Seven major food companies, with $124 billion in combined annual revenues, will work with growers around the world to reduce water use and pollution, said World Wildlife Fund and Ceres, a nonprofit group promoting sustainable food. The companies, Diageo, General Mills, Hain Celestial, Hormel Foods, Kellogg, PepsiCo and WhiteWave Foods, will submit detailed sustainable sourcing and water stewardship plans as part of the AgWater Challenge.
One-third of the world’s food is grown in areas of high competition or stress on water supplies and agriculture is a leading cause of water pollution worldwide, a reflection of the huge volumes of water needed for crop and livestock production. Ceres says food companies “can be a powerful and constructive force for scaling water stewardship, especially at the farm level.”
As part of the challenge, PepsiCo will work with suppliers to improve the water-use efficiency in its agricultural supply chain by 15 percent by 2025, compared to 2015 levels. Hormel will develop a water stewardship policy for its major suppliers, contract livestock growers and feed suppliers to “go beyond regulatory compliance” for water quality, said Ceres. Kellogg will seek thriftier use of water and fertilizer in growing its 10 major ingredients, including rice, wheat, corn and sugarbeets.