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SUSTAINABILITY


meadowfoam have on these three key areas?


The answer to the first question is a simple and direct yes. Using the calculator which is dependent on known modeling programs such as RUSLE2, we are able to quantify measurements such as soil loss, energy use, and the impact on water quality of the common agronomic practices our growers use to produce meadowfoam and annual ryegrass. The answer to the second question is more involved but the results are equally promising. As seen in the radar graph in Figure 1, meadowfoam and the standard agronomic practices used in its production (System 1) can reduce soil loss, maintain water quality, and minimise energy consumption when used in common Willamette Valley cropping rotations as compared to an annual ryegrass monoculture cropping system.


Conclusion


The consumption of vegetable oils in personal care is growing at more than 5% per year. There are a variety of factors that affect the global market for vegetable oils such as increasing demand, biofuels development, fluctuations in crude oil prices, speculation, droughts, and changing geographical weather patterns. Is it possible to measure raw materials against each other using FPC? Is it possible to easily measure raw materials’ sustainability against each other with any environmental, social, or economic rubric? Will manufacturers be able to cause suppliers to conform to a certain rubric in a meaningful way? In a market filled with competition, it is necessary for manufacturers and suppliers to collaborate and communicate in a


Soil erosion Scale: 0-2 tons/acre lost


 System 1  System 2  System 3


Energy use Scale: 16-26 BTUs/acre Figure 1: Radar graph of the three crop rotation systems.


meaningful way if true sustainability is to be achieved. For these reasons, supply transparency is imperative. We routinely invite our customers to come visit our farms and manufacturing facilities, see how we operate, and ask as many questions as they can. Our business is an open book and we are looking to measure our impacts and share that information with our customers. Why? Because sustainability matters.


PC


 The Fieldprint Calculator is an educational tool that provides performance estimates for wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, rice, alfalfa, and potatoes against environment indicators. The current


version does not include or account for meadowfoam. As such, the outcomes reported in this article are based on the author’s interpretations and have not been reviewed or endorsed by Field to Market.


References 1 Schneider G, Gohla S, Schreiber J et al. Skin Cosmetics. In: Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH 2005.


2 Rosillo-Calle F, Pelkmans L, Walter A. A Global overview of vegetable oils 2009 (with reference to biofuels, IEA Bioenergy Task 40).


3 USDA, 2013. Major vegetable oils: World supply and distribution (country view), USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.


4 Kline and Co, 2010. Global Personal Care Ingredients 2010: Emollients market analysis, Kline and Co.


5 Adams W. The future of sustainability: re- thinking environment and development in the twenty-first century. IUCN: The World Conservation Union, Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, 29-31 January 2006.


6 UC Davis, 2013. What is sustainable agriculture? [www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/about- sarep/def].


7 Poggio SL. Structure of weed communities occurring in monoculture and intercropping of field pea and barley. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 2005; 109: 48-58.


8 USDA, 2013. Revised universal soil loss equation 2 – Overview of RUSLE2. [www.ars.usda.gov/ research/docs.htm?docid=6010].


9 USDA, 2013. Wind erosion prediction system introduction. [www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/ FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_019748.pdf].


4 PERSONAL CARE Reprinted from February 2014


Water quality index Scale: 41-44


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