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A new survey of American consumers provides some potentially surprising findings that indicate American food shoppers are very mindful about what they place into their shopping carts, and it's not just about price and taste.

While food commercials on television constantly bombard Americans with offerings that focus on price-point and convenience, a 2014 survey by Cone Communications found that people care about where their food comes from and how it is produced. In a poll of more than 1,000 people from a broad cross-section of the shopping public, 77 percent of respondents said sustainability was an important factor in deciding what to buy, while 74 percent said buying locally was a significant factor.

Understandably, food safety is something that 93 percent of shoppers consider very, or somewhat, important when making food purchasing decisions, slightly outweighing concerns over nutritional value (92 percent). Interestingly, though, while 74 percent of consumers indicated buying locally is a consideration in making decisions, fewer, at 54 percent, said buying organic is a consideration. Evidently shoppers are prepared to spend extra dollars to support their "buy-local" sensibilities, with 66 percent of those surveyed saying they would pay more, and sacrifice variety, in order to purchase locally-produced foods. The top reason provided for buying locally is that people want to support local businesses and communities, which they deem more important than the potential environmental or health benefits of doing the same.

Another of the study's findings is that despite industry resistance to labeling genetically modified (GMO) foods, consumers want to see companies step up their level of transparency about how food is produced. Eighty-three percent of those surveyed said they wished companies would disclose information and educate consumers about GMOs in their products -- especially as 55 percent of people didn't know whether GMOs were good or bad for them, and 51 percent didn't understand what GMO food is.

Though sustainability is important for more than three-quarters of American shoppers, with 81 percent keen to see more food options that protect the environment, when those surveyed were asked to select their top concern in making purchasing decisions, sustainability didn't trump other priorities. Fifty-four percent picked family satisfaction -- that is, what products their family most enjoys eating -- as the most important thing; 41 percent picked health and nutrition, while sustainability was selected as the top concern by only 5 percent.

The Cone Communications study is available to download online, and it seems that there is a substantial opportunity here for advocates of sustainably-produced foods to tap into an underlying consumer concern about health and the environment in food production. Yet with only a few consumers placing sustainability as their top concern, coupled with a powerful agricultural and food industry lobby, how easy do you think it will be to make sure the sustainability preference is met?

Image Credit: Paulo Ordoveza

Follow me on Twitter: @PhilCovBlog

The five members of the Carson City Council in California voted unanimously to put a 45-day ban on new oil and gas drilling. During that time, the city council will consider enacting a one-year ban. Occidental Petroleum would like to develop 200 wells in the Carson City area, located in Los Angeles County. Occidental reportedly said back in 2012, when it first proposed drilling the wells, that it plans to use hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. However, the company now says it no longer plans to use fracking.

The council is not taking the word of Occidental Petroleum. As one councilman, Albert Robles, told Reuters, "There are too many questions, too many unknowns and too many possible bad consequences that could result from the city engaging in this activity.” Robles added, “These questions significantly outweigh any possible benefit to the residents of Carson.”

Report links earthquakes and fracking

Other California towns have also banned fracking, including Santa Cruz last September and more recently Los Angeles. However, Carson City is the first California town to ban all new oil and gas drilling. Two days prior to the vote, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake hit the Los Angeles area. The earthquake has not been blamed on fracking, but its epicenter was only 8 miles from a fracking well. A recently released report linked fracking to earthquakes. The report, titled "On Shaky Ground: Fracking, Acidizing and Increased Earthquake Risk in California," found that the majority of California active oil and gas wastewater injection wells are close to faults.

Specifically, the report found that 54 percent of California’s 1,553 active and new wastewater injection wells are within 10 miles of a recently active fault; 23 percent are within 5 miles, and 6 percent are within 1 mile. Some of California’s major population centers, including Los Angeles, are located in regions where large amounts of wastewater injection wells operate close to active faults. Seven of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest estimated yearly losses from earthquake damage are in California.

The report also found that there is inadequate research and monitoring, nor have there been any studies to evaluate the risk of induced earthquakes from California’s existing wastewater injection wells. Regulation does not protect California from the risk of induced earthquakes. “The best way to protect Californians is to halt hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, and other unconventional oil and gas recovery techniques,” the report states.

