Food Industry IPM Summit/Communications in IPM Workshop

The food production, processing and distribution industry has assumed a major role in advancing stewardship. Several new, large-scale initiatives are underway.

Goals for the meeting were simple:

Share information
Provide a networking opportunity
Explore opportunities for ongoing collaboration

Drivers for organizing the gathering included opportunities to:

Improve efficiency
Reduce costs
Enhance impacts, outcome measurement and communication to wholesale buyers and consumers

Organized by the IPM Institute of North America. Co-sponsored by the US EPA Environmental Stewardship Branch, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, Tom Brennan, Chief; and the National Science Foundation Center for IPM, Ron Stinner, director.

Invitees included industry and public agency leaders pursuing IPM and sustainable agriculture to improve impacts on health and environment.

Agenda and Links to Presentations
Discussion Notes Including Priorities
Action Steps and Contacts
Related Programs
Related References
Related Pages on this Website

Location:
EPA Potomac Yards Conference Center, Arlington, VA.

AGENDA AND LINKS TO PRESENTATIONS

August 1

7:30 Registration, coffee

8:00 Welcome from EPA Offices, Tom Brennan, Chief, Stewardship Branch US EPA OPP BPPD

8:20 Introductions, agenda and materials review

8:50 Overview of industry stewardship initiatives and issues, Tom Green, President, IPM Institute PDF (12 pp, 3.23MB)

9:00 Snapshots of current programs from field production to processing, distribution and retail: Origins, goals, status, near-term plans

1. SYSCO Sustainable Agriculture, Craig Watson, Vice President of Quality Assurance and Agricultural Sustainability, SYSCO

2. Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Program, David Pendlington, Sustainable Agriculture Program Coordinator
Video download available at: http://www.growingforthefuture.com/pages/welcome.html

PDF (18 pp, 316 KB)

10:00 Break

3. Developments in Facility Pest Management, Tom Green
PDF (9 pp, 942KB)

4. National Food Products Association/Grocery Manufacturers Association. Paul Noe, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs

5. Sustainability from a Consumer Perspective, Kate Peringer, Marketing Communications Manager, Hartman Group
PDF (15 pp, 4.31 MB)

6. Buy/by IPM Campaign. What’s it all about? Sue Ratcliffe, University of Illinois

7. IPM Implementation through NRCS Incentives, Task Force Update on, Mike Fitzner, Director, Plant Systems, USDA CSREES

11:30 Lunch

12:30 Open discussion - see comments below
How can we improve efficiency and impacts by increasing communication and collaboration?

Where do we have opportunities to reduce duplication of effort by producers, processors, distributors and retailers?

How can we improve impacts by targeting areas of greatest need/potential?

How can we improve impacts measurement and reporting?

How can public agencies provide support and incentives?

What’s the potential for preferential purchasing of well-documented IPM/sustainable goods and services by public agencies?

Can we develop common messages to consumers to improve the accuracy and scope of consumer perceptions about sustainable agriculture and food systems?

How can we move “green” pest management for food-related facilities forward?

What tools do we need to improve pesticide product selection to minimize impacts on health and environment?

How do we enhance synergies with existing programs including USDA Organic, Food Alliance, Protected Harvest, etc.?

What’s our potential to collaborate with international trading partners?

What are near-term potentials for addressing food safety concerns in conjunction with sustainability/stewardship efforts?

3:30 Next steps - see action items and contacts below

4:00 Adjourn

August 2, 2007

7:30 Registration, coffee, EPA Potomac Yard Conference Center

8:00 Welcome & Introductions Ron Stinner, Director,

NSF Center for IPM

8:20 Overview of Aug 1 Food Industry/Public Agency Summit: Tom Green, President, IPM Institute

Reporting Out: Opportunities and Challenges

Public Agency Perspective – Tom Brennan, EPA

Buy-Side Perspective – David Pendlington, Sustainable Agriculture Program Coordinator, Unilever

Processor Perspective - Steve Balling, Director, Agricultural Services, Del Monte

Sustainability from a Consumer Perspective– Kate Peringer, Hartman Group

9:30 Standards - Kathleen Staley, Senior Advisor for Quality Management, USDA Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) & Good Handling Practices (GHP)

