How ConAgra Is Improving Resilience Against Climate Change (Part One Of Two)
By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online
As one of the major players in the food industry, ConAgra recognizes its responsibility in developing sustainable, environmentally sound operations, and is implementing sustainability strategies and methods throughout its operations
ConAgra Foods is working toward improving its products and making operations more sustainable by implementing a four-pronged approach:
- Developing and implementing new energy efficiency strategies with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020
- Working with the company’s supply-chain resources to ensure sustainable sourcing of ingredients
- Modifying and tuning the company’s climate change policy
- Eliminating food waste throughout the company’s facilities and reducing the amount of food waste that is sent to landfills
The sporadic, extreme weather events that have occurred in recent years — hurricane Sandy, Missouri River floods, and the ongoing California drought — have affected most major food companies, and ConAgra is no exception. The company recognizes that these climate changes call for a reevaluation of business models, strategies, and operations in order to build resilience against future climate events.
Marcelle Thompson, ConAgra Foods’ director of sustainability, states, “Both [Sandy and the Missouri flood] required some flexibility in how we operated, within our own facilities and with suppliers.” With regard to the California drought, Thompson explains, “For us, this situation has underscored the importance of having long-term relationships with farmers who grow tomatoes for our two fresh-pack and canning facilities in California. We have and will continue to look to these farmers to adopt the best practices to conserve water while maximizing yield.”
ConAgra also recognizes that reducing food waste will play a key role in slowing the rate of climate change. Thompson contends, “Agriculture, through crop cultivation, accounted for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions in 2012. Combine that with the fact that 30 to 40 percent of food grown and prepared is never consumed, and there’s a big opportunity to make progress just by eliminating the waste.” Underscoring the importance of a unified effort in food waste reduction, Thompson continues, “It’s a challenge that extends up and down the supply chain, starting at the farm and extending all the way to plate waste at home and restaurants.” Food waste that ends up in landfills produces greenhouse gases, further compounding the issue.
As part of ConAgra’s efforts to reduce food waste, the company implemented systems in 2012 that track landfill and material diversion from its facilities. Using these systems, the company has developed a better understanding of how to manage waste materials, as well as the potential benefits of diverting them away from landfills and into higher-value methods of disposal. ConAgra estimates that throughout 2013, it diverted 93 percent of waste materials from landfills, which resulted in the reduction of more than 165,000 metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Part two of How ConAgra Is Improving Its Resilience Against Climate Change, will take a look at how ConAgra utilizes its employees to improve sustainability and how it’s working to ensure sustainability throughout the supply chain.