How Do We Walk a Sustainable Path?

It took me a while to sit down and put some facts, thoughts and news together, but I think it was worth it. You see, there are many aspects we must consider when talking about improving agricultural practices.

For instance, the consumer is a key part in this quest for products that are good for the whole industry and the environment. Many people buy products without caring too much about their impact or benefits, while others actively seek sustainably sourced products. For example, a survey by a major food retailer in the United States indicated that 70% of Gen Z adults between 18 and 27 years old are supportive of products produced under sustainable agricultural practices, and 55% of those interviewed are willing to pay more for such products.

On the other hand, farmers often want to follow sustainable practices but may need help with how to do it, and how to market it, or require financial aid to do so. 

I am going to put this in perspective by sharing what I’ve seen lately with companies caring enough to go the extra mile.

I recently read an article where Ardent Mills (the largest wheat-milling group in the United States) did a study that found that consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability practices. The importance of water conservation, soil health, and ethical ingredient sourcing ranked higher than 50% in terms of preference, while carbon neutrality, regenerative agriculture and fair trade also ranked higher than 30%. 

As a result, Ardent Mills developed a program to enroll farmers into regenerative agriculture. The aim is to have 1 million hectares in this program by 2030, specifically in the United States and Canada. Now, farmers are concerned about the efficiency of their land under sustainability practices and how this may affect their income. To motivate them, Ardent Mills offers a per-hectare premium to those enrolled in the program. 

Farmers are generally risk averse. You may remember in my last article that I recalled my grandfather did listen to the agronomist, but he was not so keen to accept improvement from salespeople promising better yields with trinkets. Farmers are often suspicious and need a lot of evidence to change. In a survey by Bayer across many countries, farmers precisely cited their concerns and hopes related to regenerative agriculture. They understand that keeping the soil fertile and in good health is most important to improve yields and that will have a positive impact on  their livelihood, but switching to regenerative agriculture practices requires a heavy monetary investment. Add uncertainty and lack of knowledge to the mix and the rate of change slows down considerably.

A major grain merchant, Cargill, also developed a program called RegenConnect on about 400,000 hectares for farmers in North America to implement practices like cover crops, reduced tillage, and nutrient management. It is more interesting to know that farmers receive US$35 per ton of carbon sequestered per acre. Also, corn, sunflower, and canola farmers using 50,000 hectares  in Turkey were trained in a program called Endless Prosperity, which equips farmers with training, digital agriculture tools, and consultancy services focused on regenerative agriculture. They claim their yields increased by up to 20%. Cargill started this work in 2017.

Closer to home, Grupo Bimbo is the largest baker in the world, which you might think places the company further away from farmers, since it purchases inputs from 10,000 suppliers. But the company has a different approach. Every year, it organizes a Global Conference where its vendors are invited to participate. At these events, every year, the company conveys to its suppliers the importance of sharing common goals toward the future, from energy efficiency and renewable energy to social fairness in-house and with the community. In the middle of this, it encourages companies to walk that sustainability path and heavily promote sustainable agriculture. The company launched a program named BEAR (Bimbo Environmental Alliance to Reduce CO2) where they help participants measure their progress toward better sustainable practices. 

In the latest edition in early November, the event celebrated several key partners and encouraged all to keep pushing toward their goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. Bimbo has already met many of its internal goals: 92% of its electricity is renewable, 94% of its packaging is recyclable, 41% of its sales are healthy products, and it sources inputs from 230,000 hectares under sustainable agriculture, from wheat to cocoa. But Bimbo stressed that the impact of the entire supply chain is crucial to achieve the goal. 

Now, you must have noticed all the companies I mentioned have something in common. Their goals are aligned to the 2030 UN Sustainability Goals (SDGs) developed since 2015 and aimed at improving a wide range of global issues, from eliminating hunger, education, and clean water, to social awareness of the environment and climate action. Learn more about this at sdgs.un.org. That is worth another article, soon.

To summarize, communication is the key all along the food chain.

Consumers want to learn about the improvements and successes of the farmers switching to sustainable practices. Inversely, the farmer must know that this change matters to all the participants in the marketplace and feel pride in being the stewards of the land that feeds us all. Keeping them both informed is the common challenge. They can always find out for themselves, but it is a task for every one of us involved in the food chain to spread the word. 

In my next article, I will share how a family of entrepreneurs is doing just that in northwestern Mexico.

Always happy to hear from you. Please feel free to reach me at paco_salas@yahoo.com