Compatibility of Breeding Techniques in Organic Systems

Introduction The rapid development of genetic engineering techniques is leading to a level of genetic disruption never experienced before. In order to safeguard organic integrity and to ensure organic food will continue to meet the highest consumer expectations in this challenging situation, IFOAM - Organics International is proposing a number of measures to be put in place to further fortify and enhance the organic sector’s available genetic resources. This position paper provides clarity and transparency on the criteria used by the organic sector as to what breeding techniques are compatible with organic systems, which techniques to exclude, and definitions on what should be considered as genetic engineering and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We further differentiate between the criteria relevant for organic breeding as defined in the IFOAM – Organics International norms, versus the criteria for cultivars and breeds derived from nonorganic breeding programs regarding their compatibility for the use in commercial organic production and processing. The following experts are members of the IFOAM Working Group on New Plant Breeding Techniques: Michael Glos, Monika Messmer, Gebhard Rossmanith, Gunter Backes, Michael Sligh, Adrian Rodriguez-Burruezo, Heli Matilainen, Andre Leu, Louise Luttikholt, Helen Jensen, Eric Gall, Chito Medina, Krishna Prasad, Kirsten Arp

Launching the Grand Challenges for Ocean Conservation

The ten most pressing Grand Challenges in Oceans Conservation were identified at the Oceans Big Think and described in a detailed working document:A Blue Revolution for Oceans: Reengineering Aquaculture for SustainabilityEnding and Recovering from Marine DebrisTransparency and Traceability from Sea to Shore:  Ending OverfishingProtecting Critical Ocean Habitats: New Tools for Marine ProtectionEngineering Ecological Resilience in Near Shore and Coastal AreasReducing the Ecological Footprint of Fishing through Smarter GearArresting the Alien Invasion: Combating Invasive SpeciesCombatting the Effects of Ocean AcidificationEnding Marine Wildlife TraffickingReviving Dead Zones: Combating Ocean Deoxygenation and Nutrient Runof

Strategies to Mitigate Losses from Product-Harm Crises in the Agri-Food Industry

Some agri-food managers of United States-based companies use strategies to mitigate product-harm crises.The loss of brand and corporate sustainability increases for companies not utilizing mitigating strategies to reduce losses from agri-food product-harm crisis.The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies managers use to mitigate losses from agri-food product-harm crises. Coombs\u27 situational crisis communication theory served as the conceptual framework for this study. A sample of 3 managers from 3 agri-food companies in the southern United States shared their mitigating strategies to reduce losses from a product-harm crisis. Methodological triangulation assisted in reviewing and analyzing information from semistructured interviews, relevant company documents, and journal notes. The use of alphanumeric coding, discovering, and identifying themes, selecting relevant themes, organizing themes in hierarchical order, and linking themes to the phenomenon under study indicated four main themes supporting the benefits of mitigating strategies to reduce losses from an agri-food product-harm crisis. The main themes included the use of pre-crisis mitigating strategies, mid-crisis mitigating strategies, post-crisis mitigating strategies, and high pressure pasteurization (HPP). Findings from this study indicated that agri-food managers use strategies to mitigate product-harm crises, but the added expense of some mitigating strategies often precludes their use. The study findings may contribute to social change by increasing the awareness of agri-food managers, consumers, and company leadership to use mitigating strategies to reduce the number of illnesses and deaths associated with a product harm crisis

Linking Sustainability with Geographical Proximity in Food Supply Chains. An Indicator Selection Framework

Despite policymakers’ promotion of food relocalization strategies for burden mitigation, the assumption that local food chains are more sustainable than the global ones might not hold. This literature review tries to highlight a possible framework for exploratory analyses that aim at associating sustainability with the geographical proximity of food supply chains. The purpose of the article is identifying a set of communicative and information-dense indicators for use by evaluators. Bread is the selected test food, given its importance in human nutrition and the relevance of some of its life cycle phases for land use (cereal farming) and trade (cereal commercialization). Article searching (including keyword selection, explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria, and computer-assisted screening using the NVivo® software) was carried out over the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases, and returned 29 documents (refereed and non-refereed publications). The retrieved literature shows varied research focus, methods, and depth of analyses. The review highlighted 39 environmental, 36 economic, and 27 social indicators, along the food chain. Indicators’ reporting chains are heterogeneous; even the comparison of standard procedures, e.g., Life Cycle Assessment, is not straightforward. Holistic approaches are missing

Strategic Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Innovation and New Technology Introduction during Volatile Times1

Deere and Company, uncertainty, real option, organizational structure, option, risk, innovation, Industrial Organization, Risk and Uncertainty, Q1,

Risk management of unintended GMO contamination in the supply chain of maize and processed maize products

Production and processing of genetically modified organisms (GMO) in line with the European food safety and labelling regulations lead to an elevated risk of unintentional GMO contamination in food producing and processing companies. For these companies GMO contamination can lead to extensive losses such as decreased product value, recall expenses or decreased brand equity. The question that occurs in many food producing and processing companies is how to manage the risk of GMO contamination most effectively. The objective of this paper is to show how food companies manage the risk of GMO contamination. Because of the complexity of the German food sector the analysis focuses on one supply chain namely: the production, processing and trading of maize and maize products. Within this supply chain an assessment of potential losses and safety measures was conducted in a two-step analysis. At first personal interviews with executives or quality managers of companies along the whole supply chain were carried out. Then the results of these interviews were analyzed and used to create the framework for a second session of formalized online interviews within companies of the maize chain. The results of the survey in maize producing, processing and trading, companies show the risk of potential losses that can occur in case of GMO contamination. Additionally the results show the safety measures that can effectively reduce the risk of GMO contamination.Maize Chain, Genetically modified Organism, Risk Management, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Traceability -- A Literature Review

