Foundation Earth, a new non-profit organization comprised of global food giants and the world’s top scientists, will ensure that environmental scores will be issued front-of-pack on food and drink products this coming September.
The foundation was launched with backing from the UK government. Partners of this project include global food giants Nestlé and Tyson Foods and European Commission’s EIT Food and household brands M & M&S, Sainsbury, Costa Coffee, and the Co-op.
Oxford and Queen’s University scientists joined forces with these European companies to form the landmark scientific committee of Foundation Earth. The goal of the formed foundation is to explore the potential of environmental labeling on food products and help build a more sustainable food industry.
Focused on Research
Nestlé is funding a nine-month intensive research and development program to prepare the foundation for a rollout in Europe for 2022. Among the first companies involved in this rollout is Finnebrogue Artisan. Finnebrogue Artisan, owners of Britain’s largest bacon brand “Naked” are adding eco-scores to their line of products this coming Autumn.
According to the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, the food industry already contributes to a massive 37% of global greenhouse gases. Without any intervention and added pressure by an increasing population demand, that percentage could grow substantially to 67% by 2050.
Foundation Earth’s primary focus is to present the information to consumers through a front-of-pack score on the food item packaging. By bringing together basic systems for measuring the environmental impact of food items, the foundation will be able to promote a more sustainable purchase for consumers while affecting food producers to promote a more environmentally-friendly innovation for their products and give them a better overall score.
What are the Benefits?
The pilot launch by the Foundation this autumn will implement a traffic-light style system developed by Oxford University, with added support from WWF. This pilot will run in conjunction with the program funded by Nestlé.
With a combination of Oxford’s method, a system created by an EU-funded consortium of Belgiums’ Leuven University, and the Spanish research agency AZTI, the scoring system is globally unique. They compare two similar products to be compared based on their merits.
It uses primary product data to encourage a more sustainable innovation to the food supply chain internationally.
Providing More Sustainable Buying Choices
Foundation Earth’s ambitious goals to develop this new eco-labeling system for food products can address climate change and sustainability issues on a global scale. As the government continues to support the food industry’s sustainability, the focus is aimed at curing carbon, water, and food waste in the food and drink sectors.
Having front-of-pack environmental scores on food products is another step towards cutting the carbon footprint of this industry and informing the consumer of their environmentally sound and informed purchases.
The development of this labeling system is a stepping stone to a more sustainable and transparent global food supply. It provides the consumer with products aimed at environmental integrity, which will ultimately benefit the planet’s health.
Foundation Earth will create the opportunity to test sound and accurate environmental footprint methodologies. It will also learn how the various products perform and how consumers respond to them. With environmental labeling long overdue, consumers now have clear and credible information through the initiatives of Foundation Earth.
FouScientists and Food Giants Join Forces to Create Environmental Scores for Food Products
Foundation Earth Project Leading the Way With Environmental Scores on Foods
Foundation Earth, a new non-profit organization composed of global food giants and the world’s top scientists, will ensure that environmental scores will be issued front-of-pack on food and drink products this coming September.
The foundation was launched with backing from the UK government. Partners on this project include Nestlé, Tyson Foods, M&S, Sainsbury, Costa Coffee, and the Co-op as well as the European Commission’s EIT Food.
Oxford and Queen’s University scientists joined forces with these European companies to form the landmark scientific committee of Foundation Earth. The goal of the formed foundation is to explore the potential of environmental labeling on food products and help build a more sustainable food industry.
Focused on Research
Nestlé is funding a nine-month intensive research and development program to prepare the foundation for a rollout in Europe for 2022. Among the first companies involved in this rollout is Finnebrogue Artisan. Finnebrogue Artisan, the owners of Naked—Britain’s largest bacon brand, are adding eco-scores to their line of products this coming autumn.
According to the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change, the food industry already contributes to a massive 37% of global greenhouse gases. Without any intervention and with added pressure by increasing population demand, that percentage could grow substantially to 67% by 2050.
Foundation Earth’s primary focus is to present the information to consumers through a front-of-pack score on the food item packaging. By bringing together basic systems for measuring the environmental impact of food items, the foundation will be able to promote a more sustainable purchase for consumers while encouraging food producers to provide more environmentally-friendly products.
What Are the Benefits?
The pilot launched by the Foundation this autumn will implement a traffic-light style system developed by Oxford University, with added support from WWF. This pilot will run in conjunction with the program funded by Nestlé.
With a combination of Oxford’s method and a system created by an EU-funded consortium of Belgium’s Leuven University and the AZTI Spanish research agency, the scoring system is globally unique. It uses primary product data to help the international supply chain become more sustainable.
Providing More Sustainable Buying Choices
Foundation Earth’s ambitious goals to develop this new eco-labeling system for food products can address climate change and sustainability issues on a global scale. As the government continues to support the food industry’s sustainability, the focus is aimed at curing carbon, water, and food waste in the food and drink sectors.
Having front-of-pack environmental scores on food products is another step towards cutting the carbon footprint of this industry and informing the consumer about environmentally sound and informed purchases.
The development of this labeling system is a stepping stone to a more sustainable and transparent global food supply. It provides the consumer with products aimed at environmental integrity, which will ultimately benefit the planet’s health.
Foundation Earth will create the opportunity to test sound and accurate environmental footprint methodologies. It will also learn how the various products perform and how consumers respond to them. With environmental labeling long overdue, consumers now have clear and credible information through the initiatives of Foundation Earth.
