| For the week of June 11, 2007 |
Corporate Social Responsibility: Find it at a Store Near You |
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Americans are hearing more about "corporate social responsibility" when it comes to food these days, and many wonder what it really means. You can count our nation’s farm and ranch families – the people who take the first steps that result in food production – among those who are digging in to learn more.
Corporate social responsibility initiatives are carried out by many corporations, including those that market food to consumers. The goal is to point out to consumers why their company and their products are more compassionate, caring, ethical or some other positive quality, and in the process gain a marketing edge. A huge challenge for farmers is that corporate food marketers are so far removed from production agriculture. When corporate CSR decisions are made for the sole purpose of consumer appeal, those decisions can wreak havoc at the farm level.
Recent news that a leading corporate pork processor changed its guidelines, due largely to CSR, and, in effect, set new ones for the industry, hit many pork producers hard. Production methods, namely the use of stalls to protect pregnant sows, which had been accepted and encouraged by the industry to boost efficiency and safety, appeared, from most perspectives, to be demonized virtually overnight. So, now, while the corporate-owned stalls are being phased out, independent hog-producing families worry about their survival as they face new expenses and management requirements to fit into this new future.
CSR is a double-edged sword, but properly implemented CSR can work for farmers. The difference depends on whether corporate food marketers consider all the realities and facets of the food production system – starting with the farmer – or whether they are merely out to make a quick buck by pandering to the great undefined masses. But, farmers also must actively carry the message to corporate America that a viable agriculture is also good CSR policy.
Here are examples of how two retail chains have integrated farmers into at least some of their CSR efforts to make the concept benefit agriculture as well as consumers.
When unusually cold weather hit California in January, Wal-Mart initiated "Operation Orange Aid," a program to revise its contracts to boost stocks and sales of weather-damaged citrus. Wal-Mart encouraged shoppers at Golden State stores to buy citrus harvested by growers experiencing tough times. While the citrus may not have looked as attractive as usual, stores educated consumers about how the fruits’ taste and quality was unchanged. In addition, Wal-Mart’s "Campaign to Salute America’s Farmers" is an ongoing initiative to spotlight local and regional farm products and the people who grow them.
Another example of CSR benefiting agriculture is visible at Wegmans Food Markets, an upscale grocery chain of 70 stores based in Rochester, N.Y. Wegmans "Homegrown" program has resulted in long-term relationships, as some farmers have produced for the chain since the 1980s. The Wegmans web site (www.wegmans.com) stands out, with photos and brief descriptions of farmers who supply stores with berries, eggplants, sweet corn, peaches, pumpkins and other produce. The site also emphasizes Wegmans’ efforts to "cultivate relationships" with farmers.
Corporate social responsibility is all about cultivating relationships. Corporate food marketers want to present themselves as ethical citizens and good neighbors to their customers. With a comprehensive approach to CSR – one that fully considers the people planting the seeds and tending the animals – this effort to better relate to today’s informed consumers, and profit from it, can also hold a silver lining for farmers – the people who are the first link in our nation’s food production chain.
Anne Keller is director of issues management for the American Farm Bureau Federation.