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Sustainable Agriculture to Take Center Stage at Inaugural "Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution"
Sustainable Agriculture to Take Center Stage at Inaugural "Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution"
Published 02-17-09
Submitted by Waggener Edstrom
White River Junction, VT. - February 17, 2009 - The Sustainable Food Lab, a global network of business, public sector and civil society leaders working together to accelerate sustainability in mainstream food and agriculture, in conjunction with Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform and Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, today announced the debut of "Growing a 21st Century Agricultural Revolution", a three-day conference.
The inaugural event will take place at the Lansdowne Resort from March 18-20 in Lansdowne, Virginia. The highly interactive conference will bring together the world's leading food providers to develop practical and affordable solutions designed to accelerate the knowledge of sustainable agriculture practices to meet the future needs of global consumers. Players throughout the industry will be better able to align their goals, identify best practices, and measure results.
"It's unusual that companies that are traditionally competitors can come together and work toward a shared goal of mainstream sustainability," said Larry Pulliam, Executive Vice-President of SYSCO. "That's what the essence and power of this event is all about. We can do better and accomplish more together than we can by ourselves."
Featured speakers at this year's event include: Matt Kistler, Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Wal-Mart; Michael Montelongo Chief Administrative Officer, Sodexo; Jan-Kees Vis, Director of Sustainable Agriculture, Unilever; Rick Tolman, CEO, National Corn Growers Association; and Jason Clay, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Markets, World Wildlife Fund.
"We are gathering to drive results, align on sustainability goals for the whole industry and create a toolkit to achieve those goals. Â We will create agreements across the boundaries between farmers and retailers, environmentalists and manufacturers, development organizations and global buyers. The sustainability goals and toolkit resulting from this event will benefit from the power of influential players combined with the wisdom of diverse experts", said Hal Hamilton, Co-Director of the Sustainable Food Lab.
For the most current information about conference activities and registration details, please visit www.agrevolution.org.
About The Host Organizations
The Sustainable Food Lab (www.sustainablefoodlab.org) is a consortium of 70 businesses, NGOs and academic institutions from four continents that share a commitment to accelerate the shift of sustainable food from niche to mainstream in order to ensure a healthy future for the planet and its people. The organization was founded in 2004 to provide a venue for businesses and NGOs to share information, develop strategies and manage projects in a "safe space" collaborative environment.
The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform (www.saiplatform.org) is a food industry initiative which actively works to promote sustainable agriculture as a productive, competitive and efficient way of producing agricultural products, while at the same time protecting and improving the environmental, social and economic conditions of local communities.
Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (www.keystone.org) brings together stakeholders throughout the food and fiber production chain to identify and quantify key sustainability outcomes and metrics, foster industry-wide collaboration, and generate processes for continued improvement. The initiative is organized and facilitated by The Keystone Center, a non-profit dedicated to developing collaborative solutions to societal issues.
