Monetize your environmental benefits.
Sustainability isn’t just good for the land—it’s good business. Position your farm for premium markets and programs that reward responsible practices with 5–50% higher price points.
From sustainability documentation and certification to value-based storytelling and incentive programs, learn how to turn your ecological investments into market success.
With growing concern about the impact of production systems on the environment, many efforts have been made to shift both producer and consumer behavior. Ecolabelling is one approach that aims to (1) inform consumers about the environmental impact of their consumption patterns and (2) encourage producers to improve the environmental sustainability of their products and…
Alternative food networks (AFNs) aim to help connect food consumers with food producers in the hope that the resocialization of consumption will drive change within the food system. Such changes are generally geared towards promoting social and environmental sustainability. However, even with holistic intentions, alternative food networks [AFNs] are not without their challenges, limitations, and…
As the world’s population grows and alternative values and interests come to light, the name- and facelessness of current approaches to agricultural production have become a point of contention and are less and representative of contemporary societal values (1). As a response, localism has become a standard component of emerging social and technological trends. Localism…
The world that we live in seems to change at an ever faster pace. We attribute this to technology…but how did technology become so pervasive in our everyday lives? What role has science played in this evolution? And, how do science and technology impact one another? The concept of technoscience helps us to understand this…
“Neoliberalism is hard to define. It could refer to intensified resource extraction, financialization, austerity, or something more ephemeral – a way of life – in which collective ideals of citizenship give way to marketized individualism and consumerism.” Greg Grandin The twentieth century was a complicated time period in the United States. It began with the…
In the United States, a farm is considered a business that earns a minimum of $1,000 rearing livestock or growing crops for food, fiber, and feed. According to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, farm business can be set up in three ways. The first option is a sole proprietorship where an individual or married…
Product labeling is a tool for promoting markets with specific characteristics. The labels provide information about those characteristics that might normally be unobservable or difficult to assess. If systematically and structurally implemented, labels are a source of reliable and credible information. Ecolabels are a specific type of product labeling that certifies the environmental performance of…
In 1920, more than half of the United States’ population were farmers. They lived a peasant life in rural communities and were skilled in a range of animal rearing and crop production skills. Farmers tended to embrace natural complementaries between the unique components of the farm to establish healthy food production systems. Most farm work…
Historically speaking, social exclusion was first linked with the concept of poverty as poverty was believed to be the cause of a group’s inability to fully integrate and function within society. Poverty was initially measured in absolutes, meaning that there was a specific monetary threshold below which an individual or group was considered to be…
Although we are often made to think that we should “go it alone”, we are in fact not alone. We are all part of a larger system that comprised of many unique and interconnected parts. Often, if we strive to become more integrated into our environment, we gain some sort of benefit whether it be…