CLEANTECH -
New York recently made available $21 million to help the state’s dairy farmers convert farm waste to energy.Most of the funding — $20 million — is available through New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to install anaerobic digester technology that produces renewable biogas used to generate electricity and heat from organic wastes. Food processing manufacturers, farms or municipal wastewater sites would be eligible for up to $2 million per project.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In the latest in a string of recent efforts to engage children in the joys of healthy eating, First Lady Michelle Obama announced last week that Subway® restaurants has joined the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) and Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative in a three-year commitment to promote healthier food choices to kids. As part of its commitment, Subway will launch a series of fun, engaging campaigns aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children; set and implement new marketing standards to kids; and strengthen its children’s menu offerings, which the chain says are already nutritious.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
This week, Chipotle announced the upcoming premiere of “Farmed and Dangerous,” a new original comedy series that satirically explores the world of industrial agriculture in America. Produced by Chipotle and Piro, a New York-based studio known for its unique work in film and television, the initial four-episode season will air Monday nights on Hulu and Hulu Plus beginning Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. The comedy integrates Chipotle’s values and commitment to serving “Food with Integrity” without any explicit Chipotle branding.
WASTE NOT -
It is becoming increasingly clear that the traditional view of business existing purely to maximise profit for shareholders is not so much wrong as built for another time. Businesses have been slowly moving towards a model that recognises the impact they have on society and the environment, putting increasing amounts of budget and resources towards mitigating that impact. But just minimising the amount of environmental damage a business does is no longer enough.Nor is it sufficient to rely predominantly on CSR to create a good impression. Information is becoming ever more accessible, which means that businesses are subject to greater levels of scrutiny than ever before.
COLLABORATION -
The Coca-Cola Company, AB InBev, Diageo and other members of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) recently published a document that creates the industry’s first common framework for greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
ICT AND BIG DATA -
A group of global food and beverage companies are using the launch of a new carbon-management web app to call for greater industry collaboration on agricultural sustainability.Members of The Cool Farm Institute (CFI) — including PepsiCo, Unilever, Heineken, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Yara and Fertilizers Europe — have spearheaded the development of an online tool to help farmers assess and improve the environmental and economic performance of their businesses.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
A group made up of over 200 organizations including food companies, organic farming and environmental groups have signed a letter urging President Obama to enact labelling laws highlighting products that contain genetically modified ingredients.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
GMO Inside, a campaign of Green America, learned from Post Foods on Thursday that the company has committed to rolling out Grape Nuts verified by the Non-GMO Project this month.In response to a request from GMO Inside, Post Foods responded: “We have an exciting update for you. Post has released a non-GMO verified Grape Nuts that is on the store shelves as of January 2014. Also, we are exploring some of our other cereals to see if there is potential going forward to add more non-GMO verified products to the Post Foods product line. We are always listening to our consumers and looking for ways to provide a good variety of products.”
CLEANTECH -
Sonoma County-based Bear Republic Brewing Company and Cambrian Innovation, a water and bioenergy technology provider, have unveiled an EcoVolt water treatment system at Bear Republic’s brewery in Cloverdale. The EcoVolt system uses a proprietary bioelectric technology to treat wastewater and generate biogas.Bear Republic, known for its Racer 5 IPA and commitment to environmental stewardship, is the first brewery to purchase the energy-positive EcoVolt system, which will cut its water treatment costs, generate clean water and energy for use onsite, and significantly reduce the brewery’s CO2 footprint.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) — which represents food-industry giants including Coca-Cola, MARS, Kellogg, P&G, McDonald’s, Mondelez International, Starbucks, Hershey, General Mills and roughly 300 others — announced this week that it will petition to the chief U.S. food safety regulator and Congress to enact a single federal standard for the labeling of genetically modified (GMO) foods.
WASTE NOT -
MetLife Stadium, set to host the upcoming Super Bowl XLVIII, is the first stadium in the world to earn the title of Certified Green Restaurant® stadium from the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), exceeding its certification standards.With a full, game-day seating capacity of 82,500, MetLife Stadium is one of the largest stadiums in the NFL. Operated by foodservice partner Delaware North Companies Sportservice, the stadium has over 200 on-site restaurants servicing up to 100,000 people a day and is the largest food-service operation ever to receive GRA certification.Talk about making the most out your resources: MetLife is the only active venue to serve as the home stadium for two NFL teams, hosting 20 NFL games per season — more than any other stadium.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
16 of the nation’s leading food and beverage companies sold 6.4 trillion fewer calories in the United States in 2012 than they did in 2007, according to the findings released last week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The companies, acting together as part of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF), pledged to remove 1 trillion calories from the marketplace by 2012, and 1.5 trillion by 2015. The independent evaluation found that the companies have so far exceeded their 2015 pledge by more than 400 percent.The 16 companies committed to the HWCF calorie-reduction pledge are:
SUPPLY CHAIN -
McDonald’s announced this week that, by 2016, it will begin sourcing “verified sustainable beef.” The pledge is an effort to reduce the environmental impact of the fast-food chain’s meat production, as well as to be kinder to the animals on which its livelihood rests. Though there is, of course, plenty of debate over just what “sustainable beef” is, or whether it is achievable.In its pledge, McDonald’s vows, rather vaguely, “to improve environmental practices in the way beef is produced, support positive workplaces in the beef industry, and drive continuous improvement in animal health and welfare.”
WASTE NOT -
Just before the turn of the new year, when many of us were enjoying our annual season of gluttony, New York City Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway announced a pilot program that will convert the thousands of pounds of food waste currently shipped to out-of-state landfills into biogas, which will heat up to 5,200 homes throughout the city and help curb roughly 90,000 metric tons of the state’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Food served in full-service restaurants often is just as unhealthy as, or even unhealthier than, food served in fast-food restaurants, despite consumer perceptions that full-service restaurants are healthier, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.Food prepared away from home is typically higher in calories and lower in nutrition than food prepared at home, and now makes up more than one-third of all calories purchased in the United States, the study says.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Last week, Public Health England unveiled its latest Change4Life campaign, which this year focuses on getting people throughout England and Wales to “Smart Swap” fatty or sugary foods for healthier alternatives.The campaign recognizes that it’s unrealistic to expect people to immediately switch from chocolate to fruit, for example, so it is hoping to incentivize making smarter food choices by offering participants money-saving vouchers for healthier foods and drinks and in-store offers from partner retailers such as Asda, Co-operative Food, Lidl and Aldi.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
GMO Inside, a campaign of national non-profit organization Green America, celebrated a victory yesterday after target General Mills announced that its original Cheerios cereal would now be produced without the use of GMOs.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Six months after successfully raising more than $50,000 through one of the highest-grossing crowdfunding food campaigns of all-time, Oakland, Calif., startup Kuli Kuli has launched its first line of moringa superfood bars at 10 Whole Foods locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.Kuli Kuli Bars are gluten-free, vegan and made with just a few simple all-natural ingredients, the company says. The bars are low in calories but contain high amounts of fiber, protein and vitamins. The primary ingredient? Moringa.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Earlier this year, the United Nations released a report on incorporating insects into the diet as a means of increasing nutrition in developing nations and reducing the carbon footprint of the food production industry. While many might have taken this report as a bit of a novelty, it has captured the imagination of several mindful entrepreneurs set to change the way we eat.
WASTE NOT -
The Plastic Disclosure Project sees an influential need for companies to start disclosing their plastic footprint in order to create a benchmark for reduction by increasing recycling and adding value back into plastic use.