Sustainability a complex issue

US farmers get far to less credit for their efforts to manage their environmental footprint. In some cases, they even decrease their environmental impact. To do this effectively, it is essential to measure the effects over the long term and then determine its value. Field to Market, the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, helps farmers measure the environmental impact of farming, track and promote their improvement efforts, and share their progress with others in food and fibre supply chains.

Sustainability is a complex issue, with various economic, environmental and social effects. The environmental footprint of product begins at farm level but it is also determined by various value-chain processes. In the US, food supply-chain efforts to improve environmental sustainability by major retail grocers, restaurant chains and processors, began in earnest in 2006. Field to Market was established in 2007 as an initiative of the Keystone Center, an independent, nonprofit organisation that covers a wide range of environmental, energy and health policy issues. To read more about this, click HERE.