When you look back at the history of the poultry and egg industries, we can claim with great confidence that we meet a standard of sustainability. However, today’s paradigm for sustainability is much more holistic than it once was.
It is no longer sufficient to claim we are sustainable solely by being net neutral on the consumption of natural resources. Now, an organization’s focus on sustainability must consider every link of its value chain and address the broad spectrum of societal concerns. This makes sustainability and social responsibility one in the same.
An organization for social responsibility and sustainability
Social responsibility is an established, critical component of how privately held companies do business. Now, society expects it to be addressed on an industry level. In response to this, the poultry meat and egg industries recently crossed a milestone on the path to greater sustainability.
After working for years to structure an organization that will examine and expand efforts to be socially responsible, the poultry and egg industries recently formalized the creation of the Poultry and Egg Industry Sustainability and Welfare Foundation. The foundation is comprised of two groups that were at one point working simultaneously, but individually, to create multi-stakeholder programs to address animal welfare and sustainability issues for the poultry and egg industries.
Rather than compete for engagement from the same pool of companies and organizations, the two groups – the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs (US-RSPE) and the International Poultry Welfare Alliance (IPWA) – decided to unify their efforts. Within the past two months, the foundation has established a board of trustees that will prioritize and coordinate program development coming from IPWA and US-RSPE.
Introducing Ryan Bennett
In addition, the foundation hired Ryan Bennett to serve as executive director. Bennett formerly served as the senior director of industry and environmental affairs at the National Milk Producers Federation, where he managed the National Dairy Farmer's Assuring Responsible Management Program, which evaluates animal care, antibiotic use, environmental stewardship, and worker health and safety. In his new role, Bennett will build membership through recruitment within the shared value chain constituency groups for both organizations, including production and processing, retail and food service, allied industry, and research and civil society.
With the development of the foundation, the poultry and egg industries’ aspiration to advance, support and communicate continuous improvement in sustainability and animal welfare through leadership, innovation, multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration is much closer to becoming a reality.
To learn more about the foundation, please feel free to contact Ryan Bennett at [email protected] or Paul Bredwell at [email protected].
