Our Sustainable Path

Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association partnership

In August of 2008, Organic Valley joined with 18 mission-aligned companies in the organic and natural food industry to pledge our commitment to continual improvement in 11 areas of sustainability: organic, climate change, energy, distribution, labor,packaging, water, waste, animal care, consumer education,and governance.

The partnership is unique in that these businesses are industry competitors who have come together on an issue that is vital to us all: sustainability. In this non-threatening cooperative venture, these trend-setting businesses have engaged in a dialogue in which they’ve established the 11 areas on which businesses must report (though not all at once). From this baseline, they will work together so that all group members will be able to report on their sustainability performance and share and compare resources and results along the way.

Certain members of the group have already begun reporting their sustainability practices, but for those companies new to the process, the group has created metrics and guidelines along with advice on how to get started and how to keep it moving. One of the most important aspects of reporting is determining a baseline, say, for your company’s energy use, which you can then use to compare subsequent energy use. In other words, you need to figure out where you are before you figure out where you’re going.

Steps to Sustainability

introduction
on the farm
humane animal treatment
operations
water stewardship
employees
partnerships
giving
sustainable trade

Excerpted from the Organic Valley/ CROPP Cooperative 2008 Annual Report.