9:45 Role of Federal Agency Standards Executives - Mary McKiel, Standards Executive, US EPA

10:00 Break

10:20 Panel Presentation & Discussion: Performance Measurement and Reporting

IPM Elements and Guidelines – Curt Petzoldt, Assistant Director, New York State IPM Program PDF (18 pp, 2.34 MB)

SYSCO Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Reporting Elements – Shane Sampels, Director, Quality Assurance, SYSCO

National IPM Evaluation Group – Unified Reporting for Outputs/Outcomes, Bill Hoffman, National Program Leader, Ag Homeland Security, USDA CSREES

11:50 Lunch (provided)

1:00 Panel Presentation & Discussion: Perspectives from the Food Chain

Moderator: Steve Muench, United Soybean Board

Lynoaken Farm and Richard Yudin, Fyffes

Perspective on EurepGAP and buyer-requested programs, Darrel Oakes,

National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Jean-Marie Peltier, President PDF (22 pp, 971 KB)

Technological Solutions, Jon Forbis, Jennifer Shaw, Syngenta Crop Protection PDF (14 pp, 1.61 MB)

2:15 Break

2:30 Open Discussion and Questions - see comments below

4:00 Building Communication Bridges and Partnerships - What next?
Summary of meeting - Ron Stinner and Tom Green

4:30 Adjourn

DISCUSSION NOTES

Collaboration on Standards

This work should not be used for competitive advantage. Sustainable ag should become the standard for how food is produced.
Only small niche markets are willing to support these efforts as value added.
Simplification and standardization are needed. Voluntary, consensus-based minimum standards would ease confusion and make it easier for everyone.
It will take a lot of networking to make consensus standards happen. A follow up meeting is needed.
AIB, USDA, Primus and other food safety audits lack harmonization.
Eurepgap could be basis for harmonized standard, could head off US supermarkets requiring a different audits.
Green Shield Certified could be a standard for IPM at processing facilities.
Don’t prescribe practices but set basic principles and outcomes.

Consumer Communications

Consumer communication should be holistic, addressing the process more than the product.
Lots of disagreement on what should be communicated and to whom.
“Consumer” targets for communication are found at all levels including wholesale and retail. Business to business communication can be very efficient use of resources.
IPM is part of the larger sustainable picture and needs to be repositioned that way rather than a stand-alone.
By/Buy IPM could be a tool to give credit to suppliers of goods and services who use IPM. Industry needs way to take credit for large investment in IPM.
Need to avoid products that look like NASCAR with lots of labels.
Fiddling with brands is like fiddling with the crown jewels, we don’t want to do anything.
Consumers want to do their part but not make big sacrifices.
Organic and Dolphin Safe are working as labels, others are not. Consumers are bombarded with labels.
We need to communicate the work we’ve already done more effectively.
Common messages could include safety, healthy, local, fair trade, value of ag for open space, real science, meaningful impacts, connection to producer. Keep it simple. PSAs possible vehicle.
To consumers, sustainability can mean ability to stay in business and not leaving world a better place for the next generation; local can mean knowing where the product came from, not that it came from nearby.

Public Agency Roles

Public agencies can serve as a repository for impact data collection.
Public agencies can contribute to credibility.
Collaboration between private industry is needed. Public agencies can help facilitate that.
Science basis for programs and communications is essential. Agencies can help provide that.
Green suppliers initiative at EPA is a real lever.
Public agencies including Land Grant universities can provide interpretation of data collected from private sector efforts.

Priorities:

voluntary, consensus-based minimum standards
IPM tactics, IPM Elements/Guidelines for all crops
site-specific layers of information on best practices and impacts
targeted efforts that can deliver greatest impact to use limited resources efficiently
more education for pest advisors
more resources for unbiased research and Extension
multi-industry collaboration
user-friendly info on impacts
pesticide user incentive programs
cost benefit analysis of sustainability initiatives
harmonized performance measures and reporting requirements
efficient traceability tools
standardization of practices and reporting for processing facilities
education for CEOs and marketing executives on sustainability
requirements for IPM in all government procurement
support package of information for growers, processors, distributors, retailers on issues, resources
retailer participation in standards development

ACTION STEPS AND CONTACTS
1. EPA plans to increase coordination among EPA offices on efforts involving the food industry. Ideas include a brochure explaining the various offices with roles in food production. Contact Tom Brennan, branch chief, Environmental Stewardship Branch, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, US EPA.