There is already fracking in California

There is much more fracking going on than the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources will admit to, according to a Environmental Working Group 2012 report. EWG researchers found documents that showed fracking has occurred in at least six California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Monterey, Sacramento, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The researchers estimate that more than 750 California wells were fracked in 2009 alone -- which is “clearly an underestimate,” the researchers believe, because "only a subset of California wells are being counted.”

State regulation of fracking won't occur until 2015

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law, which puts regulation of fracking into place, but not until 2015. That means, unregulated fracking can occur in California until 2015. Not everyone is happy with Brown for not banning fracking, including some within his own party. Nine Democratic lawmakers sent him a letter in January asking him to prohibit all fracking “until health and environmental concerns are addressed.”

Many Californians are not happy with fracking in their state. Less than a week before Carson City Council members voted on the ban, thousands of Californians held what some call the largest anti-fracking rally, called Don’t Frack California, ever held in the state.

Image credit: torbakhopper

By Daniel Gonzales, Fundación AVINA

This Monday, March 31, we celebrate Cesar Chavez Day, and remember the challenges faced and battles fought by farm workers across the country. It’s also a time to discuss the fight that lives on today in the U.S. and abroad—a fight for fair wages and safe working conditions in an industry held up by a population of laborers whose rights are often difficult to protect.

In North America, most farm workers come from Latin America. The U.S. Department of Labor, for example, says that close to 90 percent of farm workers are Spanish-speakers, and more than half of immigrant farm workers nationwide do not have legal protection. More indigenous workers from rural Mexico and Central America are arriving, as well as guest workers from Asia. Although they pay payroll taxes and contribute anywhere from $6 billion to $7 billion in Social Security funds, migrant farm workers do not come to the United States to get welfare because of the simple fact that they are not eligible.

A global workforce

What this tells us is that the realities of agricultural labor in the U.S. are not confined within its borders. Whether it’s a coffee farm in Brazil, a pineapple farm in Costa Rica, or an apple farm in North America, farm workers can often find themselves a part of a globally marginalized, transient and largely invisible workforce that brings us our food each day. Just as the issues in our global food systems cannot be addressed by problem-solving in one region alone, restoring pride and dignity to the American farm worker also requires a far more global perspective and approach. It requires the equitable appreciation of all farm workers, wherever they may be. Their skills, dedication and sweat are all human.

Let’s take the case of Angela Mayor and her husband Pedro Peren, who own a small strawberry farm in Central America. Unfortunately, there is not enough work to support the whole family, which is why their son, Edmer Aroldo Peren, must leave home to find work. As the son of farmers, his skills best lend themselves to agricultural work, so he decides to travel to North America for harvest season each year.

Once there, a whole new wave of challenges can arise. He may find himself working with harmful agrochemicals, earning extremely low wages and laboring around the clock with no access to healthcare. A recent article by Aviva Shen points to a survey of farm workers in New Mexico, where managers threatened to fire workers if they refused to work in direct contact with dangerous, carcinogenic pesticides.

Quality, dignity, sustainability

These challenges, which are shared by many farm workers across the globe, encourage the question—how can we get quality food that upholds human dignity and enables sustainable livelihoods?

One solution could be expanding the scope of existing models, like Fair Trade for example. Fair Trade is a well-established and proven approach to supporting farmers and workers. It’s also an important way for consumers to identify products that were grown with care. Historically Fair Trade certification has only been available to farms in the developing world, meaning that a majority of the products in North American grocery stores (and the people behind them) have been outside its scope. According to the USDA, more than 80 percent of food consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically. Given the positive work the Fair Trade movement has been pursuing for decades in the developing world, it could also be very beneficial if applied in the global North.

Any farms that earn Fair Trade certification, wherever they may be, must meet and adhere to stringent social and environmental standards. These include: safe working conditions, regulated chemical use, restrictions on work hours, equal opportunity employment, freedom of association and recruitment best practices. They also earn community development premiums to invest in important projects like housing, education and healthcare.

It’s also possible that skills built on Fair Trade farms in the North will benefit that worker when he/she returns home, potentially creating new economic and leadership opportunities in both places.

