The US SIF Foundation recently released a guide for financial advisors on how to incorporate sustainable, responsible and impact investing into their practice. The Financial Advisor Roadmap was prepared with insights from financial advisors and other industry professionals.
Ethical Markets released in late April its 2018 Green Transition Scoreboard® finding $9.3 trillion of private investments in green sectors worldwide, cumulatively since 2007.
Marking its 35th anniversary, Stonyfield Organic, the country’s leading organic yogurt maker, announced in April 2018 a bold commitment that not only celebrates the brand’s organic leadership role in the food space, but also casts an eye to a different and equally as large issue facing families. While huge strides have been made in the organic food space over the past 35 years, less is happening around environmental and health issues specific to the use of pesticides beyond food.
Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CR Magazine) announced in early May its 19th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, recognizing the standout environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of public companies across the United States.
Published to coincide with International Equal Pay Day in April 2018, the first edition of a new annual scorecard ranking 33 of the world’s largest financial, technology, and retail companies on their current gender pay disclosures, performance, and commitments shows Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan with the highest grade (A-), while Facebook, Goldman Sachs and Walmart are among 11 companies that share the lowest grade (F).
Iroquois Valley Farms has reached a milestone: This spring we added the 50th farm to our portfolio. Our farmland REIT provides secure land tenure for 35 farm families working 9,000 acres of farmland. More families will be joining us soon. We have seen strong and steady growth in the value of our investment portfolio since 2007. We recently launched a new offering to raise $20 million to help fund more farmers. We also offer Soil Restoration Notes to investors, with a portion of the returns going to help our farmers transitioning to organic.
On February 2016 The New York Times ran a story, \”Oaxaca’s Native Maize Embraced by Top Chefs in US and Europe\”, highlighting the work of a new company called Masienda that was sourcing landrace (heirloom) corn from small farms in Mexico. Masienda’s business model emphasizes conservation of agrobiodiversity, while supporting smallholders using sustainable/organic farming methods. When some of us here in Santa Fe saw this article we asked the question, \”Why can’t this be happening in New Mexico as well?\” And so the New Mexico Landrace Corn Project was born.
The challenge is clear for global food and beverage companies: as the population rises, the agriculture sector they rely on will need to produce more food with fewer greenhouse gas emissions while shifting toward farm practices that conserve or restore diminishing water and soil resources. Sustainable sourcing strategies and supply chain transparency are essential for the food and beverage industry to ensure that their suppliers are making these critical changes. As significant owners of and lenders to companies, investors can be a major force in driving more sustainable practices.
American consumers in 2017 filled more of their grocery carts with organic, buying everything from organic produce and organic ice cream to organic fresh juices and organic dried beans, according to the Organic Trade Association\’s 2018 Organic Industry Survey released in mid-May.
Farming, like investments, carries some degree of risk. How SFP mitigates these risks is unique and key to the opportunity. Market demand for organic food is the fastest growing segment in grocery stores. Geographically, our established operating network of farms is spread out to minimize the impact of local weather. Our distributed farm network is focused on areas with the best available soil and linking that network allows us to negotiate better offtake agreements and discounts on inputs. In the event of any crop damage due to weather, which diminishes yields, we have crop insurance.
