Harvest House has received Climate Neutral environmental certification. This means that the Growers Organization can supply climate-neutral tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers from this week.
The “Climate Neutral Certified” quality label can be awarded to all produce from Harvest House affiliated horticultural producers. Certification is carried out annually by an independent party as part of an audit that evaluates the efforts of Harvest House. To maintain certification, the cooperative must track the CO2 emissions of its products, work to reduce emissions annually, and offset other emissions.
Harvest House is currently mapping its environmental impact with what it calls the Hortifootprint. “This measures the impact of growing and processing on sixteen different sustainability characteristics, including CO2 emissions,” says Harvest House network manager Marco Hanemeyer.
The sustainability label calls for a 2.5 percent annual reduction in CO2 emissions. “We want to take it one step further,” Hanemeyer says. “Our goal is to emit half as many CO2 equivalents per kilogram of product by 2030 compared to 2020. By 2040, we want to be climate neutral.’
