Handbook for SDG-Aligned Food Companies: Four Pillar Framework Standards

Nora Mardirossian (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment), Gaëlle Espinosa (UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network), Rico Rincón (Columbia University), Diana Marcela (Columbia University), Abrania Marrero (Columbia University), Erin O’Dwyer (Columbia University), Regan Plekenpol (Columbia University), Urvi Agarwal (Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment), Lisa Sachs (Columbia University), Jeffrey D. Sachs (Columbia University), Handbook for SDG-Aligned Food Companies: Four Pillar Framework Standards, Columbia Ctr. Sustainable Inv. & U.N. Sustainable Dev. Sols. Network (2022):

The world food system is in crisis. Outright hunger, unhealthy diets and malnutrition occur parallel to food losses and waste. Farming families in poor countries suffer from extreme poverty. And food production is environmentally unsustainable and increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change. A historic change of direction is needed to bring about a new era of food system sustainability. Our work aims to help companies, investors and other stakeholders move towards a more sustainable food system that is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Transforming the world food system to achieve sustainability in all its dimensions is a major challenge. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will require managing major changes to the global food system responsibly, involving hundreds of millions of farmers and their families, global supply chains, thousands of food producing companies, diverse food production systems and local ecologies, food processing and a great diversity of food traditions and cultures.

Food companies are engaged in food production, trade, processing, and consumer sales around the world. While they have distinct roles “from farm to fork,” they all share the same responsibility: to be part of the global transformation towards food system sustainability.