World Food Day is the annual beacon illuminating the need to end world hunger and malnutrition. It reminds us that our current food system is falling short on feeding the population, while it also highlights agriculture’s destructive relationship with the environment on which it depends. We look to this year’s World Food Day with a view to silver linings and the hope emerging sustainability initiatives bring to the future.

Just one year ago, Walmart launched a novel tool that is proving to quickly and effectively align their massive supply chain on sustainability priorities — the Sustainability Index. Dairy suppliers were among the first to be brought into the Index through answering a category-specific survey about their performance in sustainability.

It’s not easy to align your supply chain with your company's sustainability goals. There are several first steps we recommend to based on our work with Stonyfield Farm as outlined in the attached article. Success starts with communicating your company’s commitment and vision to your suppliers and then moving on to substantive issue ares.