Sustainability practices in the food industry
| Sustainability dimension | Example of practices | |
|---|---|---|
| Environment | Natural Resources conservation (NRC) | Soil conservation: forest and species conservation; prevent soil erosion and pollution, prevent loss of arable land and biodiversity, responsible farming methods (reducing fertilizer and pesticides), elimination of contaminant and pollutant agents |
| Water conservation: reducing water consumption, efficient water use, waste water re-use and recovery | ||
| Green processing, packaging and transportation (GPPT) | Design, materials and packaging: design for reuse and recycling, material reuse and recycle, reducing packaging, using reusable or recyclable packaging | |
| Waste management: reduce waste and hazardous materials, composting, producing renewable energy or animal feed with waste, damage compensation, recycling | ||
| Processing and transportation: reducing energy use, conservation of energy, reducing CO2 emissions and GHGs, reduce pollution, reduction of fuel consumption | ||
| Social | Health and Safety (H&S) | Improved product quality, food safety, food security, traceability and transparency. Promotion of healthy life styles and local food. Safer warehousing and transportation |
| Work and Human Rights (W&HR) | Better and safer working conditions that result in higher levels of motivation and productivity and less absenteeism. Training, education, advancement. Regular employment, elimination of illegal and child labor, respect of worker rights, gender equality, freedom of association | |
| Community | Donation, collaboration with NGOs, philanthropy, support economic development in local communities, job training, volunteering, childcare | |
| Economic | Sustainable sourcing (SS) | Increasing supplier diversity, confidentiality, eliminating deception and impropriety, transparency, proper purchasing processes, supplier’s labor programs, local sourcing that result in shorter lead-times. Environmental and social considerations when selecting, monitoring and controlling suppliers |
| Support SC partners | Profit sharing with actors in the upstream supply chain, premium price payment, support and monitoring for obtaining sustainability certification. Facilitate partners' access to markets, knowledge and technology transfer, fostering financing opportunities, information and expertise sharing | |
| Sustainability dimension | Example of practices | |
|---|---|---|
| Environment | Natural Resources conservation (NRC) | |
| Green processing, packaging and transportation (GPPT) | ||
| Social | Health and Safety (H&S) | Improved product quality, food safety, food security, traceability and transparency. Promotion of healthy life styles and local food. Safer warehousing and transportation |
| Work and Human Rights (W&HR) | Better and safer working conditions that result in higher levels of motivation and productivity and less absenteeism. Training, education, advancement. Regular employment, elimination of illegal and child labor, respect of worker rights, gender equality, freedom of association | |
| Community | Donation, collaboration with NGOs, philanthropy, support economic development in local communities, job training, volunteering, childcare | |
| Economic | Sustainable sourcing (SS) | Increasing supplier diversity, confidentiality, eliminating deception and impropriety, transparency, proper purchasing processes, supplier’s labor programs, local sourcing that result in shorter lead-times. Environmental and social considerations when selecting, monitoring and controlling suppliers |
| Support SC partners | Profit sharing with actors in the upstream supply chain, premium price payment, support and monitoring for obtaining sustainability certification. Facilitate partners' access to markets, knowledge and technology transfer, fostering financing opportunities, information and expertise sharing | |
Note(s): Adapted from León-Bravo et al. (2017)
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