Forming the Food Chain of the Future

August 19, 2024
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Abbie Beckerink

Farm Sustainability Associate at Ever.Ag

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Anne Ruche

How do we feed an extra 1.9 billion people with fewer resources than we have today? By 2050, the global population is set to reach over 7.9 billion people, all of whom will need to be fed a nutritious, balanced diet to survive and thrive. Producing enough food will be arduous enough, but to do it all with carbon footprints in mind seems an insurmountable challenge.

Sustainability has been on the minds of nearly every consumer in the world for the last 10 years, but research indicates that businesses and consumers alike are beginning to view it as a market requirement (Harvard Business Review, 2023).

In response to this change, brands all over the world have made commitments to producing products in a “sustainable” way. However, the balance of sustainability and production efficiency is delicate, and we must prioritize humanity’s nutritional needs.

Consider that in 2022, 12.8% of American households struggled to get access to enough food to feed their families (USDA 2022 Key Statistics). The high demand and necessity to produce enough food to not only feed our growing population, but to feed them a healthy, balanced diet has become a pressing global issue. Sustainable food production necessitates a reliable and nutritious food supply that meets global demand without having to compromise our planet’s future.

Too Many Measurements to Manage

To measure the sustainability of our food supply requires countless carbon footprints to be completed along a non-linear supply chain. The logistics, data collection, and carbon accounting required are not only bewildering, but expensive.

However complex, consumers and regulation are aligned – greenwashing is unacceptable, and sustainability needs to be more than just marketing. Having a data driven, scalable sustainability solution is no longer a choice, but a necessity.

In the US, there are 8,778 companies who have established science-based sustainability targets. Of those, 5,511 have narrowed their focus on measuring and reducing their overall emissions, and 2,766 have committed to becoming Net Zero by 2050.

Today, sustainability is quantified through carbon footprints. In an ideal world, each step of the supply chain would have a primary data driven carbon footprint derived from every activity the business engages in. That carbon footprint could then be added into the other metrics that companies track as they purchase and sell goods, and drive data-based decision making. But for most, the complexity of measurement, supply chains, and humanity have led to disaggregated approaches contrasting from the above.

Menu Makeover

226,416 million pounds of raw milk are produced annually by the United States dairy industry. Dairy product consumption in the U.S. was 653 pounds per capita in 2022 (USDA, 2023). Nutritionally, economically, and culturally, dairy is vital to the global food chain. Thus, sustainability initiatives must prevail. Otherwise, we’re left with a single, unsavory option: reduce or remove dairy from the food chain.

Now, let’s talk about food security: Dairy products contribute to 49% of the global calcium uptake, 24% of Vitamin B2, and more than 10% of the global nutrient availability for essential amino acids, proteins and vitamins. All the while, dairy is only responsible for 7% of the caloric energy consumed, “indicating a valuable contribution to global nutrition without necessitating high energy intakes,” (Smith et Al, Frontiers Nutrition, 2021). Assisting in bone health, repairing muscles, healthier metabolism and energy, you name it, this source of protein is essential for good health.

Furthermore, brands rely on dairy products to create products that are appealing to consumers, and profitable for them. Numerous brands are reportedly moving away from dairy heavy products like Nachos, Frappuccinos and yogurts and going to alternative products. These decisions will lessen their market access, consequently lowering their income as well as losing customer satisfaction. Without dairy on the menu, brands ranging from Starbucks, McDonalds, and even your local ice cream shop or diner are both out of luck and out of business.

This economic impact is just as significant for local farms, who are faced with increasingly rigorous environmental standards that often increase their price of production, all while the price of the product they’re selling stays the same. But the impact continues to ripple – dairy producers’ source primarily from other local business for things like feed and equipment. Each dollar spent turns over three to seven times in the local economy, totaling to approximately $200 billion impact nationally. If local producers go out of business, the economic value they create for their communities and country goes with them.

The combination of these factors leads to significant regulatory risk. Take countries such as the Netherlands, Ireland, or France, where regulations were aiming to buy farms out of business to reach GHG reduction goals; impacted producers took their tractors, manure spreaders and all and protested in front of government buildings.

At its core, food brings people together. It is more than just calories and carbon footprints, it’s family dinners, birthday cakes, trips to the local ice cream shop, and a piece of chocolate after a hard day. Without dairy in the supply chain, our favorite delights no longer exist – cheeseburgers, whipped cream, milkshakes, chocolate covered strawberries, and more.

Accomplishing the Ambitious

So how do we accomplish all the ambitious tasks ahead of us? Create carbon footprint data that the food chain has confidence in.

Image feeling confident that the carbon footprint data from farm to fork was accurate and had an auditable record of all the data inputs. That confidence enables the supply chain to prioritize low carbon footprints with economic incentives for the producer and removes greenwashing risk for the brand.

Dairy products stay on the menu, dairy producers stay in business, and sustainability professionals can sleep well at night.

Imagine enjoying your favorite dairy products, knowing they come from farms that protect our planet, our families, and our economy.

To learn more about how Ever.Ag can help, contact our sustainability team today.

Contributor Image

Abbie Beckerink

Farm Sustainability Associate at Ever.Ag

Contributor Image

Anne Ruche

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