Archive for the ‘sustainability’ Category
MSC assessment starts for Swedish Baltic cod fishery
Swedens Eastern and Western Baltic cod fisheries have started their assessment against the Marine Stewardship Council standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries.
The Swedish fishery is the third Baltic cod fishery to enter assessment this year following the Denmark Eastern Baltic cod in August and the Germany Eastern Baltic cod which entered assessment in November. If the fishery is successful, then Swedish Baltic cod will be eligible to bear the MSC ecolabel once Chain of Custody traceability has been established.
Is clean tech the next bubble?
The past decade saw investors do a tap dance to the tune of Boom and Bust. First there was the dot-com bubble and the slew of other technological breakthroughs that came with it. Then we witnessed the supposedly invincible housing market complete a jaw-dropping boom-bust cycle. The young 21st century even delivered a notable financial bubble, as well as its inevitable bust.
Sidling along in the background were the seedlings of an industry on the verge of taking flight — alternative-energy technology.
Despite a drop in the overall volume of venture-capital deals last year, investments in clean-technology companies totalled US$8.4-billion, up nearly 40% from 2007, says a 2008 report by Cleantech Group, a San Francisco-based trade organization. In the third quarter of 2008 alone, venture capitalists poured US$2.65-billion into clean technology, a quarterly record. In the fourth quarter, they invested US$1.7-billion.
Sustainability moves up the agenda as brighter 2010 beckons: just-food
In spite of the global downturn, 2009 turned out to be an eventful year for the food industry. Economic recovery, albeit a slow and slightly faltering one, should bring equally if not more interesting times. Ben Cooper looks at what is likely to be dominating the headlines in the coming year.
As 2009 closes and the food industry prepares for a well-earned break – and a chance to consume far too much of its own product – attention inevitably turns to what might be dominating the headlines over the next 12 months.
In this diverse and unpredictable industry, soothsaying is a risky business but the latter part of the year has at least provided one no-brainer for any crystal-ball gazer. The first months of 2010 will see the resolution of the Kraft Foods-Cadbury takeover battle. Indeed, Kraft and Cadbury have even made sure we have finished the year with a cliffhanger.
Carbon Craziness
France may be the first country to impose mandatory carbon footprint labeling requirements for all consumer products. A bill will be considered in early 2010 to make reporting of the carbon footprint mandatory in France by 2011. The USDA FAS, in its report “Proposed Carbon Footprint Labeling Could Step on Trade,” looks at the trade implications of the issue.
Though it stands to impact processed food more than fresh, this move strikes me as about the most anti-consumer law that could be devised. With as much as 5% of the product cost expected to result from the reporting exercise, the law would produce nothing more than a “gee-whiz” number that most people would ignore anyway. Plus, as the USDA FAS report points out, there are numerous questions about both how the numbers that would be reported and the potential trade impact of the law.
Business forum on water, sustainability
The importance of putting the issue of water supply high on the business agenda will be the focus in an upcoming forum on water and business.
The ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), together with the Institute of Corporate Responsibility Malaysia (ICR Malaysia) and the Malaysia Association of Water (MWA), have collaborated to jointly organise a business agenda forum entittled “Business and Water: Should we be concerned?”
Fish Systems and Design
A grim new film, The End of the Line, reveals the impact of overfishing on our oceans. It exposes the extent to which global stocks of fish are dwindling; features scientists who warn we could see the end of most seafood by 2048; and includes chefs and fishers who seem indifferent to the ecocidal consequences of their business practices. “We must act now to protect the sea from rampant overfishing” says Charles Clover, author of the book of the film.
Must, must. Although important in raising awareness, the danger with films like The End of the Line (as with ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, and Michael Pollan’s ‘Food, Inc’) is that they bombard us with so much bad news that positive and practical actions, that are also being taken, are obscured – and opportunities to help them develop are missed.
The End of the Line received far more publicity, for example, than the launch of FishChoice.com
Is Whole Foods Sustainable or Just a High-Priced Hoax?
As a sustainable-food aficionado, my attitude toward Whole Foods and other national chains offering organic food changes based on the available alternatives.
When I can buy directly from local farmers and food artisans, I avoid places like Whole Foods. However, when I am on the road and my next best option is Subway, I look to Whole Foods as an oasis.
After reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma’s harsh account of Whole Foods and its suppliers (Michael Pollan traces some of the food sold at Whole Foods back to its suppliers, and what he discovers is not necessarily the “supermarket pastoral” that the company promises) and then seeing Pollan debate Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, I decided to get to the bottom of the matter by taking a job in the bakery at a Whole Foods in San Diego. My goal was to answer the following question: Was Whole Food truly sustainable, or was it just a high-priced version of the same food one could find in a conventional supermarket?
via alternet.org
What Motivates Consumers to Choose Sustainable Food and Beverages?
Market research firms Packaged Facts and The Hartman Group have joined forces in a collaborative partnership that will result in a series of four reports each deciphering the attitudes and behaviors of sustainable goods consumers in relation to specific consumer products. The pair proudly unveils the first market study published in the four-part series: “Consumers and Sustainability: Food and Beverage.”
The food and beverage market is central to consumer perceptions of sustainability. When the consumption of sustainable foods is motivated by personal benefits, adoption mirrors a health and wellness progression in which consumers first consider the impacts of things in the body, followed by on the body, and finally around the body. Therefore, as consumers become more educated about the environmental, social, and economic implications of foods and beverages, their health and wellness motivations dovetail with societal concerns, such that food shopping choices become salient to the four zones of sustainability:
via earthtimes.org
Can Wal-Mart Be Sustainable?
Recently, Wal-Mart has been rolling out plans for what it calls a sustainability index — a measure of how green the products it sells really are. It is asking each of its suppliers, an enormous list of businesses, 15 questions about the life of their products from manufacturing through disposal: questions about greenhouse gas emissions, social responsibility, waste reduction initiatives and water use.
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