It’s a misconception that food safety requirements often conflict with sustainability efforts, says Joelle Mosso, associate vice president of science programs for Western Growers.
In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode, Mosso shared how sustainability and food safety can coexist in the produce industry.
“That increasing narrative we keep hearing about with this conflict between food safety and sustainability is a little bit more of a perceived conflict than a real one,” she said. “What you’re actually looking at is the whole supply chain, the whole life cycle of that product, of which maybe some less-than-optimal practices may be used but still have a favorable outcome. Recognize, there’s no food without food safety and there’s also no food without sustainable production.”
Instead of looking at the sustainability of food production at a granular level, especially when food safety practices are needed, it’s better to look at meeting sustainability goals on a broader level to create that balance, Mosso said. And on an international level, different sustainability mandates can make it hard for a grower to navigate selling produce on a global stage.
“We’d like some harmonization across the globe, because it is really confusing and very difficult for growers in businesses to manage their perspectives in potential markets if the markets keep changing,” she said.
Mosso said it’s also important to educate the consumer, often driving some of these sustainability goals.
“When you think about food consumption and production, it’s really one of the most fundamental things that we do as humans,” she said. “We all eat. Our societies are built on a very complex food supply chain system, which means most people who eat never have to think about how it was produced. ... A big trade-off is that if you don’t understand how it was produced, you don’t recognize or even value necessarily the challenges it took to get a berry onto your plate.”
And the challenge with sustainability efforts are that they often come at a cost to growers or packers, and that added cost has to be carried onto the consumer — even though the consumer might not understand why something costs more.
“The realities are [that] everything comes at a cost, and ... you have to be financially sustainable as well so growers can easily produce product and put it in the packages that consumers want; that cost has to be translated and transmitted through the supply chain,” Mosso said. “Consumers then have to be willing to pay for what they asked for. How do we bring consumers up to understanding that you can have what you want, but there’s trade-offs, and understand why they’re there? It’s not anyone price gouging. It’s just that there are realities of supply chain, and that’s fundamentally part of sustainability.”