Applying a proven model

Fair Trade USA is an example of one group that is working to apply this proven model to more farmers and workers. Due to their decades of experience, the group knows that farm work remains among the most dangerous and lowest paying occupations anywhere in the world, not just in the global South. This is why they've begun a partnership with a progressive farm in Canada, to learn everything they can about what Fair Trade might mean for more than 100 farm workers, most of whom migrate from Central America on a temporary work visa, and their families back home.  Through the farm’s compliance with the Fair Trade standards, consumers will be able to know how, where and by whom their food was produced.

Though this journey is in its infancy, there have already been many benefits for the workforce thanks to the farm’s step forward with Fair Trade. When one Central American farm worker, Carlos Corona, was asked what he thought about Fair Trade’s restriction on excessive working hours, he stated, “[A] maximum is great. Money is nice…but we also need to take care of ourselves. We must watch our health, too.”

Supporting recruitment best practices (i.e. how workers actually get to the farms) is also important, to ensure that individuals don’t take on significant debt while pursuing job opportunities abroad:

“Getting reimbursed [for recruitment costs] is great because we have very scarce economic resources,” added Corona. “I worked six years in my home town, but we barely made ends meet. This money I get back definitely will go for my eldest daughter’s education, to pay for her school fees and materials.”

And for Edmer Aroldo Peren, the worker I mentioned previously whose parents own a strawberry farm, he was recently elected as the president of the Fair Trade committee, and will vote on how to use the first Fair Trade premiums to address the most pressing needs of the workers, their families and their communities.

With this innovation, Fair Trade USA is taking their existing standard, which has been in development and improved upon for decades, and making it more inclusive. They also want to create more opportunities for people to choose Fair Trade more often and enable retailers to sell Fair Trade produce throughout the year (without being limited by seasonality). These products would add to the still-growing Fair Trade market--with more than 12,000 products now in over 150,000 retail locations.

By having a predictable, safe and inclusive supply chain, everybody wins. And Avina, a Latin American foundation I represent, is proud to support Fair Trade USA’s progressive and leading role in shaping Fair Trade globally, this Cesar Chavez Day and beyond.

Image credit: James Rodríguez © 2013 Fair Trade USA

Daniel Gonzales directs Avina's international strategy and team for Migrations. He is also a member of WTT, Avina’s for-profit spinoff, combining state-of-the-art technology with high-impact business models. He has 13 years of experience investing in the development of businesses and public-private partnerships for sustainable development with the social, business and public sectors in over 25 countries. He is a Board member in 4 social enterprises and 2 venture capital funds. Daniel holds a double degree as a Global Executive MBA from Georgetown University (USA) and ESADE (Spain). He is a former professor from de Universidad de los Andes Business School; holding a degree in Industrial Engineering from the same University. He also holds several executive education diplomas, including one on building ventures from Harvard Business School. Daniel is based in Bogotá, Colombia.

The landscape of the global renewable energy market continues to shift with changes in economic and social conditions and policies. While some renewable energy sectors – notably, solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment – experienced “dazzling growth, success and rising stock prices,” others saw a drop in deployments, as well as challenges on the policy and finance fronts, according to a global clean energy market report from Clean Edge released March 26.

Last year marked a turning point for solar PV, according to Clean Edge's, Clean Energy Trends 2014 report, as newly installed solar PV generating capacity exceeded that of wind power for the first time since the market research company began tracking global markets in 2000. Newly installed solar PV generating capacity totaled 36.5 gigawatts (GW) while that for wind totaled 35.5 GW, according to Clean Edge's count.

A crossover for solar PV

Fueling solar PV capacity growth, new installations hit record levels in China, Japan and the U.S. in 2013. That combined with a decline in new wind power capacity led to “this unprecedented crossover,” Clean Edge explained in a press release.

The global solar PV market grew 15 percent in value in 2013, with modest growth in biofuels. Combined, growth in the two sectors wasn't enough to offset a drop in the value of the wind power, however.

Totaling $247.6 billion, the combined value of the global renewable energy market in 2013 fell slightly from $248.7 billion in 2012, according to Clean Edge's latest report.

