Blog for People, Food and Nature

April 29, 2013

C.A.F.E. Ole: Starbucks and Sustainable Sourcing at the Landscape Level

Gabrielle Kissinger Lexeme Consulting Rachel Friedman

Editor’s note: The following is the last case study featured in the Landscapes Initiative’s Reducing Risk: Landscapes Approaches to Sustainable Sourcing report. These case studies are meant to demonstrate how a landscape approach can benefit businesses and supply chains by managing environmental and social risks at the landscape level. Even as Starbucks dominates the c ...
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April 26, 2013

Bringing Business Onboard

For the past few weeks, business has been the topic of focus on the Landscapes Blog. Centered around the Landscapes Initiative’s launch of Reducing Risk: Landscape Approaches to Sustainable Sourcing, the Blog has highlighted examples demonstrating a business case for more integrated approaches to agricultural land and supply chain management. Moreover, there are a growing ...
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April 24, 2013

Now on Tap: How SABMiller is Brewing a Better Future in Bogota

Today marks the launch of the Landscapes Initiative’s “Reducing Risk: Landscapes Approaches to Sustainable Sourcing” report. The report aims to demonstrate how a landscape approach can benefit businesses and supply chains by mitigating risks. Best practices are highlighted in three case studies, each an example of a unique approach to proactively managing en ...
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April 22, 2013

Growing Better Sugarcane: A Model in Brazil

The air is hot; the fields dry and dusty from last year’s sugarcane stalks now tilled back into the earth. As far as the eye can see the landscape is cultivated with soya beans, sugarcane, corn and pasture. This is central São Paulo state, Brazil. And here it is apparent what impact fast-expanding commodities, such […] ...
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April 18, 2013

Olam International and the Triple Bottom Line in Action

While environmental externalities have traditionally been ignored by the business community, for agribusiness in particular, natural feedback loops have started to turn these nuisances into actual line item expenses. In our upcoming report Reducing Risk: A Landscape Approach to Sustainable Sourcing, we focus on three organizations that are proving that good stewardship at the l ...
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April 16, 2013

Businesses and the Landscape Approach: Achieving Real Sustainability

Lee Gross EcoAgriculture Partners

By now most everyone is familiar with eco-certifications of some kind: USDA Organic, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM are just a few we have been living with for at least a decade. But as these types of sustainability initiatives proliferate, expanding to new commodities and having larger impacts on supply chains and […] ...
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April 12, 2013

Economics, Markets and Incentives for Livelihoods and Landscapes

“Landscapes do not exist in a vacuum, but are influenced by a wide range of external factors including policies and economic conditions generated far outside it…” Businesses operate in the realm of markets, and this week the Sustainable Food Lab brings together many of these market actors to discuss sustainability within their supply chains. However, [… ...
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April 8, 2013

Money Does Grow on Trees: Why Sustainability is Good for Business

In an increasingly globalized environment, the impact that worldwide trends have on businesses has never been greater. Over the past decade, rising prices for land and energy  have cut into businesses’ bottom-line, making current business procedures unsustainable for the long term. It is only by marrying business savvy with sustainable production that business can maximize ...
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April 5, 2013

Botanic Gardens for Tree Conservation and Forest Restoration in Africa

By Kirsty Shaw, Conservation Officer at Botanic Gardens Conservation International, United Kingdom Rounding out a week focused on forests and trees, today’s guest post introduces the work of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) on forested landscape restoration in Africa. Wednesday’s author described how non-native plants contribute to livelihoods as well as bi ...
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April 3, 2013

Melting Pots of Biodiversity: Native and Introduced Plants in Tropical Smallholder Farming Landscapes

By Christian Kull, Associate Professor at Monash University, Australia For the past week the Landscapes Blog has taken a closer look at trees and forests in the context of agricultural landscapes. While there is often an emphasis on native vegetation in conserving or restoring landscapes, introduced species of plants play a significant role in shaping […] ...
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