November Food for thought…

• New sustainability ranking of top dairy companies
• SAI releases definition of and framework for regenerative agriculture
• Waste challenges
• Towards the development of a Voluntary Code of Conduct on the sustainable use of plastics in agriculture
• Pat Cummins: BBC Green Sport Award winner on cricket's 'opportunity'

New sustainability ranking of top dairy companies A report released by Context, a specialist corporate sustainability consultancy, assessed 10 of the world’s top dairy companies to find out who has the best sustainability story to tell, and how well they are telling it.  All the companies assessed are Implementing members of the DSF. It looked at whether companies were addressing the main issues associated with dairy farming, including environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions, soil health and biodiversity, along with other concerns such as animal care and rural economies.   Read the report

SAI releases definition of and framework for regenerative agriculture – from FoodNavigator.com Regenerative agriculture currently has no legal definition at an EU level. However, the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) platform, a group of companies that includes Danone, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Unilever, has released a definition of its own, in conjunction with a framework that aims to provide a clear direction to nascent regenerative agriculture programmes. Read the article

Waste challenges -  from Longviewdairy.com.  Interventions at the production end of the supply chain have economic and environmental benefits but the world is unlikely to see food brands encouraging consumers to buy less. Read the article

Towards the development of a Voluntary Code of Conduct on the sustainable use of plastics in agriculture – whilst the closing date for calls for submissions has passed; it will be interesting to watch for developments as the FAO continues to work on a voluntary code. Whilst plastics have brought many benefits to agricultural food production, their disposal presents many challenges.  Read more about the work

Pat Cummins: BBC Green Sport Award winner on cricket’s ‘opportunity’ – BBC news.  Cricket can use its platform to make a difference in combatting climate change despite its "huge" carbon footprint, says Australia captain Pat Cummins.  His Cricket for Climate Foundation aims to make cricket in Australia carbon neutral and has plans to expand globally. Read the article