Energy crossroad dead ahead

Beset by strategic geopolitical problems, rising social unrest and fragile economic recovery, the social, economic and political, as well as ecological, stakes revolving around energy are extremely high. Energy policy, investment and economic decisions made today will chart a course and lock in greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come -- setting us on a course for more in the way of extreme weather events and associated damages and costs, according to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) 2013 Annual Statement on the Status of the Climate.

Clean Edge's co-founder and managing director, Ron Pernick, reinforces the point:

“The adoption of clean energy is set against a bigger-picture context that finds many of the world’s largest energy-using nations struggling with critical choices for their energy future. Climate disruptions, smog alerts, planned and unplanned nuclear power shutdowns, and resource scarcity are all driving significant change, accelerating the double-digit adoption growth of solar PV, hybrid and electric vehicles, green buildings, and other clean-tech solutions.”

Among the Clean Energy Trends 2014 report's key takeaways:

• Solar photovoltaics (including modules, system components and installation) grew to $91.3 billion from $79.7 billion in 2012, with a record 36.5 GW installed globally. In contrast to 2011 and 2012, when PV panel costs plummeted more than 20 percent in both years, prices held nearly steady last year -- dropping slightly to $2.50 per watt installed.


• Wind power (new installation capital costs) fell to $58.5 billion from $73.8 billion in 2012. The industry added 35.5 GW of new capacity in 2013, well below the previous year’s record 44.7 GW and its weakest performance since 2008.


• Biofuels (global production and wholesale pricing of ethanol and biodiesel) rose slightly, from $95.2 billion in 2012 to $97.8 billion last year. Global biofuels production remained constant at 31.4 billion gallons, with average prices increasing slightly.


• Together, Clean Edge projects that these three sectors will expand from $247.6 billion in 2013 to $397.8 billion within a decade.


• Venture capital investments in U.S.-based clean-tech companies totaled $4.4 billion in 2013, falling 25 percent from $5.8 billion in 2012, according to data provided by Cleantech Group.


• Picking up some of the VC financing slack is the continued rise of large corporate and project finance deals. Google’s $3.2 billion acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest in early 2014 is the most prominent example. But other recent large deals include Goldman Sachs’ $500 million fund to finance SolarCity PV installations and Wells Fargo’s pledge to invest $100 million in tax equity financing in SunEdison projects.


• For the first time, Clean Edge expanded the scope of its global market size research to include green buildings and electric and hybrid vehicles. Since 2000, these sectors have experienced compound annual growth rates of 68.9 percent and 38 percent respectively.

Clean Edge also highlights five key trends that will shape clean energy markets around the world in coming years:

1. Enlightened utilities begin to embrace distributed energy assets


2. Cities lead climate charge by focusing on regional carbon reduction


3. Net zero energy buildings gain ground


4. Internet-enabled clean-tech startups define a new sector


5. Vertical farming sprouts in cities around the world

All in-text images courtesy of Clean Edge, "Clean Energy Trends 2014"

Featured Image: Flickr/U.S. Army Environmental Command

By Grace Gouin, Creative Director of Appalatch

It’s easy to get frustrated and blue when you start paying attention to all of the problems facing sustainability in the apparel industry. Once you learn about the environmental harm and the social inequity caused by the industry as it stands today, you find yourself a little stumped when it comes time to get dressed. As a very astute 12-year-old asked me today as we tried to do some shopping: “What am I supposed to do? I can’t go naked!” It’s hard to discuss the problems within the apparel industry without somebody asking, very reasonably, for a solution. We think the solution lies in everybody loving their clothes a little more.

For brands like ours, this means doing everything we can to make our products easier to love. These days, sustainability means so much more than using an eco-friendly fiber. It means looking at the entire life cycle of everything you make from initial design to its final resting place. Design can focus more on the timeless than the trendy so that products don’t have a built in shelf date (diverting perfectly good clothing from the waste stream).

