Beginning this spring, industry leaders will come together in a new network to build more sustainable supply chains across the plant-based sector. Launching May 1, the Sustainable Sourcing Community of Practice will connect brands working to diversify ingredients, support more ecological farming practices, and improve livelihoods for the people that grow and make our food. By sharing knowledge, strategies, and solutions to common challenges, members will advance their own companies’ sustainability goals and strengthen their collective impact on the food system.
Plant-based food companies can play a critical role in putting that system on a better trajectory for nature, climate, and human health. Shifting to plant-based diets in the US and other wealthy nations is one of the most significant steps we can take to keep the planet within safe and stable operating boundaries. Global emissions from livestock production must decline by 50 percent over the next six years to stay below the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C target. Meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals means halving consumption of animal foods and doubling that of plants. By all important limits and measures, a sustainable future is conditioned on a substantial transition to plant-rich diets
The path to meet our climate goals also requires a turn toward more nature-and climate-positive cropping systems. Reaching the SDGs will mean re-shaping agricultural production, changing both what we grow and how we grow it. We must adopt farming practices that minimize emissions, soil and groundwater depletion, and biodiversity loss. Restoring land and soil, diversifying crops, rebalancing the use of nitrogen fertilizers, eliminating toxic pesticides, and reducing fossil fuel dependence are all urgently needed to produce healthy food from a sustainable food system.
The Sustainable Sourcing Community of Practice will help plant-based companies drive those changes. Hosted by the Plant Based Foods Institute and the Soil & Climate Alliance, the community follows a successful model used by many other industry coalitions. Textile Exchange, SAI Platform, the Climate Collaborative, the Organic Cotton Accelerator and similar initiatives have brought companies together to address sector-wide sustainability issues and build more resilient supply chains. As pressure grows to increase transparency and reduce climate risk, sustainability has become integral to business strategy and market growth. These platforms equip companies for synergistic problem-solving and accelerating the pace of transition.
Join Us in Creating a Better Food Future
Course-correcting the modern food system will be immensely difficult. Conventional agriculture is co-dependent with an intractable agri-inputs industry and locked into a reinforcing loop of complex economic and policy forces. Diversification and regeneration will take political will and resources along with market movers. But big challenges are also big opportunities, and mission-driven brands can help nudge the needle. By sharing responsibility and taking collective action, they can show what’s possible and what works. They can develop the tools and practices to scale effective solutions. They can engage decision-makers and grow their influence and reach. They can begin to deliver on the great promise of a plant-based shift: healthy food from a sustainable food system and a better future for all life on Earth.
Plant-based food manufacturers, suppliers, producers, support providers, and others are all welcome to join our virtual forum and information session on the Sustainable Sourcing Community of Practice on May 1.