Links to
IPM Product and
Service Recognition Programs and Information
CONTENTS
Canada National IFP for Apples
Central Coast Vineyard Team
CERTIMEX
Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels
Food Alliance
Food Alliance Midwest
Forest
Stewardship Council
Green Shield Certified
Hood River District Integrated Production Program
International Organization for Bio-Control
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
IPM and the Marketplace
LIVE Program
Mauna Kea Banana Company
New
England Pest Management Association IPM Registry
New Jersey Guidelines for IPM Certification of Produce
New York State Elements of IPM
Northeast
Eco Apples
Ohio Crop Elements: Integrated Pest Management
Program
Protected
Harvest
Rainforest Alliance
Safety Source for Pest Management
Stemilt Responsible Choice
SYSCO's
Sustainable/Integrated Pest Management Program
University of Massachusetts IPM Guidelines
US
Green Building Council
World Wildlife Fund Canada
Canada National IFP for Apples. The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC) initiated a national effort to develop guidelines for Integrated Fruit Production in 2002. These guidelines and a fact sheet are now available for download from the CHC Apple & Fruit Committee web page. http://www.hortcouncil.ca/AppleFruit.htm
The Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT) is a non-profit grower-group whose mission is to promote sustainable winegrowing through agricultural research and education. Fourteen California vineyards, totaling 3,200 acres successfully completed CCVT's pilot certification program in 2008. For more information, visit www.vineyardteam.org or call 805 369-2288.
CERTIMEX
certifies IPM-produced coffee from
Mexico. Additional criteria include ecosystem diversity and social
justice. Detailed information on certification criteria is provided
by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation database. For more information, visit
http://www.cec.org/databases/certifications/Cecdata/
main.cfm?CategorieID=6415&Varlan=English&WebSiteID=6
Consumers Union Guide to
Environmental Labels, launched in March
of 2001, provides a one-stop resource for eco-label programs
on food and wood products. The site contains evaluations of programs
including standards, organization structure, verification procedure,
funding sources, etc. Also provides background: "What
makes a good eco-label?"; glossary of eco-labeling terminology;
search function by label, certifier, product and product category.
For more information, visit http://www.eco-labels.org/
Food Alliance (FA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting expanded use of sustainable agriculture practices. Sustainable agriculture is a system that emphasizes: protecting and enhancing natural resources using alternatives to pesticides, and caring for the health and well being of farm workers and rural communities. Sustainable agriculture represents a long-term goal to help farming become more economically viable, environmentally sound and socially responsible. Visit Food Alliance's website at http://www.foodalliance.org
Food Alliance Midwest is a partnership between Food Alliance, the Land Stewardship Project and Cooperative Development Services, launched in 2000 to certify producers meeting high standards for soil and water conservation, pest management and fair treatment of farmworkers. The partnership has certified eight producers in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and is now marketing in two supermarket chains in Minnesota. Web site includes a list of participating farmers and retailers, guiding principles and links to the partner Web sites. Visit the Food Alliance Midwest website at http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/programs_fam.html
Forest Stewardship Council (US) promotes environmentally
appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the
world's forests. IPM is specified in the organizations'
standards. The site includes access to standards and other documents, as
well as a link to the international FSC site. For more information, visit
http://fscus.org/
Green
Shield Certified is an independent, non-profit certification program that promotes
practitioners of effective, prevention-based pest control while minimizing the use of pesticides.
Green Shield Certification sets IPM practitioners and facilities apart as truly green,
verified by an on-site audit. Certified practitioners focus on correcting the conditions that lead to pest
problems by using non-chemical approaches first and the least amount of least-toxic pesticides only when required to provide acceptable results.
