Since 1987, the Rainforest Alliance, headquartered in New York City, has set standards for land use (PDF) that promote sustainability, conserve wildlife and wild land, and promote the well-being of workers and communities. On April 15th they announced they have now certified over one million acres of farmland, spread over 18 countries, as being compliant with their environmental, social and economic standards. The farms are primarily but not exclusively in Latin America and include land in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Tanzania, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Philippines, Nicaragua, Ivory Coast, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Kenya, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Their certification is no small thing to achieve. Requirements range from land and soil management techniques to water conservation to worker protection and education initiatives. And while they do certify farms that use agrochemicals, they also require a commitment to minimizing the use of agrochemicals, with a goal of eliminating them completely. Growth of transgenic crops is forbidden.
Despite these stringent requirements, the Alliance saw 143% growth over the last year in Rainforest Alliance Certification of farm land. With 25,731 certified farms, they are impacting around 2 million farmers. Their Rainforest Certified coffee, bananas and cocoa sales are about $1.2 billion, further demonstrating the commitment of conscious consumers to buying sustainable goods, as well as their growing ranks. They also certify citrus, tea, fern and cut flowers. Their coffee sales, in particular, have been averaging 93% growth every year for the past 5 years. They have accomplished this rapid growth by establishing relationships with a number of major food producers and retailers to buy and sell Rainforest Certified products, including Kraft Foods, Caribou Coffee, Unilever, Whole Foods Market, Chiquita, Dole, Costco, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, Café Bom Dia, innocent drinks, McDonald’s in Europe, Tchibo, Tesco and UCC Ueshima Coffee Company, as well as a number of smaller retailers.
At a time when it is getting more difficult to distinguish nefarious health and environmental claims like “all natural”, “green” or “environmentally friendly”, certification programs like those offered by the Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade are a great help to consumers that want to do the right thing. In fact, both organizations are members of the ISEAL Alliance. The two organizations have different but complementary approaches with Fairtrade guaranteeing a price that farm owners will receive for their goods, while the Rainforest Alliance focuses on making sure farms are managed sustainably, taking into account environmental, social and economic factors. It is not unusual for a farm with one certification to also carry the other.
The Rainforest Alliance also works with corporations, including Fortune 500 companies like Xerox, CostCo and Whole Foods, on sustainable supply chain issues, as well as with the tourism industry in Latin America on working toward achieving regional sustainability certification for minimizing land impact and working toward sustainable supply chain management. They also work with the various regional certifying bodies to encourage collaboration, share information and work toward common standards. These relationships not only have a positive impact on ethical and sustainable business practices, but they effect consumers that may not even be aware of the impact, positive and negative, of the goods they purchase. Despite the tremendous growth of the conscious consumer movement, getting businesses on board so that sustainable products are not niche but are the norm is increasingly important as globalization continues to spread environmental degradation and social inequality. Relying strictly on consumers to drive the market place is not enough. We must engage corporations to integrate sustainability at every level.
Despite this accomplishment, the organization is not resting on its laurels. “The Rainforest Alliance has made huge strides since it began two decades ago with the idea of using market forces to conserve forestlands,” said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance. “In the next few years, we hope to increase consumer awareness about the importance of buying goods that were produced sustainably, reach out to governments to encourage them to provide incentives for sustainable production and procurement, and build on our work with key partners in the financial sector. We hope to make sustainability the rule, not the exception, among farmers, foresters, consumers and companies of all sizes.”
No small undertaking, but one that is desperately needed.
