Several agribusinesses and food companies have made pledges towards sustainability and lowering their carbon footprint in the past few weeks.
Tyson Foods announced it will source cattle from BeefCARE, a third-party sustainability certifier for sourcing cattle. BeefCARE standards include practices such as having a cattle grazing management plan to help promote vegetative growth, reduce soil erosion and support carbon sequestration. Tyson Foods will also work with The Nature Conservancy to evaluate and enhance the environmental components of the current BeefCARE program. The program builds on its initiative announced this year to purchase 3 million Progressive Beef-certified cattle.
Cargill, McDonald’s and Walmart Foundation announced a $6 million collaboration with the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) called the Ranch Systems and Viability Planning (RSVP) network that will primarily involve ranches and tribal lands in Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota. The goal is to manage 1 million acres, providing technical assistance to improve resiliency in their operation, “provide habitat for wildlife, store carbon, filter clean water, produce nutritious food and support communities for generations to come,” according to Martha Kauffman, managing director of WWF’s Northern Great Plains program. Cargill said this program is part of its own BeefUp Sustainability initiative, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the company’s beef supply chain by 30 percent by 2030.
Walmart has additionally pledged to address the global climate crisis by targeting zero emissions by 2040. This is in addition to the company and the Walmart Foundation committing to restore 50 million acres of land and 1 million square miles of ocean by 2030.
