Jana Fishback has joined Stemilt Growers in the newly created role of sustainability coordinator in the food safety and compliance department.
The Wenatchee, Wash.-based packer, grower and distributor of pears, apples and stone fruit says Fishback brings more than seven years of experience as the co-founder of an educational nonprofit, Sustainable NCW, also in Wenatchee.
Fishback, a native of East Wenatchee, Wash., told The Packer that this role — in which she will work to enhance Stemilt’s environmental commitment and sustainability efforts — was exactly what she hoped to find when she moved back to Wenatchee.
“What made me excited about this role is the global impact that Stemilt can have, especially coming from a nonprofit where it was a two-county area here in central Washington state [in which] I was trying to have an impact,” she said. “The idea that I could help implement programs and initiatives that would have such a bigger impact [was appealing].”
Fishback will collaborate with Stemilt’s teams to develop greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, lead life-cycle assessments, analyze data for insights and engage with stakeholders to promote sustainability efforts. Stemilt says she will also collaborate with its R&D department to identify targets, road maps, trends and insights to inform decisions.
“It was really exciting to me that what we could implement would be really measurable and tangible and that we have these good baselines [for when] we implement new projects or initiatives and really being able to see that impact,” Fishback said.
Stemilt says Fishback will continue to carry on its Responsible Choice program, which focuses on sustainability and social responsibility initiatives. Fishback said Stemilt conducted its first greenhouse gas inventory study in 2020 and that the company has a long history of sustainable practices and initiatives such as composting, integrated pest management, solar panels on packing facilities — going back to the 1980s — as well as its Equitable Food Initiative certification.
Fishback said she will look at Stemilt’s current sustainable practices and resource use to unlock opportunities for improvement.
“A lot of this information is helpful for us internally to start to set some goals and things, but it’s also very much of interest to our retail customers,” she said. “They’re starting to ask more and more for this information. A piece of that will be relaying all that information that I gather to them as well so they can know that, on their upstream supply chain, we’re working toward reducing any negative impact on the environment.”
Fishback said she hopes to help create a sustainability benchmark for the industry and will also look at what sort of sustainability benchmarks are of interest to consumers, too.
Fishback has a master’s degree in environmental studies from The Evergreen State College and a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis on public relations from Washington State University.
She held multiple roles in the sustainability field including co-founding Sustainable NCW and serving as its executive director and climate action coordinator. She also worked as a sustainability coordinator for Metro Parks Tacoma and sustainability plan intern for Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Wash.
Fishback said an important part of her role is sharing the sustainability work Stemilt does to help not only retail partners understand but also consumers and the broader tree fruit industry.
“Another way that we would measure success at Stemilt is not only having those successes internally and behind the scenes but doing a good job of sharing those stories with our retail customers and with the public,” she said. “I think we need to toot our own horn a little bit. People want to know ... how their food is grown. And I think it also is helpful in the industry to learn from each other. And so, if we can share some of the things that have been successful for us, then that’s helpful as well.”
