Farmer Focus has been recognized as a Sustainability Partner in the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality Program (DEQ)! If you’ve been following Farmer Focus, you know we mention “sustainability” often, but we realize that word can mean a lot of different things. Since the beginning, we have been pushing the limit on what it means to be sustainable. We know that our positive interaction with the environment is connected to healthy, productive land for our partners, as well as a sustainable workplace for our team and community. In other words, we view sustainability as a process since our climate is ever-changing.
Last year we earned the Sustainability Partner recognition for achieving our environmental goals, and this year we have broaden our goals to help us achieve long-term sustainability. We accomplished this by participating in research with universities on how we can improve the conditions of our poultry houses by recycling the bedding and planting trees on farms to increase biodiversity, soil quality, and mitigate carbon dioxide emissions. To further support our partners, we participated in a volunteer event with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to learn more about the importance of riparian buffers and how to properly plant trees on farms to support this best management practice for water quality. Continuing to strive to make environmental sustainability a part of our culture, we have established a Sustainability Team to brainstorm and implement practices to decrease our environmental footprint.
Our facility here at Farmer Focus is making waves in being more environmentally sustainable. We recycle 9 tons of cardboard monthly to reduce our waste in the landfill and track water usage to support our efforts in installing a water reclaim system, enabling us to safely reuse water in our facility. We have given attention to everyday actions we can take like implementing the compost bin in our employee cafeteria. The efforts we make today help us work toward our goals; as we look ahead to building our new facility, we have kept sustainable practices and worker welfare top of mind.
The responsibility of reducing our carbon footprint is ongoing and part of our culture at Farmer Focus. We are continuing our research, actively working towards eliminating our cardboard usage in our facility, and continue to track our waste, water, and energy metrics.
Doing our part to continue to be environmentally sustainable and learn new, innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint, means that we can contribute to a healthy future for our employees, consumers, and communities. Join us on this journey; the future starts here!