Manufacturing practices can be responsible both environmentally and socially. It’s shocking that, after the oil industry, the apparel industry is the second largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and that, after agriculture, it is the second largest pollutant of waterways. Add on top of this the stalemate that exists between garment workers in countries like Bangladesh as they plead for a higher minimum wage that would help them survive but probably lose them the business of large brands that must scour the earth in search of the lowest wages possible. So, what would happen if environmentally responsible practices and fair wages were included in the price of clothing? We think would make clothing that much easier to love!

One of the best parts is that when brands choose to make clothing this way, they have no fear in showing a little transparency. You can see it written on the hangtags, included in product descriptions on websites, and even on the labels that are sewn into the garments themselves -- little symbols or long paragraphs that simply tell you that the garment was made with care. When the back-story of a product gets passed from the brand to their customer, it gives the customer more to love than just the look or the feel of a garment – it gives them a story to connect with.

As consumers, we have more power than we might initially think when it comes to making more sustainable purchasing decisions. Once we actually connect with responsibly made clothing, with help from our friend Google, we have the opportunity to buy with our values. If you care strictly about 100 percent organic cotton, Google it. If you want clothing made by fair wage in India, Google it. The Internet is like a piñata; once you start whacking away, you’ll find more sustainably made products than you ever expected.

Sometimes just the process of actively searching out products like these and ordering them, receiving them in the mail, and finally opening up your gift can help you bond with your new purchase right off the bat. Even better, so many amazing new brands are hitting the marketplace that have married sustainability with design so seamlessly that we no longer have to make the choice between our values and our style.

The next step in loving your clothing is in wearing it year after year. Keep it as long as you can, and care for it like you want it to last. This might mean that you get to learn new things about the art of garment care, like how to properly de-pill a sweater or remove kale smoothie stains, but there is no harm in learning. Now that you are in a long-term relationship with your clothing (you’ve seen its baby pictures and everything) you can spread the love by telling others about how it good it feels to be wearing something you can feel proud of.

So, will loving clothing more help make the world a better place? We think so. Even at this very moment awareness is spreading, choices are being made and options are opening up that will make the apparel industry more sustainable. At every hour of the day people within this industry are grappling with how to take the necessity of sustainability and match it with consumer demand. Consumers, in turn, are more educated about what they buy and learn what it means to truly love their clothes. Sustainability is becoming a bigger goal than anybody thought, and everyone has a part to play.

Grace Gouin is the Creative Director of Appalatch, a heritage inspired, ethically driven apparel company with a mission to change the way that clothing is made, sold, and used. Everything we sell is sourced and sewn in the USA, mostly within North and South Carolina. We launched our website in April of 2013 and have not slept since due to sheer excitement.

One day soon the Caribbean island of Barbados will have part of its electricity needs supplied by a waste-to-energy plant.

Cahill Energy, based in Guernsey, announced the signing of an agreement with the government of Barbados on March 15 to build and operate a waste-to-energy plant. The company plans to invest up to $240 million in the plant which will be built in Vaucluse, St. Thomas. The plant is predicted to create up to 350 jobs, plus stimulate economic growth on the island and save the government of Barbados several hundred million dollars during the 30-year contract, according to estimates from Cahill Energy.

The waste-to-energy plant will use plasma gasification to transform up to 650 tons of solid waste a day into renewable energy. It will save all of that waste from ending up in a landfill and provide a domestic power source for Barbados which will reduce the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuel. It is expected to provide up to 25 percent of Barbados' total energy needs and reduce energy cost. Westinghouse Plasma Corp., owned by AlterNRG, will supply the plasma gasification technology.

In 2011, Cahill Energy started “exploring waste-to-energy,” according to CEO Clare Cowan, and the company’s “attention was directed towards the Caribbean.” Cowan adds that Cahill Energy is “confident that this investment represents a phenomenal business opportunity for our investors and offers even greater benefits to the people of Barbados.”

“This investment by Cahill Energy represents a ‘game changer’ for Barbados and truly belies any doubt that Barbados is still a preferred destination for solid, and impactful foreign direct investment,” said Hon. Christopher P. Sinckler, M.P., Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of Barbados.

