With the sheer remoteness of modern farming, many farmers assume that what they do while working their land or caring for livestock is their business and their business alone.
After all, they get paid for what they deliver -- not for how they produce it. And because of the economic forces in play, the "how" of farm production tends to be driven by what appears to be the most efficient.
So they sometimes don't take too kindly to having outsiders watching over their shoulders, whether it's government, environmentalists or for that matter, clowns like Ronald McDonald.
But if trends persist, it could be the likes of the iconic Ronald McDonald that prove to be the most formidable force ever pushing farming towards new standards of sustainability.
Increasingly, farmers have a corporate Big Brother who is willing to use tools ranging from benevolent incentives to hard-and-fast rules to ensure its raw-ingredient suppliers measure up on the ethical scorecard. These companies have decided they can be more profitable with an altruistic profile.
Livestock farmers have already had a taste of this on the animal-welfare front.
A major turning point was about 10 years ago when some animal activists were running around Europe claiming McDonald's bought meat and eggs from supply systems that abused animals and treated employees badly. That gave the fast-food giant heartburn. So it sued. And it lost. The court sided with the protesters on several fronts.
That prompted a corporate rethink. McDonald's, along with many others in the food-service and retail food sector, has moved forward with new guidelines that are reshaping how it does business -- everything from how the chickens that produce eggs are housed, whether the beef they buy grazed on former rainforest (not), the working conditions for migrant workers who pick tomatoes in Florida, how its restaurants are built and whether the paper used to wrap its hamburgers is biodegradable.
Lest anyone complain, as some are prone to do, that the foods it sells are less than nutritious, McDonald's is converting its North American operations to zero-trans fat vegetable oils -- good news for Canadian canola growers. The day is coming when the production practices behind that canola will be scrutinized for their environmental sustainability as well.
With energy, food prices and global warming high on the public radar these days, environmental sustainability is becoming a new standard of doing business.
"Every company sees these issues as a priority," said Daniel Esty, a professor of environmental law and policy at Yale University and author of a series of books on how the corporate world is going green. He told the recent annual meeting of the Canola Council of Canada that while much of the attention on corporate environmental responsibility has been focused on the liability of environmental non-compliance, "smart executives recognize there is an upside opportunity."
Esty said companies see environmental issues as a means of building their profile with customers, but also a means of cutting costs, making more money and even keeping good employees on the payroll longer. "Employees care a lot, and if you don't reflect their values, they'll pick up and go elsewhere."
While many of these companies are using their new-found corporate responsibility to gain a competitive edge, there are also examples of companies co-operating at the pre-competitive level -- such as the Sustainable Agriculture Platform (SAI) underway in the European Union.
The SAI Platform, originally founded by the Groupe Danone, Nestlé and Unilever five years ago, has since been joined by a host of multinational players, including the likes of Coca Cola Company, Campina, Kraft, McCain Europe and of course, McDonald's.
Australia has recently formed its own chapter under the SAI.
Peter-Erik Ywema, SAI general manager, said the driving force behind this initiative was a series of food safety scares, as well as a growing concern over obtaining consistent, high-quality food supplies in a world in which farmers, potable water and arable acres are shrinking.
Corporations also perceived a benefit from being a leader instead of a follower. "The sustainability criteria is being created by industry itself because they want to be in advance of government regulation," Ywema said.
The SAI Platform is about redefining the concept of profit to include environment and rural society in addition to the economy, he said. Most of the initiatives so far are research-oriented and voluntary for farmers. But he predicted compliance will increasingly be a condition of doing business.
"It is definitely going to the farm," he said in an interview following his presentation to the Canola Council. "Even our members can ask for compliance with regard to their own system."
That is both good news and bad news for farmers. It means buyers will become increasingly cognizant of the costs associated with alternative practices. But it might also mean that if farmers don't comply, customers won't buy.
Laura Rance is editor of the Manitoba Co-operator. She can be reached at 792-4382 or by email: laura@fbcpublishing.com.
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