Visit the Green Shield Certified website at http://www.greenshieldcertified.org/
Hood River District Integrated Fruit Production Program
The goals of this program are "to implement a continually developing program of Integrated Fruit Production, including growing, packing and marketing pome fruit from the mid-Columbia region. To emphasize maintaining the economic health of the industry while practicing ecologically sound production methods." The program, operated by the Hood River Grower-Shipper Association, emphasizes industry education and cooperation with similar programs from other regions or entities. For guidelines for apple, pear and cherry, including preference ratings for fruit production chemicals, see http://oregonstate.edu/dept/mcarec/ifp.html
International Organisation for Biological and
Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants: West Palaearctic Regional Section (IOBC/WPRS) Commission on Integrated Production Guidelines develops and publishes detailed requirements for IPM (IP) production in Europe. Online guidelines include stone fruits, pome fruits, arable crops, grapes and soft fruits. Information on the Commission's history, accomplishments, participants and other publications are also available online. More.
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) The Environment and Agriculture Program home page contains links to IATP's Resource Center with information on consumer labeling to support social, environmental and regional sustainability goals. Also contains links to IATP's marketing sustainable agriculture project, including reports and contacts from IATP's November 1998 tour of sustainable marketing projects in Europe. For more information, visit http://www.iatp.org/enviroag/
IPM and the Marketplace serves as a general discussion and broad overview of activities designed to create IPM awareness among consumers. Includes international as well as US projects. For more information, visit http://www.pmac.net/ipm_mark.htm
The Low Input Viticulture and Enology Program (LIVE, Inc.) provides vineyards and wineries with official recognition for sustainable agricultural practices, modeled after international standards for Integrated Production. LIVE-certified growers must comply with a list of prohibited/required vineyard practices plus earn a minimum score using a point based system of management practices. For more information, including program requirements, see http://www.liveinc.org/
Mauna Kea Banana Company's commitment to sustainable agriculture includes IPM. The company was audited by the University of Hawaii's IPM Program and received the highest possible rating. The IPM Evaluation Protocol is available at http://www.extento.hawaii.edu/IPM/Certification/banana/bansheet.pdf
For more information about the company, including it's Rainforest Alliance Eco-OK approval, visit http://www.newfarm.org/archive/1000_stories/sare_stories/ha.shtml
New England Pest Management Association
(NEPMA) has created a program to recognize pest management professionals
who use IPM. The program requires registered practitioners to pass a written test covering IPM practices
and pest biology. Advanced IPM training sessions are available to
improve skills and prepare for the exam. Registered IPM businesses submit selected account records for
expert committee review of selected account records to verify IPM use. Applications now being accepted.
FMI: Craig Hollingsworth, NEPMA IPM Registry Coordinator, Department of Entomology, Agric. Eng. Bldg.,
UMass, Amherst MA 01003. Tel: 413 545-1055; Fax 413 545-5858; email.
New Jersey Guidelines for IPM Certification of Produce. Following the NY and Massachusetts models, Rutgers Cooperative Extension in cooperation with producers and retailers in the state have developed certification guidelines for beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucurbits (cucumbers, melons and summer squash), fresh market sweet corn, fresh market tomatoes, peas, peppers, pumpkins and winter squash, and snap beans. For more information, visit http://www.pestmanagement.rutgers.edu/IPM/ Vegetable/ guidelines.htm
New York State Elements of IPM site contains lists of IPM practices for more than twenty fruit and vegetable crops. The lists include a point-based scoring system, useful for measuring progress towards high-level IPM implementation. For more information, visit http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/elements/index.html
The Northeast Eco Apple Project, funded by EPA, Region 1 Strategic
Agriculture Initiative and an anonymous foundation, qualifies participating growers using a set of mandatory standards for ecological production in the Northeast. Grower adherence to these practices is verified by an on-site, independent third-party inspection prior to harvest. The standards were drafted by the IPM Institute with input from a working group including area growers and consultants, and scientists from UMass and Cornell. Eco Apples are distributed by Red Tomato, a non-profit based in Canton MA and working to preserve ecological agriculture in the Northeastern US. First harvest in 2005. Download the standards and protocol in PDF format here or see the Quick Guide version.
