Business & Finance

Linda Kramme, manager of the forest program at World Wildlife Fund, said her organization and others applaud Kroger for making a responsible business decision. “WWF and other groups that are asking consumers not to buy Mercury’s products...aren’t trying to put Mercury or APP out of business, but simply asking them to adhere to the same forestry practices that responsible pulp and paper companies the world over adhere to,’’ she said.

During his talk, Dara pointed out the growing number of consumer-facing apps that help individuals connect directly with producers. Some allow you to map local farmers markets or identify retailers that only sell locally-produced goods. Others allow you to scan QR codes to literally find out what farm your meat came from.

Tim Greiner is Managing Director of Pure Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in building environmental and social integrity into products, brands, and businesses. Mr. Greiner consults with retailers, manufacturers, and environmental groups – helping them on their sustainability journey.

Read his blog post outlining his recent and upcoming projects

Jeff Dlott (1992) and his company, SureHarvest, have been awarded a six figure grant by the USDA to help crop owners measure the success of their sustainability practices. The grant allows SureHarvest to continue its work developing a way for companies to identify and track sustainable processes and materials in their supply chain and do in field pilot testing, said Jeff Dlott, founding president of SureHarvest. The grant will be split with SureHarvest partners and makes up less than 10 percent of the company's revenues.

GoodGuide provides the world’s largest and most reliable source of information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of consumer products. Dara O'Rourke, Switzer Fellow and Co-Founder of GoodGuide, believes that GoodGuide is responsible for changing the balance of power from manufacturing to the consumers.