PepsiCo is one of many corporations touting optimistic, expansive climate goals — and a recent investment in sustainable agriculture has the iconic food, snack, and beverage business meeting ambition with action.
Soon, "inventive projects exploring regenerative agriculture in Canada, Australia, and Mexico" will receive grants totaling $6.7 million from PepsiCo and its project partner AgMission, reported Sustainability Magazine. AgMission is, per its website, a "collective for climate solutions" working to enable progress in agriculture.
The grant is part of a larger corporate approach, detailed Sustainability Magazine, one described by PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta as more than "a business strategy — it's a transformative journey across our operations."
Titled PepsiCo Positive (or pep+), the three-part framework aims to enhance climate and community impact by evaluating and elevating sourcing practices, working to construct a circular system, and empowering personal action.
For PepsiCo, the overarching mission is to massively reduce its contributions to toxic pollution — with a goal of "net zero emissions by 2040," noted Sustainability Magazine.
It's a lofty goal. Per Reuters, the agriculture industry is responsible for "31% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions." That's due to dirty energy reliance, methane release, deforestation, and more.
Enter PepsiCo's focal point of regenerative agriculture — practices intended to educate, support, and sustain farmers to produce crops at standard qualities (and quantities) while also employing methods to repair soil, conserve resources, and minimize harmful pollution. One critical tactic is limiting the use of costly and poisonous nitrogen fertilizers, which contaminate air and water and also threaten our bodies, plants, and even pets.
To encourage and facilitate regenerative agriculture projects, PepsiCo chose to invest in a triad of thoughtful and innovative ventures, explained Sustainability Magazine: one, a data storage and analysis system to help farmers reform practices without serious sacrifices; two, a process to cultivate and maintain thriving soil; and three, accelerated adoption of "cover cropping" techniques, which revitalize soil.
The overarching priority is to "create the best outcome for the farmer, their land, their community, and the climate," said PepsiCo sustainable agriculture senior manager Ceejay Girard.
Supporting green business policies might inspire you to implement some of your own. Protect the planet and invest in your future (from finances to home to health) with efforts to eat cleaner food, replace toxic products, and rewild your yard.
An ancient Sanskrit proverb reads: "Upon this handful of soil our survival depends." With stakes so high, each seed of action we plant means a brighter future can bloom.
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