Industry, NGOs, academia and government representatives agree on first steps
toward building a national consensus standard. The first successful steps
toward developing a national consensus standard for sustainable agriculture
in the United States have now been taken by a diverse, multi-stakeholder
committee selected to lead this
endeavor.

At an unprecedented opening session, more than 50 representatives of U.S.
agricultural production, food and clothing manufacturing, retail,
government, environmental and labor organizations, academia and
certification launched historic negotiations over what should be considered
"sustainable agriculture". The representatives were selected from a pool of
nearly 200 individuals who applied to serve on the Standards Committee, the
guiding body for development of the standard.

During the meeting held last week, committee members identified some of the
difficult issues that are likely to dominate the discussions to come, such
as:
1) the relationship between organic, mainstream and sustainable agriculture;
2) the place of genetically engineered crops in sustainable agriculture; 3)
the degree to which sustainable agriculture standards should establish a
path for continuous improvement; 4) inclusiveness of small and mid-size
farms, as well as mainstream and conventional agriculture; 5) the
sequestration of carbon in soils and the role of agriculture in the global
fight against climate change; 6) the strength of labor protections; 7) the
intersection of product safety and sustainability; and 8) whether the scope
of the standard should extend beyond plant agriculture to include livestock
and other sectors of agriculture.

"The issues involved in sustainable agriculture are complex," said Dr. James
Barrett, Environmental Horticulture Department professor at the University
of Florida, who served as interim chairman at the Standards Committee?s
inaugural meeting. "As a result, there are many diverse, valid points of
view that will need to be articulated and considered as this process
unfolds."

The entire standard setting process is being conducted under the rules of
the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the national voluntary
standards body that has overseen the development of thousands of guidelines
in nearly every business sector. Leonardo Academy, a non-profit organization
that specializes in using market-based incentives to advance sustainability
and improve the environment, is facilitating the current process as an ANSI
accredited standard developer.

"We were impressed not only by the depth of knowledge and understanding
reflected in the thoughtful comments and deliberations of the Committee but
also by the level of respect for one another's viewpoints and concerns, and
the willingness at this early stage to seek common ground," said Michael
Arny, Leonardo Academy president. "The tone set here in Madison bodes well
for the success of the process moving forward."

Among the actions taken by the Standards Committee was an agreement to form
work groups charged with the following tasks:

1.. Conduct a needs assessment for the sustainability standard, including
potential market and agricultural applications
2.. Review and articulate the mission, principles and scope of work ahead
3.. Collect reference documents to inform the standard setting process
4.. Report on potential methodologies and indicators for measuring various
aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability;
5.. Identify potential funding sources to support full stakeholder
participation in the process
6.. Outline outreach opportunities for soliciting involvement from all
affected stakeholders
In addition, the Standards Committee acknowledged "the extensive effort and
hard work of SCS to initiate the discussion on sustainability." The
Committee further agreed to recognize and set aside the Draft Standard for
Trial Use (SCS-001), published by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) as
a vehicle for initiating the broader standard-setting dialogue, as one of
several reference documents expected to be used in its future standards
development deliberations,

"We appreciate the acknowledgement of the Committee and are delighted that
the draft standard has helped to stimulate this national dialogue and to get
the ball rolling toward the development of a consensus standard," said Linda
Brown, Executive Vice President of Scientific Certification Systems and
Standards Committee member. "Looking ahead, the draft standard will continue
to inform the process, both as a reference document and through real world
examples of companies who are already meeting its requirements and adopting
new sustainability practices in accordance with its provisions."

According to Michael Arny, ANSI rules allow all interested stakeholders to
participate in subcommittee deliberations as the standard development
process moves forward. In addition, ANSI gives the public an opportunity to
weigh in through a formal public review process before the draft final
standard is submitted to ANSI for promulgation as an American National
Standard.

Leonardo Academy is currently seeking charitable contributions to fund its
work on this standard development initiative and to support active
participation by the full range of stakeholders in the process. For more
information, please contact Amanda Raster at Leonardo Academy (608-280-0255,
amanda@leonardoacademy.org).

For more information on the first Standards Committee meeting, including the
approved motions and a list of Standards Committee members, visit:
www.leonardoacademy.org/Projects/SustainAgStdDevelopment.htm.

About the Leonardo Academy
Leonardo Academy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1997 with
a vision of advancing sustainability and putting the competitive market to
work on improving the environment. Leonardo Academy is a Think and Do Tank
that develops and distributes strategies, guidance, metrics, standards, and
education focused on increasing sustainability. Leonardo Academy helps
companies, organizations, families, and individuals successfully promote,
encourage, and implement environmental improvement through a wide range of
sustainability services, including sustainability assessments and strategy
development, LEED(R) and LEED-EB implementation and certification, emissions
footprint analysis and emission reduction and offset strategies, sustainable
land management, sustainability education and training.
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