Page 64 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

chain. Our programs and commitments are designed to support rural development,
promote and respect human rights, and ensure fair employment and diversity.”
Mars: “Looking beyond our operations, we are also tackling GHG emissions in our
extended supply chain. Three-quarters of our full value chain carbon footprint comes
from agricultural and land-use-change emissions associated with the ingredients we
source to make our products. We are working to transform key supply chains by working
with suppliers, farmers, and other partners to prevent deforestation and produce
ingredients more efficiently and effectively for a lower carbon footprint. Sustainable
agricultural practices, such as efficient irrigation techniques, resistant and resilient crop
varietals, and increased soil health, will not only improve environmental impacts, but can
help farmers thrive.”
Danone: “Danone North America requests the EPA to preserve the Clean Power Plan to
combat climate change ... Danone North America requests that Congressional Farm Bill
leaders support the National Organic Program and National Organic Standards Board to
maintain strong organic standards and integrity ... Danone North America supports
Congress passing legislation to combat climate change.”

Those statements point to a growing determination among major food companies to lead
the entire food sector into combating climate change. To do the job, the companies propose
increasing conservation efforts, expanding renewable energy, and reducing greenhouse gas
emissions from not only their own processing plants but from the entire supply chain, including
farmers’ fields and feedlots.

Brett Sciotto, president & CEO of global marketing research firm Aimpoint Research, expects
food companies and retailers to exert increasing pressure on the farm sector. He tells Agri-
Pulse that “As we look ahead to 2040 through our Farmer of the Future study and consider the
escalation of supply chain competition for the attention of the consumer, it is not unreasonable
to believe that the management practices prescribed to growers by food companies and
retailers will be far more stringent than those necessary to comply with state or federal
regulations.”

Kansas wheat farmer Tim Raile, as quoted in part two of this series, sees benefits from this new
trend of food companies and retailers advising production agriculture about consumer demand.
For Raile, the choice for producers increasingly will be between watching their grain pile up
under tarps at the local elevator — or preselling their crops at a premium price by providing the
sustainability, traceability and transparency that consumers and the supply chain increasingly
seek out.

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