Environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) reporting is now the expectation for major businesses, including those in agri-food, like McDonald’s. Can hog farmers, working with genetics companies, be part of the solution?
Less than a year ago, I led protein sustainability at McDonald’s U.S. Now, I’m spearheading new product marketing for PIC: one of the world’s premier pig genetics companies.
PIC is on a mission to demonstrate how advanced breeding technologies that produce healthy, robust and efficient pigs can help stakeholders throughout the value chain reduce carbon emissions and meet ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Genetics play a significant role in a sustainable food system, and their positive impacts have been overlooked for far too long. PIC recently announced a partnership with the U.S. National Pork Board to create a framework that will provide a pathway for corporations and pork producers to claim the environmental impact of genetic improvements.
Let’s start from the beginning.
McDonald’s was the first global restaurant company to publicly announce a science-based target to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The company’s sustainability goals were ambitious, and my role was clear: work alongside suppliers – some of the world’s largest protein companies – to identify and implement strategies to reduce carbon emissions from the company’s supply chain.