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by Derek Reiber
PORTLAND -- For citizens in America, individual choices define who we are collectively as a people. Whether it be in the voting booth, choosing our representatives in government, or more often, in the maketplace, where we're constantly presented with a vast array of consumer goods, we identify ourselves and each other based on our choices and purchases.
It's been said that when it comes to the environmental, the most important choice we can make is with our food -- what we eat, how we eat, and where that food comes from.
The truth of that statement is borne out when examining two related environmental movements -- community food systems and eco-certification standards -- that share a similar nexus point: the consumer.
Community food systems, which emphasize the growth, distribution, and consumption of locally produced foods, and eco-certification, which attempts to put a stamp of approval on products to signify they're environmentally friendly, both depend on the crucial decisions made by the individual consumer for their success.
Whether a shopper purchases a salmon filet that comes from a sustainable fishery or picks locally grown produce at the supermarket over imported, and often cheaper, produce -- all these choices come down to decisions made by individuals.
So it's no surprise to hear some of the key players in each arena -- speaking during the Oregon Sustainability Forum -- say that education of consumers is of paramount importance, in order to make sure that consumers make informed decisions and know full well the impacts of their choices.
"Consumers in the seafood arena make a complicated consumer purchase -- perhaps more than in other areas. So you need to provide them with simplistic choices, even something as simple as a 'good/bad' card that labels what type of seafood is OK and what isn't," said Jim Humphries of the Marine Stewardship Council, a non-profit group that works to certify fisheries around the world as sustainable. "People just don't have time to do research and soul searching while in the supermarket."
The Council's certification program took two full years to develop, with the emphasis on making the standards flexible enough to be applicable to any fishery in the world, big or small. The organization's five-year certifications -- applied to six fisheries so far -- are carried out by independent, third-party certifiers.
Humphries noted that because seafood is harvested from a common property resource -- the ocean -- it requires a little different approach than land-based programs, with a focus shifted toward what's called 'chain of custody' compliance.
"Our biggest challenge for the marine arena is to maintain a viable chain of custody system -- one that can track the product from the catch to consumption -- that won't become too overburdened or overcomplex for those involved," he said. "It's important to get a level of viability for that program otherwise it'll get blown out of the water."
But similar concerns hold true for other certification programs as well, even those that don't deal with food, according to Jeff Wartelle of the Certified Forest Products Council, developer of one of the nearly 24 forestry certifications currently being crafted.
"Chain of custody is absolutely essential," he said. "If you can't track the product, then how can you make a claim about the forest conditions from where it came?"
Wartelle was also quick to point out that eco-certification programs shouldn't immediately be labeled as 'sustainable.' Instead, they are part of an incremental change away from the status quo, driven by an increase in business accountability coupled by a rise in environmental awareness among consumers.
"The really big questions facing the forest certification movement are who is going to have the highest standard, and who will the customers believe. It's going to come down to a battle on who's going to win on credibility," he said. "Ultimately, it's going to fall on the customers: will they be willing to share the load, and is there a willingness to change their purchases?" (2000.09.21)
http://www.tidepool.org/features/osf.cfm
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