Ohio
Crop Elements: Integrated Pest Management Program website,
provided through the Ohio State University Extension, provides IPM
certification guidelines for eleven vegetable crops, five tree fruit crops and four
field crops including alfalfa, field corn, soybeans and wheat. Each
IPM definition contains information about educational IPM conditions, soil
and nutrient management and cultural practices, pesticides and pest
records, disease management, arthropod management and weed management
based on a comprehensive point system. Available on the web at http://ipm.osu.edu/element/index.htm.
For questions or for more information, contact the Ohio IPM Program,
Extension Entomology, 1991 Kenny Road, Columbus, OH 43210, Phone:
614-292-8358, Fax: 614-292-9783, e-mail.
Protected Harvest is the collaboration between the University of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association and World Wildlife Fund has resulted in the creation of a new eco-label, Protected Harvest. Raising consumer demand for biologically based IPM-produced products has been a goal of the collaboration from its inception. Collaboration measurement methods provide a solid foundation in the development of an eco-label for biointensive IPM grown potatoes. More information available at http://www.protectedharvest.org and http://ipcm.wisc.edu/bioipm/default.htm
The
Rainforest Alliance and the Conservation
Agriculture Network certify coffee, citrus and banana production for
ecosystem, wildlife, soil and water conservation, fair treatment of farm
workers, community relations, environmental planning, waste management and
minimal agrochemical use including IPM. Guidelines are available
on-line in English and Spanish. Nearly 100,000 acres of banana production have been certified to date. Read
"Chiquita
top banana with product certification" from Environmental News
Network. More, including guidelines, at http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/certification/index.html
Safety
Source for Pest Management is operated by Beyond
Pesticides, a non-profit education and advocacy organization.
Includes a directory of companies providing pest management services for
homes, commercial buildings, parks, golf courses and other locations.
Companies are eligible for listing if they have responded to a survey
developed by Beyond Pesticides and indicated that they use one or more
practices categorized by Beyond Pesticides as non-toxic or
least-toxic. The directory also provides advice on steps to take to
ensure the quality of service provided to you and links to information on
specific pesticides pest management service providers may propose to use
on your property. For more information, visit http://www.beyondpesticides.org/infoservices/pcos/index.htm
Responsible Choice is a Stemilt program modeled after Integrated Production standards developed in Europe, including a point system for rating pesticide selection based on applicator safety and environmental criteria. The program is designed to motivate and educate tree fruit producers, and addresses pest management, irrigation, fertilization and post-harvest practices and chemical use.
SYSCO, one of the U.S.' largest food distributor, has developed a Sustainable/Integrated Pest Management Program that has set a national standard for IPM adherence. In it's first year, 2005, the program reduced pesticide use by 300,000 pounds of active ingredients of pesticides. For more information, visit SYSCO's website at http://www.sysco.com/aboutus/aboutus_pestm.html. Also, read The Sustainable Food Laboratory's article about SYSCO at http://www.sustainablefood.org/article/articleview/12991/1/484.
University of Massachusetts IPM Guidelines
1999 Guidelines for a variety of fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, including a point system for self-evaluation. The UMass IPM label program, Partners with Nature, was one of the first programs of its kind and continues to serve as a model for IPM/sustainable marketing programs. For more information, visit
http://www.umass.edu/umext/programs/agro/ipm/ipm_guidelines/
The
US
Green Building Council LEED Standards for Existing Buildings help
building owners and operators measure operations, improvements and
maintenance on a consistent scale, with the goal of maximizing operational
efficiency while minimizing environmental impacts. LEED for Existing
Buildings addresses whole-building cleaning and maintenance issues
(including chemical use), recycling programs, exterior maintenance
programs, and systems upgrades. It can be applied both to existing
buildings seeking LEED certification for the first time and to projects
previously certified under LEED.
World Wildlife Canada's "Field to Table" Project has drawn on experience from Ontario, the U.S., and Europe to to developed a set of ecological guidelines for apple and potato production based on IPM. Each participating farmer accumulates points for ecological and pesticide reduction practices. The point system allows the farmer flexibility in management but sets a threshold below which produce no longer qualifies as being "ecologically grown." An independent inspector verifies the results before the produce an be accepted for the program. More at http://www.wwf.ca