2. A committee will be formed to pursue development of baseline, harmonized standards for sustainable agriculture and food processing. EPA supports and wants to assist industry's lead role in the development of standards. Contact Mike Mendelsohn, senior regulatory specialist, Environmental Stewardship Branch, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, US EPA..

3. Increase the visibility of IPM Elements and Guidelines for use in IPM education and assessment tools for producers and programs; increase the number of these documents. Tom Green, IPM Institute and Carrie Koplinka Loehr, Northeastern IPM Center.

4. Reactivate the Food Processing Sector of the EPA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program, schedule follow up conference call to identify additional potential members and develop a sector strategy for the coming year. Contact Frank Ellis, entomologist, Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of Pesticide Programs, US EPA.

5. Pursue partners and develop Buy IPM/By IPM program as a mechanism to increase consumer and taxpayer awareness and appreciation for IPM, and to recognize top IPM performers in the food production and other sectors. Contact Sue Ratcliffe, co-director, North Central IPM Center.

RELATED PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS
Global Reporting Initiative - A multi-stakeholder organization founded on the conviction that consistent, regular and comparable reporting provides transparency and can be a powerful catalyst to improve performance. A Sustainability Reporting Framework developed by the group provides guidance to organizations for disclosure about their sustainability performance, and also provides stakeholders a universally-applicable, comparable framework in which to understand the information presented. Link.

Keystone Center - The Center has launched an effort to identify practices for increasing production agriculture’s sustainability with a focus on results. The goal is to give growers diverse, economically viable production choices to employ to achieve the broadest possible adoption. Contact Sara Alexander, Keystone Center. Link.

Sustainable Food Lab. The mission of the Sustainable Food Lab is to accelerate improvement in mainstream food and agriculture systems so we can sustain a high quality life on earth. Link.

Sustainable Products Initiative - Led by the non-profit National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, this effort focuses on reducing the environmental impacts of products, particularly where life cycle impacts are greater than production process impacts.

SYSCO Sustainable/IPM Initiative - This effort, begun in 2003 and developed jointly with suppliers, aims to improve and document impacts on health and environment. More than 79 processed fruit and vegetable suppliers and 512,000 acres are participating in supplier sustainable ag program development, independent third-party audits of processing and production operations, and annual performance indicators reporting. An annual program conference Link.

USDA IPM Centers - Four regional IPM Centers have been created to strengthen USDA's connection with production agriculture, research and extension programs, and agricultural stakeholders throughout the US. USDA and EPA recognize the need for a pest management information network that can quickly respond to information needs of the public and private sectors. Regional IPM Centers help USDA and its partner institutions identify, prioritize and coordinate a national pest management research, extension, and education program implemented on a regional basis. Link.

USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education program (SARE) - funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems. SARE provides funding opportunities annually through four regions in a competitive process, and maintains an on-line database of funded projects. SARE serves as an information clearinghouse for handbooks, free bulletins and other publications. Link.

US EPA Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program - EPA established PESP in 1994 as a voluntary partnership program to reduce pesticide risk. By joining PESP, organizations pledge that environmental stewardship is an integral part of pest management and commit to working toward innovative practices that reduce risk to human health and the environment. Link.

US EPA Strategic Ag Initiative - SAI's primary goal is to assist in Food Quality Protection Act implementation through partnerships with regional pesticide users, educators, researchers and others. SAI provides grant funding to state and non-profit organizations for projects which emphasize the evaluation and implementation of reduced risk strategies. Link.

RELATED REFERENCES
Dlott, J., Gunders, D., Arnold, A. 2006. Sustainability Trends in the Agrifood Sector. 22 pp. SureHarvest Sustainability Solutions, Soquel, CA. PDF.(12 pp, 176 KB)

Pirog, R. and A. Larson. 2007. Consumer Perceptions of the safety, health, and environmental impact of various scales and geographic origin of food supply chains. Leopold Center, Iowa State University. PDF. (45 pp, 857 KB)

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