A group of more than 30 leading growers, suppliers, buyers, technical experts, environmental organizations and public interest organizations announced Dec. 18 the formation of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops.

Through an inclusive effort, the multi-stakeholder initiative will develop and share a comprehensive system for measuring sustainable performance across the supply chain -- at farms, processors, distributors, food-service providers and retailers.

The project will address the needs of specialty crop stakeholders while seeking to improve environmental and social impacts. "Specialty crops" are defined to include fruits, vegetables, nuts and horticulture.

Unlike other sustainability initiatives, the Stewardship Index will not seek to prescribe standards or define a specific level of performance as "sustainable." Rather, it aims to provide a system for measuring stewardship performance by focusing on desired outcomes. The project seeks to reduce the potential for duplicative monitoring and reporting systems, while allowing operators to engage in the sustainability journey regardless of their current level of sustainability performance.

The project is encouraging broad participation from interested stakeholders across the specialty crops industry, including technical experts and public interest organizations.

"We're finding that very diverse stakeholders want a workable system for measuring sustainable performance in this industry," Jonathan Kaplan, sustainable agriculture project director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organization and a founding participant in the Stewardship Index, told The Produce News. "As businesses measure and improve, profits, people and the environment can all win."

Mr. Kaplan said that there would be "open arms" to all stakeholders that want to be part of the metrics. "You can't manage what you can't measure," he said. "There's no widely accepted system in specialty crops. We want metrics over standards."

Mr. Kaplan also said that there is "collaboration by unlikely collaborators working to do this," adding, "There could be a value to producers if they're able to see improvement in efficiencies or operations. The hope is that we can bring enough buyers to the table for the growers."

To date, the Stewardship Index has received grants from private foundations, Mr. Kaplan said. Other founding participants also emphasize the potential benefits of metrics that are both clearly defined and developed cooperatively.

"A consensus approach to measuring sustainable performance will allow individuals to demonstrate their performance using common terms," said Hank Giclas, vice president of science, technology and strategic planning for Western Growers Association. "This approach will provide an opportunity to communicate the many practices employed by the industry to promote the 'people, planet and profit' pillars of sustainability and benchmark our efforts for continual improvement."

Mr. Giclas said that one of the goals is to make the group's efforts available to the public and be transparent, all while building a consensus approach for suppliers, receivers and non-governmental agencies. He said that there's a commitment on the part of the Stewardship Index's coordinating council for good science. At present, the Stewardship Index is U.S. focused, but those involved can't do it without considering the global impact, he said.

"The feedback on the metrics will determine what we intend to tackle," Mr. Giclas said, adding that the idea is to move rapidly where there is ready agreement. He conceded that it's "going to be complicated to move a diverse group forward."

Tim York, president of Markon Cooperative, said that working to improve the produce industry's food safety showed that the "absence of accepted, industrywide standards will allow proliferating standards to add unnecessary costs to the system."

The need for "science-based data" is to everyone's advantage in collaborating to "develop metrics that are specific, measurable and verifiable," Mr. York said. "We don't want to wind up with multiple standards." He added that with a metric, the group is defining what to measure and how to measure.

Mr. York said that it's unusual for producers to work together with an entity such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, but added that the Stewardship Index will benefit by diverse groups working together.

The project is seeking public comment on an initial list of issues it believes should be measured to assess sustainable performance. The proposed issues and a list of current participants may be found at the project's web site at www.stewardshipindex.org.

In the future, the project may also provide tools and resources to help specialty crop companies advance sustainability goals.