WWF AND BEEF INDUSTRY LEADERS SEEK ADVANCEMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE BEEF PRODUCTION

August 3rd, 2010

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and global leaders from the beef industry today announced their intent to bring together the full breadth of industry stakeholders to move global beef production to a more sustainable system through open and balanced dialogue.

The Global Conference on Sustainable Beef hopes to serve as a unique forum to review current sustainability practices and begin to build alignment around key impacts, both positive and negative, of the beef system.

“On a finite planet, sustainability is as important to long-term business success as it is for conservation and protecting wildlife” said Jason Clay, senior vice president of markets at WWF.

He continued:

“By carrying out a dialogue with broad representation of all stakeholders in the global beef system, we can make great strides in expanding best practices and developing strong global standards for sustainable beef production.”

Cargill, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, JBS, McDonald’s and WWF will convene stakeholders and work to establish a process that may result in developing global voluntary, market-based standards for the beef industry.

Possible next steps following the conference include expanding local multi-stakeholder programs that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible as well as the creation of Regional Sustainable Beef Roundtables to guide the development of standards for sustainable beef production.

With global populations expected to peak at more than 9 billion by 2050, there is growing interest in sustainability and securing natural resources for the benefit of people, the planet and wildlife.

The global organizations convening this conference each have a stake in making the beef system more sustainable.

These leaders will come prepared for a constructive dialogue about how to improve industry sustainability by exploring and clarifying the environmental, economic and social impacts of a sustainable beef system.

Through this approach, stakeholders will share better management practices to drive continuous improvement in sustainability of the beef system.

Jessica Droste Yagan, director of Sustainable Supply for McDonald’s said:

“McDonald’s is proud to work with stakeholders throughout the beef industry on efforts aimed at addressing sustainability in beef production globally

We recognize that beef production has significant impacts on the environment, people, and animals – positive and negative, and believe that all beef production systems can make important contributions towards improved sustainability.”

The Conference program, developed to encourage dialogue and build partnerships, will include a series of panel discussions, plenary sessions and breakout meetings.

The conference is currently structured around three key pillars:
1) Science and Research: participants will present research and identify top sustainability production challenges and opportunities;
2) Better Management Practices: participants will share experiences, practices and operations, addressing hurdles and solutions along the way; and
3) Dialogue: participants will work to increase alignment around the key impacts of the beef system and identify approaches that promote sustainable beef practices worldwide.
The conference website can be found at www.SustainableLivestock.com, where news, program descriptions, outcomes and speaker details will appear leading up to and following the event.

The event will take place from November 1-3 in Denver, Colorado.

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2 Responses to “WWF AND BEEF INDUSTRY LEADERS SEEK ADVANCEMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE BEEF PRODUCTION”

  1. Jane Easton Says:
    August 4th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    Can you actually stoop any lower? Words fail me. What about the animals? What about the environment – most of the world’s food is used to feed farmed animals in order to get the most inefficient ratio of plant foods to animal protein imaginable. What about water depletion? Farmed animals and all the sub-industries associated with their ‘production’ are water guzzlers par excellence. What about the CO2 emissions? What about the lagoons of slurry? What about – well, you know the arguments as well as I do and that the United Nations is urging people to move towards a veggie or vegan diet. So why aren’t you promoting THAT rather than licking the shoes of McDonald’s et al? Shame on you. I will tell everyone I know to avoid you like the planetary and ethical plague you are!

  2. Simon Jones Says:
    August 8th, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    Jane, avoid who? This is the FDIN website, a food and drink industry news website. This site just reports the news. You know the saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger.”