I reached out to some friends in the industry to gather perspectives about dairy’s sustainability journey — and more importantly, the lessons we have collectively learned. The hope is that others can look to dairy’s example and shorten their own sustainability journeys.
I am passionate about dairy — whether a glass of milk, cup of yogurt, or bowl of
ice cream, I love it all. I’m also passionate about the people and families
involved in getting those products to table, and working with them to ensure
dairy is produced responsibly. In some circles lately, dairy’s been getting a
bad rap. In reality, dairy contributes less than 2 percent to US GHG
emissions,
and it’s on a strong downward trajectory.
This isn’t an accident. What you may not realize is that dairy farmers — and all
members of the dairy supply chain — have been quietly leading in the
sustainability space for over a decade. I reached out to some friends in the
industry to gather a range of perspectives about dairy’s sustainability journey
— and more importantly, the lessons we have collectively learned — to share them
with other industries and groups.
Dairy leadership in sustainability
Dairy farmers have always taken pride in providing a highly nutritious product
while being responsible with resources. As part of this responsibility, dairy
was the first agricultural commodity to perform a life cycle assessment — in
2008.
“Our farmers and industry understood that we needed to be able to chart our
progress — both in our ability to move things forward — but also to make sure
that we were pursuing practices and technologies that were financially
feasible,” says Lisa Watson of the Dairy Innovation
Center. “We were going to
be able to go further faster if we pulled our whole chain together in those
areas that were pre-competitive. … And that's really the foundation upon which
the Innovation Center for US Dairy was formed.”
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Dairy has since pioneered a series of pre-competitive
collaborations
that encompass all elements of the value chain — from farmer coops and
processors, to not-for-profit groups and retailers. Here are some key examples:
-
The Dairy Sustainability
Alliance:
Founded in 2008, the Alliance recognized that “no one company or sector can
address sustainability alone.” It now comprises 160+ members at the
corporate level who strive to further the dairy community’s social
responsibility goals.
-
2018 — US Dairy Stewardship
Commitment:
This commitment makes it possible for US Dairy to publicly measure and
track its progress. 34 Companies representing 75 percent of US milk
production have adopted this action-oriented pledge.
-
2020 — Set industry-wide Environmental Stewardship
Goals, including to achieve
greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050
-
2020 Net-Zero
Initiative:
US Dairy founded this initiative to accelerate voluntary action on farm to
reduce environmental impacts, by making sustainable practices and
technologies more accessible and affordable to US dairy farms of all sizes
and geographies.
“The farmers, cooperative members and processors came to alignment and agreement
over a common goal — one that is time-bound, quantitative and public,” says
Emily Johannes, Sustainable Sourcing Manager at
Nestlé.
“I think that's a real demonstration of leadership.”
The industry is already taking this leadership approach to other areas. In 2020,
Dairy Farmers of America co-founded the Farm Powered Strategic
Alliance
(FPSA), along with Vanguard Renewables,
Starbucks and Unilever. It is a collaboration to accelerate long-term
commitments to avoid or eliminate food
waste
first, and repurpose what can’t be eliminated into renewable energy. Membership
now includes Cabot Creamery, Stonyfield Organic, Smithfield Foods
and Kikkoman; another dairy company will be announced in 2022 that will make
FPSA 50 percent dairy members, which is no surprise to me.
Lessons for others
The biggest lesson learned from dairy’s example is the importance of including
all stakeholders along the supply chain, including competitors. As Watson
emphasizes: “To build trust, you have to be willing to listen. You can’t be
afraid to bring people together, to hear each other out and to better understand
others’ priorities. When you focus a little more on listening versus talking,
you're likely to learn something that's actually going to help you to move that
ball forward.”
The second lesson is the importance of gathering data to measure and show
what we're doing now and to track our progress with integrity. Johannes agrees:
“The key for dairy is that we now have an alliance that is backed up by action,
by tools, and by verification systems. And I think that's really what other
industries can learn from. Quite frankly, I hope the advantage to other
industries is to leverage the work that dairy has done and go even faster.”
All three of us agree that there's no “silver bullet” solution.
Watson adds: “We focus on working with people to identify a range of options
that are going to work best for different situations.”
“We want the best solutions we can get, but we also recognize that things may
need to be adjusted and some things may fail,” Johannes says. “And we're okay
with the fact that this is a learning process.”
Final thoughts
The hope is that others can look to dairy’s example and shorten their own
sustainability journeys. We can already see sustainability becoming inherent to
the business strategy of many companies.
For Stonyfield Organic, sustainability has always been core to its business.
“’Healthy food, healthy people, healthy planet, healthy business.’ Other
companies have used these words to describe their purpose, but few were founded
on those values — and even fewer have stayed true to them for decades the way we
have here at Stonyfield Organic,” says Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield’s co-founder
and Chief Organic Optimist. “We’re honored to work collaboratively across the
dairy industry to drive further environmental change and protect our resources
for generations to come.”
As food sustainability moves from how we tell stories to how we sell products —
and ultimately, how we finance changes in practices — the US dairy industry is
prepared to be a leader in delivering sustainable nutrition to consumers around
the world.
Published Feb 22, 2022 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET
David Darr is Chief Sustainability Officer at Vanguard Renewables. He has over 20 years of experience working with dairy farmers around the country to implement sustainable and regenerative farming practices.
Most recently, Darr served as the SVP and Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer for the Dairy Farmers of America. He holds both a BS and MS in Agriculture Economics from Ohio State University, and an MBA from Rockhurst University.
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