Amid growing concerns about the food industry’s environmental sustainability and climate change impacts, FoodChain ID highlights the potential of regenerative agriculture to shift the status quo. The provider of integrated food safety, quality and sustainability services to the global agrifoods industry also points to the importance of transparency in creating safe, sustainable and healthy foods. 

Food Ingredients First discusses improving the industry’s environmental sustainability with Nate Ensrud, the company’s VP for Technical Operations. 

Ensrud says there is a broader understanding of the food industry’s impact on the planet. “We’ve talked about healthy food. Now we have to talk about a healthy planet.”

“The food industry accounts for a third of all the carbon emissions in the world; two-thirds of that happen at the farm level,” he details. He sees a significant opportunity to improve food sustainability, especially at the farm level, but this will require the entire food industry and will take time. 

“What’s unique is that for many industries, the best they can do is to get to zero carbon emissions. The food industry can do better than that. When you think about how we grow products, ensure forests remain in place and think about crops, we can harness the natural power of photosynthesis.” 

At the same time, he points to a staggering rate of innovation — “I can’t see wher it will stop.” 

“We continue to see unique flavor profiles and food applications, but increasingly, with companies thinking about health and wellness from the beginning, they’re building it into the product instead of trying to fix it after the fact.” 

Regenerative food systems

Ensrud says there is an increasing alignment around regenerative food systems in the industry. This philosophy aims to reverse the natural resource depletion caused by industrial farming and build healthy soils. 

“What we’re realizing as an industry is that doing a little bit better than what we’re doing isn’t enough. We must truly do good and help create a food system that isn’t just okay for the environment. We can be an additive and beneficial component to the environment.” 

Recently, Food Ingredients First talked to independent research company HowGood about its FieldScope tool that allows companies to calculate, report and receive credit for the environmental impact of sustainable farming practices. 

Over the last two or three years, he has seen increased agreement from industry stakeholders on how to define required practices for regenerative agriculture, which improves soil health and positively impacts environmental sustainability. 

FoodChain ID has partnered with the Regenerative Organic Alliance to expand the organization’s certification, which is becoming increasingly popular. He explains that this is essentially an addition to traditional organic certification. 

“But there are also companies that might not be fully organic or wouldn’t fully qualify for organic that are still implementing regenerative practices.” 

According to Ensrud, this is common, especially for smallholder farms or unique farming and agricultural operations. The company developed a Regenerative Agriculture Standard for these actors that applies the same regenerative principles. 

Non-GMO movement

Ensrud says sustainability is one of the founding principles of FoodChain ID. The organization also played an important role in the non-GMO movement, as it was the world’s first third-party laboratory testing for GMOs. 

“As there was an interest from consumers, advocates and many different stakeholders in establishing a non-GMO food supply, we knew we needed to be able to detect if GMOs were being used. We helped establish a laboratory that could do that testing and develop those first DNA testing methods to identify the presence of GMOs.” 

The company also wrote the first non-GMO standard and was the founding technical administrator for the Non-GMO Project. This not-for-profit is a third-party verifier for non-GMO products. Its butterfly seal indicates that a product is made with the minimal use of genetically modified ingredients. 

“We wanted to help to establish a sustainable food supply that utilized the practices that had always been used to grow food,” says Ensrud. “We’re finding that those practices have been put in place throughout the food industry.”  

“But we also know, given wher we’re at with the planet, that we must take it a step further and go beyond organic and non-GMO to truly regenerative food systems.” 

Safe and transparent food system

He highlights that organic and non-GMO labeling are both elements of transparency. “It’s about knowing what goes into your products and how they’re made.” 

“That’s the idea of making high-quality, safe and tasty food. We all want food that tastes good but is also healthy for us. Healthy isn’t just about not making you sick but is also good for you. Now we’re talking about what is good for the planet.” 

Ensrud also points to the importance of continuous improvement in food safety, wher transparency and information sharing play key roles. 

“A lot of the work we do in food safety is about identifying wher we’re still seeing issues and sharing that information so that companies can make smart decisions about their ingredient sourcing, supply chains and how they make their products. Safety is always part of that.”