Initiative
ALBERTA – The Alberta Environmental Farm Plan is encouraging agricultural industry producers aligned with a Farm Management Group to adopt beneficial management practices that will improve farm performance and sustainability outcomes through their EFP+ program.
The EFP+ program is an upgraded version of the well-known EFP workbook and offers producers an official equivalency score with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform. Multinational businesses, like Coca-Cola, Heineken, Hersey and Ocean Spray, to name just a few, rely on the SAI Platform to benchmark their sustainably sourced products; and now, Alberta producers have a method to meet these sustainability requirements.
The EFP+ program provides producers with an official equivalency score with SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA). Producers work with SAI Platform, which was created by the food industry; its members develop, maintain, and improve the FSA. Members of the SAI Platform are stakeholders from the food and drink industry, including farmer cooperatives, manufacturers, processors, and traders from across the globe.
The framework for scoring is the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA). It is what is used to evaluate on-farm sustainability performance; support sustainable supply chains; benchmark existing standards, codes and legislation; and of course, spur farming improvements and strive for excellence in sustainability.
The EFP+ program is a method Alberta producers can use to gain an official equivalency score with SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA). The Alberta EFP+ is aligned to the FSA Gold Level and takes into account Canadian federal legislation and is benchmarked as FSA-aligned for verification. Once the EFP+ process is complete, in some cases taking less than an hour, Alberta producers and their Farm Management Groups can make international sustainability claims that are equivalent to the FSA standard.
The EFP+ program is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal/provincial/territorial initiative.
Join us in providing additional opportunities for the Alberta agricultural industry to showcase their strength in sustainability to the world. On Tuesday, March 19, 2024 the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan is hosting a webinar to share how an EFP+ can help producers on their journey to sustainable agriculture excellence.
Register