T R A N S F O R M I N G T H E 2 1 S T C E N T U RY F O O D S Y S T E M
M O V I N G T O WA R D S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y WO R K I N G T O R E D U C E O U R E C O L O G I CA L F O O T P R I N T Clif Bar Sustainability Newsletter / Winter 2010
When Clif Bar & Company received an invitation to Washington, DC to address the question, “How can we drive change toward more
Welcome to the 2010 issue of Moving Toward Sustainability, celebrating nearly a decade of environmental work at Clif Bar & Company.
sustainable agriculture?” we jumped at the chance.
In honor of this ten-year milestone, I wanted to share a personal story from Nepal that deeply influenced my thoughts on business and
Following the publication of a groundbreaking report, Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century, the National Research Council, USDA, and Organic Farming Research Foundation (among others) held a symposium at the National Press Club to discuss its findings. The audience, comprised of scientists and leaders from university agriculture programs and government agencies, was there to discuss the findings of the report, which recognized two distinct approaches to improving sustainability in agriculture: incremental and transformative. The incremental approach involves making conventional farming systems more efficient by using less fertilizer and pesticides to increase yields. And while this would be an improvement over the current situation, we support a transformative approach, such as organic, which regards the system as an integrated whole and uses biological methods to produce multiple benefits simultaneously. For instance, replacing chemical fertilizers with compost not only improves soil fertility, it also increases the soil’s ability to hold water, preventing water pollution and providing more drought-resilience. In addition, organic farming can: • Help protect people from exposure to toxic chemicals • Provide livable income to farm families • Conserve biodiversity • Fight global warming
On behalf of Clif Bar & Company, I went to bat for organic in Washington. I reminded the audience that consumers are driving the demand for healthy, natural food. In 2009 they spent over $25 billion on organic products, according to the Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey. In addition, I pointed out that contamination from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) presents a serious threat to farmers, and to the USDA organic brand. I shared the story of Clif’s commitment to sustainability throughout the supply chain, from the field to the final product. And when I told them our respect for nature extends to company policies that encourage people to bring their dogs to work, the audience cheered. I’m proud to be part of a company that operates on a transformative model, via our Five Aspirations. We serve as a bridge between health-conscious consumers and innovative farmers, and we will continue to strengthen this connection to help create a more healthy, just, and sustainable food system.
Elysa Hammond, Director of Environmental Stewardship
my journey in life. I’ve told it many times over the years, most recently when I accepted the Global Green USA Millennium Award for Corporate Environmental Leadership on behalf of all our efforts here at Clif Bar. Thanks for reading.
In the fall of 1982, after traveling for nearly a year around the world, I ended up in Nepal hoping to climb a few modest 20,000 peaks with a friend. In preparation for the climb, I trekked around acclimatizing to the Himalayan Mountains and culture and found myself trailing a climbing expedition headed for one of the highest peaks in the world, Dhaulagiri. The expedition included six climbers, 10 Sherpas, and over 200 porters carrying 20,000 pounds of equipment, tents, climbing gear, food, oxygen bottles, and more. All this effort – people and stuff – was dedicated to the hope of getting one or two climbers to the summit. I had climbed many peaks by this time in my life but never using so many resources and so much energy. Then I saw the base camps of Dhaulagiri and other Himalayan peaks. Whether they succeed or fail, these expeditions leave behind literally tons of garbage – abandoned tents, sleeping bags, ropes, empty food containers, and thousands and thousands of oxygen bottles. This experience blew me away. Why would these climbers, who consider themselves environmentally conscious, leave behind so much waste, polluting and degrading some of the most majestic and sacred places in the world?
Knowing many of these climbers personally, I started to ask that question. The answer goes something like this: “These mountains are so big. It’s just too risky and too much work to bring everything back down. It’s hard enough to summit, let alone clean up.” My answer to that is, “If you can’t summit without cleaning up behind you, then don’t climb that mountain.” That’s the same way I feel about business. If getting to the top – or making the bottom line – means you can’t do it without polluting the earth, then don’t climb that mountain. Climb another mountain, or learn to climb a different way. That’s what we’re choosing to do at Clif Bar: Climb a different mountain and climb a different way. Every business makes an impact on the environment, and Clif Bar is far from perfect. But we are making a daily effort to understand our ecological footprint, and we are taking one step at a time to reduce that impact.
Gary Erickson, Co-Owner, Clif Bar & Company
The USDA defines organic agriculture as a system based on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.
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Gary trekking in Nepal in 1982, in front of Dhaulagiri
Literally tons of garbage is left behind at climbers’ base camps in the Himalayan Mountains. photo: Liesl Clark