A new report launched by Bord Bia sets out the Irish food and farming industry’s ambition to be a world-leader in sustainable food and drink production. The report is a comprehensive summary of the first three years of Bord Bia’s groundbreaking Origin Green programme. Launched in June 2012, Origin Green is the world’s first sustainability programme for a country’s entire food and drink sector.

Ireland’s green image has been a key platform for the success of the Irish food and drink export industry. Last year, Ireland exported to 175 markets and generated in the region of €10.5bn for the Irish economy, but Bord Bia insists that it is no longer sufficient for Ireland to simply declare that we are ‘‘green’’. In a world facing challenges from climate change and resource scarcity, we must prove it as well.

Since Origin Green was established, more than 55,000 Irish farms and 122 food and drink companies have become fully verified members of the programme. These farms account for 90% of Ireland’s beef production and half of its milk output, while the companies are responsible for 85% of the country’s food and drink exports.

As part of the programme, food and drink manufacturers have committed to over 800 sustainability targets around raw material sourcing, manufacturing processes and social sustainability. The targets provide for reductions of €12m and €17m in energy and water usage, respectively, by 2017, and seek to reduce general waste generation by 14,000 tonnes.

According to Bord Bia, Origin Green has met with universal acclaim from the World Bank, the World Wildlife Fund, and from global leaders in the food and drink industry.

Unique

A unique feature of Origin Green is the practice that all participating farms be audited and carbon-footprinted once every 18 months. Since its launch, almost 90,000 carbon assessments have been carried out on Irish farms. This action alone, according to Aidan Cotter, makes Ireland a world-leader in sustainability.

The Bord Bia report indicates that total greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture could be reduced by 6%, or by one million tonnes, if the lower-performing beef and dairy farms were brought back in line with the national average.

Ireland’s dairy herd already enjoys the joint-lowest footprint in the European Union, while its beef herd ranks at number five. The report goes on to state that if the carbon footprint of the beef herd were reduced by 10%– by achieving a range of specified performance measures – it could become the most carbon-efficient in Europe and generate improved on-farm income of €300m per year.

The full report is available on www.origingreen.ie