The planned waste-to-energy in Barbados may not be the first of its kind in the Caribbean. Last June, the EPA approved a key permit for a proposed waste-to-energy plant in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The plant will produce 77 megawatts, or enough energy to power 76,000 homes in five municipalities. If the plant is approved, it will be constructed in three years, create about 3,800 jobs and be able to process more than 2,100 tons of waste a day. No date is set for when the Barbados plant will be completed.

Waste-to-energy plants in the U.S.

There are 87 operational waste-to-energy power plants in the U.S., generating about 2,500 MW or about 0.3 percent of total national power generation -- an increase from 75 plants generating 2,238 MW in 2011, according to the EPA. More than 30 percent of municipal solid waste (MWS) is recycled every year, and the majority that is not recycled is generally sent to landfills.

One of those waste-to-energy plants operating in the U.S. is the Alexandria/Arlington Resource Recovery Facility in Virginia. The plant began operating in 1988 and serves about 300,000 residents in the county of Arlington and the city of Alexandria, which jointly own the plant. The plant’s three, 325 ton-per-day furnaces process 975 tons of solid waste and generate up to 23 MW of renewable energy that is sold to Dominion Virginia Power Co.

Image credit: Colt Group

By Zack Rosenberg

Business leaders act, not react. By nature they are forward thinking and innovative-- a ballast on a ship. But never before has leadership been a more critical tool, with billion dollar brands being built overnight and distribution trending in ways we never imagined.

It’s the Internet, of course. Consumers are interacting with brands in ways that could never have been done before. Twenty years ago our choices were limited to whatever was on the shelves at our local supermarket or pharmacy. Now, every brand and product is available at anytime and anywhere.

So how do we as leaders distinguish ourselves? The key is to understand how our brands can provide solutions to problems as well as to communities (our own or others). Here are eight reasons that business leaders who incorporate social responsibility into their business models will survive and thrive.

1. Social responsibility is GREAT for business

If the only focus is on the bottom-line (and it shouldn’t be), it leads to missed opportunities and revenue stream. Over a 15- year period, businesses with a social mission perform 10.5-to-one over their competitors. This is according to John Mackey’s (co-founder of Whole Foods) book, “Conscious Capitalism.” That would be reason enough for me!

2. Positivity yields brand loyalty

What drives consumers to purchase isn’t adverting per se, but the belief that their action has a positive reaction. Does this mean that they are willing to pay more? According to Nielsen, yes. In fact, they are willing to pay on average 20 percent more than for a similar brand without a social mission. It’s why we are willing to pay $5 or more for Starbucks when Dunkin Donuts offers coffee at a fifth of the price.

3. Social responsibility drives return on investment

Here are two more tangible ways that social responsibility drives ROI. The average social business spends 2 percent of its revenue on adverting. That’s compared to 20 percent for traditional businesses, according to “Conscious Capitalism.”

4. Great stories draw in new customers

StorySelling is the idea that because of your purchase, amazing things are possible. And not just for the shareholders. Your purchase is directly linked to a tangible, positive result. Perhaps it’s providing medicine or building schools. My actions cause a positive reaction. Your impact is tangible.

5. ...And inspires existing customers to buy more

According to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, this also results in 10 to 15 percent more purchasing from existing customers. As we know, it’s much cheaper to acquire an existing customer than a new customer. Why not make it even more desirable that they work with you?

6. A social mission attracts top talent

Being the leader that you are, you know every objective is driven by the best talent. You might be surprised to learn that the social mission of your business affects them, too. Say what you will about Millenials but, 70 percent of them are willing to take less compensation to work for a business that is socially responsible, according to a Deloitte survey.

7. ...And helps you retain it

Here is the kicker, employees are also 87 percent less likely, according to a Gallup study, to leave the job once they get the job.

8. A foundational purpose helps you set and achieve goals

Lastly, leadership is about setting and achieving goals. How can this be done without a social purpose? Henry Ford believed that everyone had the right to own the road -- that an automobile wasn’t meant for only the elite but the masses. To prove his point, he paid his employees some of the highest wages per hour in the country so they too could afford the dream.

Everyone in the organization was focused on the mission. Whole Foods is another amazing example. Their belief in the quality of what we eat is being ineffectively copied by hundreds of competitors.

