"sustainability" news and stories

We guess alliances like the Snack Food Association and the Council for Biotechnology Information (whose megacompany members include BASF, DuPont, Dow, and Monsanto) felt they just weren't big enough or strong enough to convince Congress and consumers that big ag is good ag. So now 55 of the big-boy alliances have bonded together to form what might be called a supersociety, the new Alliance to Feed the Future.

Telling "the real story of modern food production" and "balancing the public dialogue on modern agriculture" is the Alliance's mission, according to its debut press release. What is also very modern is that the alliance, which also includes members such CropLife America (whose website features stories such as "Benefits of Pesticides and Crop-Protection Chemicals") the National Frozen Pizza Institute, and the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers, has decided to locate in Washington, D.C. After all, Dave Schmidt, President and CEO at the International Food Information Council and coordinator of AFF told Sustainable Food News, its target audience is that of "opinion leaders, including those in the university sector, professional societies, journalists and government officials."

Sustainability has become the go-to word for every corporation in the U.S.and McDonald's is no exception. The burger giant recently announced what it's calling its Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC). In a press release that sounds a bit like a "Spider-Man" script, the company states that "McDonald's ... accept[s] the responsibility that comes with our global presence," by requiring that over a period of time, all agricultural raw materials will be supplied only from sustainably managed land. (McDonald's also admits that since it "does not actually produce any of the food we ultimately serve our customers, it's essential that we work with suppliers who share our values.")

What does that mean, exactly? If "sustainability" gives you images of a family farm sending their free-range chickens to a McDonald's supplier, think again. What it does mean is that McDonald's sat down with the World Wildlife Fund, and "other stakeholders" (including fellow corporate megaliths such as Walmart, as well as suppliers) and came up with five products to concentrate on making better: beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil, and food packaging. It is also joining various Global Roundtables (on beef, and responsible palm oil production).

See the details on McDonald's Sustainable Land Management Commitment, after the jump:

• Lindy & Grundy are a couple of short ladies with sharp knives (and a sustainable butchering philosophy).
• Do you celebrate the Jewish holiday Tu Bishvat? It's a sweet one.
• You want to go out, you want good food, and you don't want to spend a ton. Lucky for you, you live in LA.
• Craving the Cuban dish pollo al colmao? Here you go.

Sophisticated jeweler Tiffany & Co. and the fishing community of Bristol Bay, Alaska, may seem worlds apart, but the famed retailer is just one of 50 jewelers that have pledged not to source gold from the controversial Pebble mine project being proposed in the region. (Click here for a full list of jewelers.)

According to the Wall Street Journal, the mine holds one of the world's largest undeveloped deposits of copper and gold. Unfortunately for the 30 million or so sockeye salmon that spawn there each summer, those valuable minerals are located in the area's headwaters. For nearly four years, fishermen and environmentalists have been at odds with mining companies Anglo American PLC and Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. over the area's natural resources.

"This is the largest, healthiest remaining salmon runs in the world," says commercial fisherman and sustainable seafood consultant Amy Grondin. "Fish from Bristol Bay have been returning here for 9,000 years. They're a sustainable natural resource. Minerals are also a natural resource, but they're not renewable."

Wal-Mart practically had us at hello with their sustainability announcement yesterday, and we weren't alone. News that the retailing behemoth was launching a new global commitment to sustainable agriculture, with a focus on small and medium-sized farmers had blogs and Twitter feeds ablaze.

The announcement wasn't vague. It outlined specific goals that Wal-Mart is committed to reach by 2015. Among them:

* Selling $1 billion in food sourced from 1 million small and medium farmers.
* Asking suppliers about the water, energy, fertilizer and pesticide used per unit of food produced.
* Implementing a requirement for sustainably sourced palm oil for all Wal-Mart private-brand products.
* Sourcing only beef that does not contribute to the deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon.

"Grocery is more than half of Wal-Mart's business," Michael T. Duke, president and chief executive was quoted as saying in The New York Times. "Yet only four of our 39 public sustainability goals address food.

Fred Kirschenmann, distinguished fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and president of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture told Slashfood he met with Mike Duke in Iowa last month while the executive was visiting a farm committed to sustainable practices.