A National Environmental Sustainability Tool (NEST) was launched by Egg Farmers of Canada in mid-February, to further support the organization’s sustainability initiative.
NEST is an online, sustainability assessment tool designed specifically for Canadian egg farmers to manage their environmental footprints. It assesses producers’ sustainability ratings, evaluates the factors that affect environmental performance, allows comparisons with similar farms locally or nationally, and creates strategies to increase a farmer’s standing within the application.
“With the growing demand and uses of eggs comes the responsibility to produce eggs sustainably, which is why our nation’s egg sector and our hard-working egg farmers from coast to coast remain committed to continually improving operations and practices and why we invest in innovation and new tools like NEST,” stated Tim Lambert, CEO of Egg Farmers of Canada.
“The development of NEST is part of our broader, holistic vision of sustainability. As egg farming continues to grow, enabling more sustainable agriculture will continue to play a central role in securing a strong, prosperous future for the industry and for Canada.”
Sustainability initiatives
To support its commitment to improving the sustainable growth of the egg industry, Egg Farmers of Canada has published its inaugural Sustainability Report with contributions from 1,000 egg farmers. Based on survey results, the report identifies priority issues for producers, including performance metrics for sustainability commitments and improvement goals.
The scope of the report is driven by current sustainability programs such as the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards and is based off data collected from egg farmers in 2019.
According to the report, Egg Farmers of Canada bases its mission off five pillars:
- Protecting the health and welfare of hens
- Delivering safe and quality eggs to Canadians
- Finding new ways to make egg production more environmentally sound
- Enhancing the well-being of others
- Empowering our people