In light of recent food safety crises and international trade concerns associated with food or animal associated diseases, traceability has once again become important in the minds of public policymakers, business decision makers, consumers and special interest groups. This study reviews studies on traceability, government regulation and consumer behaviour, provide case studies of current traceability systems and a rough breakdown of various costs and benefits of traceability. This report aims to identify gaps that may currently exist in the literature on traceability in the domestic beef supply chain, as well as provide possible directions for future research into said issue. Three main conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, there is a lack of a common definition of traceability. Hence identifying similarities and differences across studies becomes difficult if not impossible. To this end, this study adopts CFIA’s definition of traceability. This definition has been adopted by numerous other agencies including the EU’s official definition of traceability however it may or may not be acceptable from the perspective of major Canadian beef and cattle trade partners. Second, the studies reviewed in this report address one or more of five key objectives; the impact of changing consumer behaviour on market participants, suppliers incentive to adopt or participate in traceability, impact of regulatory changes, supplier response to crisis and technical description of traceability systems. Drawing from the insights from the consumer studies, it seems as if consumers do not value traceability per se, traceability is a means for consumers to receive validation of another production or process attribute that they are interested in. Moreover, supply chain improvement, food safety control and accessing foreign market segments are strong incentives for primary producers and processors to participate in programs with traceability features. However the objectives addressed by the studies reviewed in this paper are not necessarily the objectives that are of most immediate relevance to decision makers about appropriate traceability standards to recommend, require, subsidize etc. In many cases the research objectives of previous work have been extremely narrow creating a body of literature that is incomplete in certain key areas. Third, case studies of existing traceability systems in Australia, the UK, Scotland, Brazil and Uruguay indicate that the pattern of development varies widely across sectors and regions. In summary, a traceability system by itself cannot provide value-added for all participants in the industry; it is merely a protocol for documenting and sharing information. Value is added to participants in the marketing chain through traceability in the form of reduced transactions costs in the case of a food safety incident and through the ability to shift liability. To ensure consumer benefit and have premiums returned to primary producers the type of information that consumers value is an important issue for future research. A successful program that peaks consumer interest and can enhance their eating experience can generate economic benefits to all sectors in the beef industry. International market access will increasingly require traceability in the marketing system in order to satisfy trade restrictions in the case of animal diseases and country of origin labelling, to name only a few examples. Designing appropriate traceability protocols industry wide is therefore becoming very important.traceability, institutions, Canada, consumer behaviour, producer behaviour, supply chain, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing, Production Economics, D020, D100, D200, Q100,

A TRUSTED ECOSYSTEM IN AGRI-FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN WITH TRACEABILITY POTENTIALS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC.The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC

A TRUSTED ECOSYSTEM IN AGRI-FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN WITH TRACEABILITY POTENTIALS OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC.The complexity in the Agri-Food Supply Chain (AFSC) has made the traceability of causes of disease difficult in the supply chain. Stakeholders in this supply chain have been adopting centralized systems of traceability that are prone to manipulations and single-point attacks. But as advancement is rapidly driving Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), researchers have attempted to apply the potentials of blockchain technology in the agri-food industry. A fundamental component of blockchain is a smart contract which is mostly challenged with the problem of conflict resolution among contracting parties. This paper investigates the phenomenon and proposes a conceptual framework to drive future practical researches in this field. An algorithm was also developed to address the conflict resolution challenges in the supply chain as it was identified to be one of the major challenges causing stakeholders’ skepticism on the acceptability of blockchain technology in AFSC

The digital impact on the supply chain: The servitization of agri-food industry

For decades, many firms have been deeply transformed due to the creation and integration of digital technologies in different processes or instances, conceptualized as digitalization. In the specific case of manufacturing industry, this trend has been described as Industry 4.0. Simultaneously, manufacturing firms tend to adapt their business model by including more service offerings to gain competitiveness, described theoretically as servitization. Research on those topics has already provided many case studies for the manufacturing industry. Within this industry, the agri-food sector, though, is sidelined. Nowadays, there is no paper dealing with servitization of agri-food and we face a lack of global overview regarding the digital revolution. However, significant implications are affecting agri-food towards being more agile and fast to increase and diversify offerings in order to answer specific customers’ needs. Therefore, the supply chain is deeply changing and faces more complexity. Not only a better economic performance is expected based on capture and advanced analysis of data, but also more sustainability and interconnectivity through corporate social responsibility (CSR) or creating shared value (CSV) to avoid waste and redundant operations. The following thesis aims to provide a theoretical contribution about the impact of digital technologies in the supply chain as imperative enablers of the servitization of agri-food sector. The first section will introduce the subject and the research gap. The second section is dedicated to a state of research of servitization, digitalization and their mutual influences for the manufacturing industry. The third section is a methodology that aims to analyze the main issues to be taken into account. The fourth section is a dynamic description to show that the application of digital tools in the supply chain contribute directly to the servitization of agri-food firms