You can’t match what your organization doesn’t understand. Fundamentally, purpose is instilled in every aspect of what they do. From the sourcing to the display. And, Whole Foods has the highest margins in the grocery business.

Finding your purpose is what makes you a leader. Think about your community, your constituents or ask your employees. Inspiration will overwhelm and actions will be met with positive ROI.

Provide your customers with a euphoria that can’t be bought!

Image credit: Flickr/philliecasablanca

Zack Rosenberg is a social entrepreneur and founder of DoGoodBuyUs, the marketplace for Goods that Do Good. After a career in advertising working for companies such as BuzzFeed, WebMD, SmartBrief and others, he turned his attention to transforming the world through business.

Too many managers are robotically following rules rather than making decisions with their hearts and minds, according to new research published today by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and MoralDNA. It warns that workplace cultures dominated by rules, bureaucracy and targets mean that managers are switching off their sense of care for others.

The report, Managers and their MoralDNA, follows City scandals over mis-sold debt, PPI and rate fixing, plus crises in the NHS and the police, damaging public trust and employee engagement alike. It finds that 74%* of managers are at risk of overlooking the impact of their decisions at work on others - 28% more than among the general population.

The report shows that the general population can be divided almost equally into six different ethical character types - Philosophers, Judges, Angels, Teachers, Enforcers and Guardians - according to how far their approach to ethical matters is driven by their hearts, heads or compliance with rules.

Analysis of managers' morals revealed marked differences, with higher numbers of Enforcers, Judges and Philosophers (74%) and much smaller proportions of Angels, Teachers and Guardians (25%).

Ann Francke, chief executive of CMI, said: "To be successful, organisations have to meet the needs of their customers, employees and stakeholders. If the values and behaviours of those managing and leading organisations are out of kilter with those groups, they won't be run in a way that properly serves customers and stakeholders or gets the best out of employees. In short, they're destined to fail."
 

The rigid plastic packaging manufacturer, RPC Group, has signed up to the Save Food initiative, a joint campaign organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and Messe Düsseldorf GmbH to highlight and fight global food loss and waste.

The initiative now has over 100 members from throughout the food supply chain who, through networking events and ongoing dialogue and discussion, aim to develop solutions to tackle the problems of food waste. Each year, worldwide, a third of all food is thrown away or lost, while at the same time around 842 million people are suffering from hunger.

Save Food was launched at Interpack 2011 and since the beginning of 2013 has also enjoyed the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Katherine Fleet, RPC's group sustainability manager, commented: "According to Incpen, food wastage in developing countries can be as high as 50%; whereas in the UK only 3% goes to waste before it reaches the shops."

"This fact demonstrates both the challenges involved in reducing food waste as well as the crucial role that packaging can play in achieving this. And this is equally important in developed countries since, as the WRAP 'Love Food, Hate Waste' campaign reports, of the 7 million tonnes of food and drink thrown away from UK homes every year, more than half could have been eaten.

To coincide with this year's Interpack in Düsseldorf, a Save Food Congress will take place on 7-8 May 2014, bringing together experts from industry, the political sphere and civil society.

See here for more information on the Save Food initiative.
 

While British business recognizes the benefits of age diversity, it must do more to prepare for a ‘4G’ future, warns new research from the CIPD.

The professional body for HR and people development says that while the UKCES' vision of a ‘4G’ future - where employees from four generations will work side by side for the first time in history - is welcomed, businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage unless they start planning for the changes now.

CIPD's research, 'Managing an age-diverse workforce', reveals that many businesses are ill prepared to capitalise on the opportunities that an age diverse workforce can bring. Nearly a third of employers say that they react to issues relating to the ageing population as they arise rather than having a strategy in place.

Nearly half (46%) of employers said that line managers are not trained in managing teams of different generations and that their organisation has no plans to change this.

Claire McCartney, Research Adviser at the CIPD, said: "Despite well-publicised skills shortages and low productivity, our research shows that businesses are not doing enough to recruit from an increasingly age diverse talent pool. And even amongst those companies that are, many simply aren't equipped to manage their age diverse teams in order to maximise their potential.

"We know that the multi-generational workplace is on the horizon, and businesses need to act now if they want to be prepared."