Sep 13, 2023

Single sustainable, regenerative ag yardstick to be discussed at IFPA 

As the sustainable agriculture movement gains momentum, growers, shippers,
processors, and industry stakeholders are coming together to address the challenges of transparent and effective sustainability reporting.

One Single Yardstick – Sustainability Reporting with Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops is scheduled for Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the IFPA Global Produce and Floral Show in Anaheim, California.

Sponsored by the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC), the event is designed to bring together key stakeholders in the specialty crop industry, including growers, shippers, processors, brands, and industry groups, to foster a comprehensive understanding of sustainable reporting practices that benefit both businesses and the environment.

The session is set to showcase the potential of unified sustainability reporting and its positive impact on the entire supply chain. Presented by leading experts in the field, this event will delve into the key concept of utilizing a single yardstick, SISC and the SISC Stewardship Calculator, for sustainability measurement and reporting, according to a news release.

The current landscape is putting increasing pressure on growers, shippers, and processors to enhance and disclose their sustainability efforts to potential buyers. While the intention to increase transparency holds immense benefits for the industry, the complexity of tracking, compiling, analyzing, and reporting data — especially when requirements differ from buyer to buyer — poses a substantial burden on individual stakeholders, according to the release.

The SISC addresses this challenge by providing a set of standardized metrics for measuring sustainable and regenerative performance, specifically for specialty crops. With its cloud based Stewardship Calculator, SISC empowers growers, packer/shipper/processors, and industry players to establish internal sustainability initiatives while making tangible improvements in natural resource management on the ground.

Key highlights of the event include insights into the collaborative efforts across the specialty crop sector that led to the development of SISC as a unified yardstick for measuring sustainability, streamlined measurement and real-world applications

Featured Speakers and Topics:
• Alison Edwards, SISC executive director
• Tamara Muruetagoiena, International Fresh Produce Association director of sustainability
• Shawny Marsden, CropTrak’s director of strategic innovation

Based in Santa Cruz, California, SISC is a coalition of growers, grower groups, brands, buyers and NGOs dedicated to developing tools for measuring on-farm stewardship performance across the specialty crop supply chain.