Good morning!
Have you ever wondered what makes a food company sustainable?
We already presented some examples to improve the fast-food industry in our Strategic Management and Sustainability #11. In current newsletter, we review other ideas and trends for the sector. Nadja Marsenic discusses the four strategic questions about product strategy, environmental processes and value change, and ethics and values that food companies should be asking themselves to achieve a better sustainability strategy. Quite related and in line with the Local food and Kilometer zero trend introduced in our Strategic Management and Sustainability #9 newsletter, Lauriane Demars explains the benefits of using local food markets in terms of products, food traceability, values, and environmental impacts among others. Finally, Alexia Götz, shows an application of the previous trend with a model (small-scale farming nearby big cities based on a short circuit between producers and consumers) that dated from 2001 in France.
In future newsletters, we will also analyze some corporate sustainability plans related to companies in the food industry and other sectors. Stay tuned!
Enjoy the reading!
UC3M Strategic Management students
Today's newsletter is 951 words, about a 4-minute read.
The sustainability strategy questions every food company should be asking themselves
Nadja Marsenic
According to a recent article by Marta Antonelli and Angelo Riccaboni in GreenBiz, there are four questions that food companies should be asking themselves. The agri-food sector relies on land, water and temperature climates, which makes them responsible for issues like climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion. To balance sustainability and profit, food businesses should be finding answers to four critical questions.
1. Do our product portfolios and strategies contribute to healthy and sustainable diets?
A healthy and sustainable diet contributed to reducing risk of diseases such as diabetes and obesity, additionally expanding the life and health span of consumers.
2. Are our production processes environmentally sustainable, or are they implicated in environmental harms such as greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater depletion, and deforestation?
The responsibility and actions taken by companies in terms of sustainability practices are often inconsistent. Only a fifth of food companies make it a specific objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a part of their sustainability strategy.
3. Do our upstream and downstream chains reflect our values by rejecting child and slave labor, and protecting the rights of workers, their families, and communities?
Companies must reduce the inequalities that show that the millions of people working in agriculture are globally among the poorest population in the world.
4. Do we fulfill our "social license to produce" by being honest, eschewing fraudulent practices, respecting all stakeholders, and obeying the law?
The lack of accountability on corruption and legality restricts the government’s ability to finance UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that focus on ending poverty, hunger and climate change.
Source:
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/4-sustainability-strategy-questions-food-companies-should-be-asking
Why is it important to support local food markets?
Lauriane Demars
WHAT IS LOCAL FOOD?
Locally grown food is a broad term that describes food that was grown within a geographical region that could be considered local to your particular area. Locally grown food can often be found in your regular grocery store, at farmers’ markets or within community-supported agriculture programs.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF LOCALLY GROWN FOOD
Often pesticide free: many local food producers choose to use organic and natural pest repellants to preserve the health of the food they distribute.
Preservative free: locally grown food doesn’t require long trips to be transported across the country until they reach their final destination.
Offers improved nutrition: can help deliver a high-nutrient content
Supports diet-related conditions: Locally grown food can help support any possible digestion issues that people with food allergies may experience with other types of food.
Encourages eating a well-balanced diet: you can incorporate more healthy proteins, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains into your diet.
Improves food safety: Food safety refers to a food’s level of contamination risk.
OTHER BENEFITS OF LOCALLY GROWN FOOD
There are not only health consequences. Indeed, eating locally also allows us to know where the food we eat comes from and how it is produced. By eating locally, we can have confidence in what we eat because food traceability exists and is known.
Secondly, eating locally will also allow the producer to see his work and his products valued and recognized. The producer is an indispensable link in society and the economy.
Thirdly, for the social and economic vitality of our region, the short circuit favours the whole. This means more wealth produced and spent locally, with local jobs and economic development as a result.
Fourthly, for the ecology, as the short circuit avoids unnecessary journeys of goods and therefore limits the impact on the local and international environment.
Finally, for action. Buying locally is the most effective way to decide on the world of tomorrow.
Sources:
https://arowquip.com/blog/animal-science/top-benefits-buying-locally-grown-food
https://www.mangeons-local.bzh/acheter-local-top-10-bonnes-raisons/
Pictures: https://www.pexels.com/fr-fr/chercher/local%20food/
Association pour le Maintien de l’Agriculture Paysanne (AMAP): A model for short circuit and local Fairtrade.
Or Association for the Maintenance of small-scale Agriculture
Alexia Götz
The concept created in 2001 in France, targets the maintenance of small-scale farming nearby big cities based on a short circuit between producers and consumers.
The foundation of every AMAP is based on a contract between the producer and each consumer: the former pays in advance an amount set together to cover all costs of the farmer and generate a decent income. In return, they receive weekly a basket filled with seasonal and organic fruits, vegetables, meat, the farmer has provided to the AMAP.
This creates a link of trust between both sides, one which is sure to become consistent revenues to maintain its activity independent of any hazard that may have impacted its crop, the other is certain to receive high-quality organic food from a fully transparent system.
Source:
Qu'est-ce qu'une AMAP. reseau-amap.org. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2021, from http://www.reseau-amap.org/amap.php.