The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability

Although the food industry is beginning to make headway with its sustainability initiatives, substantially more progress is needed in order to feed the world’s growing population sustainably. The challenge is that the topic of sustainability can seem overwhelming and there is limited information that is specific to the food industry.

Written by an experienced food industry professional with years of experience in sustainability, The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability inspires and informs the progress required to nourish the population, revitalize natural resources, enhance economic development, and close resource loops. The book makes this complex topic approachable and actionable by identifying the most pressing sustainability priorities across the entire food supply chain and showing, with tools and examples, how producers, processors, packers, distributors, marketers and retailers all play a role in advancing improvement. The book begins with an overview of the Principles of sustainability in the food industry: what they are and why they matter. Subsequent chapters focus on each of the Ten Principles in detail: how they relate to the food industry, their global relevance (including their environmental, health, and social impacts), and the best practices to achieve the potential of meaningful and positive progress that the Principles offer. Specific examples from industry are presented in order to provide scalable solutions and bring the concepts to life, along with top resources for further exploration.

The Principles, practices, and potential of sustainability in the food industry covered in this book are designed to be motivating and to offer a much-needed and clear way forward towards a sustainable food supply.

Dr Cheryl J. Baldwin is Vice President of Consulting at Pure Strategies, Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she assists corporate clients on the development and execution of technical and organizational strategies to improve their sustainability performance. 

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introduction to the Principles 1

1.1 The 10 principles of food industry sustainability 1

1.2 Principles–practices–potential 2

1.3 What is sustainability in the food industry? 2

1.4 The destructive course of the food system 3

1.4.1 Climate change 4

1.4.2 Natural resource depletion and degradation 6

1.4.3 Pollution and toxicity 7

1.4.4 Rural economy and development 7

1.4.5 Food safety and nutrition 8

1.5 Reasons for principles for sustainability in the food industry 8

1.6 The business benefit 10

1.7 What needs to be done 11

References 13

2 Agriculture and the Environment 15

2.1 Climate 15

2.2 Land and biodiversity 17

2.3 Water and pollution 20

2.4 Approaches to more sustainable agriculture 22

2.4.1 Sustainable agriculture requirements and standards 24

2.4.2 Unilever sustainable agriculture program 27

2.4.3 Starbucks C.A.F.E practices 29

2.4.4 Walmart sustainability index 29

2.4.5 PepsiCo sustainable farming initiative 30

2.4.6 Sysco Corporation’s sustainable agriculture/Ipm initiative 30

2.5 Summary 31

Resources 31

References 32

3 Welfare and Environmental Considerations in Production and Harvesting of Animals, Fish, and Seafood 37

3.1 Livestock care 37

3.1.1 Approaches to address livestock welfare 40

3.2 Fish and seafood 45

3.2.1 Farmed fish 47

3.2.2 Approaches to address seafood 48

3.3 Environmental impacts from livestock production 50

3.3.1 Greenhouse gas emissions 50

3.3.2 Land use and pollution from livestock production 53

3.3.3 Approaches to address environmental impacts from livestock 54

3.4 Summary 59

Resources 60

References 60

4 Processing 65

4.1 Energy 65

4.1.1 Energy sources and impacts 65

4.1.2 Energy use in food processing 69

4.1.3 Sierra Nevada’s energy and climate program 72

4.1.4 Heinz’s energy effort in energy and greenhouse gas emissions 73

4.2 Water 74

4.2.1 Nestlé 77

4.2.2 The Coca-Cola Company water stewardship 78

4.3 Chemicals and other inputs 80

4.4 Lean, clean, and green processing 81

4.5 Summary 85

Resources 86

References 86

5 Packaging 91

5.1 Packaging hotspots 91

5.1.1 Materials 91

5.1.2 End of life 98

5.1.3 Social hotspots 99

5.2 Responsible packaging 99

5.2.1 M aterials and sourcing 102

5.2.2 Design and innovation 105

5.2.3 End of life 107

5.2.4 PepsiCo’s sustainable packaging program 110

5.2.5 Sustainable Packaging Coalition 111

5.3 Summary 112

Resources 113

References 113

6 Distribution and Channels 117

6.1 Transportation 117

6.1.1 Refrigeration in transportation 122

6.1.2 EPA SmartWay 123

6.2 Facility management 123

6.2.1 Refrigerants 129

6.2.2 Cleaning and indoor environmental quality management 130

6.2.3 Environmentally preferable purchasing 131

6.2.4 Construction 132

6.3 Gordon Food Service distribution and facilities improvements 134

6.4 Food retailer J. Sainsbury addressing the environment 135

6.5 Subway restaurants showing how to green operations 137

6.6 Summary 139

Resources 140

References 140

7 Food Waste 143

7.1 The impacts from wastage 143

7.2 Reducing wastage 145

7.2.1 Waste management 150

7.3 Summary 161

Resources 162

References 162

8 Nutrition, Security, and Equity 165

8.1 Nutrition 166

8.1.1 Food safety 166

8.1.2 O vernutrition and obesity 169

8.1.3 Food security 171

8.2 Equity 173

8.2.1 Smallholders 174

8.2.2 Women empowerment 175

8.2.3 Farm labor 177

8.2.4 Local food 180

8.3 Summary 183

Resources 185

References 185

9 Sustainable Food Consumption and the Potential of the Principles 189

9.1 Sustainable consumption 189

9.1.1 Sustainable diets and behaviors 190

9.1.2 Double pyramid 192

9.1.3 Innocent promotes sustainable consumption 193

9.2 The potential of the principles 194

References 200

Index 203

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