About the Center for Global Food Issues Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly Seal

Introduction

The Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI), in conjunction with independent academic, consumer and farm policy and practice experts, has designed a program of farm and process management practices that are independently verifiable as both farm and environment friendly. CGFI's "Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly" Seal will assure the public that all products that bear the Seal are produced in a manner consistent with the best available scientific, environmental and quality standards and technologies. Unlike other certification programs, like Organic or Humane Farmed, CGFI's Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly Seal is not based on restricting or eliminating farmers' production choices. Our certification program is based on farmer's adoption of environmentally sound and economically sustainable practices while not limiting their freedom to farm.

Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly Background

The Earth Friendly/Farm Friendly concept was born from the Center for Global Food Issues High Yield Conservation campaign. This campaign was created to educate farmers, policy makers and the public about the need to grow more food per acre using high-yielding techniques in order to save more room for nature and conserve other precious natural resources. This campaign was launched in the spring of 2001 with a declaration of support by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Green Revolution leader Dr. Norman Borlaug, Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore and World Conservation Trust president Eugene Lapoint. Other supporters include Nobel laureate Oscar Arias, World Food Prize laureate Per Pinstrup-Anderson, and former U.S. Senators Rudy Boschwitz and George McGovern. For more information please visit our website www.highyieldconservation.org.

Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly is intended to provide farmers with information and tools to produce more food per acre, leaving more room for nature, using techniques and practices that have been scientifically proven and endorsed by experts. Unlike other certification programs, Earth Friendly Farm Friendly offers farmers more choices-rather than limiting them. It also provides retailers and consumers with expert-backed certification that the products they are purchasing are both good for the earth as well as good for farmers and the farm economy. In addition, Earth Friendly/Farm Friendly practices help keep food costs for consumers affordable as they encourage farmers to be more productive while using fewer resources.

The Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly Seal

Products from farms meeting our requirements will be eligible to display the Center for Global Food Issues "Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly" Seal of Approval. Producers and Farmers using this seal agree to abide by CGFI's Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly Farm and Agricultural Management Principals, provide affidavits affirming their compliance and make their operations and related records available for verification by independent agricultural experts.

A Pilot Program for "Earth Friendly, Farm Friendly" Dairy Practices

The Center for Global Food Issues is launching this project with a pilot project in the dairy industry specifically designed to provide farmers with best high-yield-conservation practices and provide retailers and consumers with useful information about dairy products and dairy production practices. During the next year of this pilot, we'll work with dairy producers, processors, retailers and consumers to create enduring Earth Friendly/Farm Friendly standards and related consumer awareness providing real value to farmers, consumers and the environment. An advisory panel of leading academic experts, public policy and consumer representatives will review feed-back from producers, retailers and consumers at the end of this pilot and annually thereafter to ensure the ongoing value and credibility of the seal of approval. Future standards for other Earth-Friend, Farm-Friendly food production practices are currently under development and we expect to launch similar pilots for swine, poultry, cattle and row crops in the future.