for farmers. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience, Supply Chain / Also tagged agriculture, Carbon Offsets, climate change, conservation, COP 21, ecosystems, farmers, fertilizer, food production, food safety, food security, food system, GHG mitigation, nitrogen, sustainable, sustainable agriculture, USDA | Comments are closed

Cutting food waste to support farmers and the famished

By Peyton Johnson / Published: August 11, 2015

Surplus food at the Food Donation Connection. Photo Credit: USDA.

Food waste affects more than just our wallets. Approximately one-third of all food produced in the world gets thrown away every year, leading to 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. At 2.6 trillion pounds, that’s enough sustenance to feed three billion people, or almost all people living in poverty worldwide today.

That’s why, last week, when I attended a Q&A session for ag interns at the U.S. Department of Agriculture with Secretary Tom Vilsack, I was intrigued when a fellow intern asked a question regarding food sustainability and what the U.S. can do to ensure that there will be enough food to feed the 9 billion people expected to populate the world by 2050.

The Secretary’s answer? Reduce food waste.

Posted in Supply Chain / Also tagged agriculture, emissions, farm, farmers, feeding forward, food, food and agriculture organization of the united nations, food bank, food chain, food companies, greenhouse gas, grocery store, homeless shelter, poverty, produce, producers, secretary tom vilsack, supply chain, sustainability, sustainable, sustainable agriculture, teens opposing poverty, united states department of agriculture, USDA, waste no food | Read 1 Response

Buy me some peanuts and … sustainable produce?

By Stephanie Businelli / Published: July 24, 2015

Let the games begin! America’s sports teams are moving into the sustainable food arena.

A new report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Green Sports Alliance highlights 20 venues that have played their part to reduce their impact on the environment. Of the 20 locations, 18 purchase produce from local farms, 17 provide organic food options, 14 compost their food, and seven use biodegradable eating utensils and plates. In order to provide the freshest food available, five venues even have their own on-site gardens.

These venues are going the distance – from the Portland Trail Blazers’ Moda Center to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ PNC Park – and providing fans with sustainable food options while simultaneously combating issues such as greenhouse gas emissions from food waste.

Which team’s efforts are best? We asked some of EDF’s sports fans (myself included!) to talk about what their favorite team’s venues have done:

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged #compost, Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, drought, food, Green Sports Alliance, LEED Certification, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York Yankees, organic, Philadelphia Sixers, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, U.S. Green Building Council, water use, western water | Comments are closed

Spreading compost on the range can earn ranchers new revenue

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 16, 2014

Improving the soil helps ranchers and the climate. © rui vale sousa / Shutterstock Images.

Rangeland ecosystems cover approximately one third of the land area in the United States and half the land area of California. What if that vast domain could be utilized to combat climate change, and ranchers could get paid for land management practices that keep more carbon in the soil and enhance production?

That’s the direction we’re going, thanks to a new carbon accounting standard approved today by the American Carbon Registry. The new protocol allows ranchers who reduce their greenhouse gas footprint by applying compost to their fields to earn credits that can be traded on the voluntary carbon market.

Climate benefits

The standard is supported by research conducted by the Silver Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, which shows that applying a half inch of compost to rangeland soils removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere at the rate of half a ton per acre each year.

Posted in Carbon Market, Climate Resilience / Also tagged #compost, agriculture, American Carbon Registry, Carbon Offsets, climate change, compost protocol, drought, ecosystems, forage production, GHG mitigation, Marin Carbon Project, ranching, rangelands, Silver Lab, soil health, sustainable agriculture, University of California Berkeley | Read 1 Response