Sarah Jordan, Farmy Girl
At a young age it was cool to be the farm girl, everyone wanted to be friends with me and I was soon known throughout second grade as the farm girl. However, my classmates had no idea what it meant to live on a farm. They loved the animals, but they had no idea the amount of work it takes to run a successful farm.
National Movement to Turn Food Waste Into Renewable Energy Gains Momentum
Boston - Chobani, Kikkoman Foods Inc., Schreiber Foods, Hillebrand, and Polar Beverages are the latest food and beverage companies to join the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA/Alliance), a collaborative movement to boost food waste reduction and recycling, and expand renewable energy production across America. The Alliance, founded in 2020 by Vanguard Renewables, Unilever, Starbucks, and Dairy Farmers of America aims to avoid or eliminate food waste first and repurpose what can’t be eliminated into renewable energy via farm-based anaerobic digesters.
Wellesley Company Sold to BlackRock
Waste-to-energy producer Vanguard Renewables has signed an agreement to be acquired by investment giant BlackRock in a deal that Vanguard's chief executive says promises to make the company the dominant provider of renewable natural gas in the country.
BlackRock Is Buying Renewable Natural Gas Producer for $700 Million
The world’s biggest asset manager is acquiring Vanguard Renewables, a Boston-area company that works with dairy farmers and food companies to produce renewable natural gas for utilities and energy firms such as Dominion Energy Inc. and Enbridge Inc.
Waste Dive: As organics depackager equipment market grows, so do concerns over microplastics contamination
Companies like Vanguard Renewables are investing millions to facilitate commercial organics recycling as researchers and regulators work to keep PFAS and microplastics out of the equation.
How to Sell Sustainability as a Key Measure of Business Success
When companies make bold commitments to sustainability, we all win. Here, we share lessons learned and ongoing challenges from three very different corporate sustainability journeys — to show others on the front lines that they are not alone.
Corn: Knee-High by the 4th of July? Not on the Goodrich Family Farm!
It used to be that farmers would know that they would have a “good” corn crop if the stalks reached their knees by the 4th of July. Of course, times have changed, and many other factors come into play like rainfall, soil health, and fertilization methods. The latter is what Danielle believes is the reason for the corn’s significant height at this point in the growing season.
A Sustainable Moo-vement: How the Dairy Industry is Fighting Climate Change
Dairy farming has quickly evolved for sustainability. Here are just a few examples of how innovative dairy organizations and farmers are working to fight climate change by reducing their impacts, improving soil health and using regenerative agriculture.
Waste 360: Vanguard Renewables’ Neil Smith Discusses Aggressive Expansion Plans
The global anaerobic digestion (AD) market will reach $15.28 billion by 2025, forecasts Brandessence Market Research; other research firms make similar projections, and North America is dominating in this space.
Dairy Foods: Making a difference on the sustainability front
When it comes to environmental sustainability, the overachievers within the dairy processing sector have developed concrete goals and put into place programs and projects to help them attain those goals. This reality is a win not only for the environment but also for their businesses. And the list of overachievers expands each year.
Foodtank: Our Healing Begins in the Soil
Our food and agriculture systems are fundamentally broken. It’s no exaggeration to say that the warming planet, social inequities, and health epidemics bear this out. However, there’s real hope. We can heal ourselves, our communities, and our planet when we begin to participate once again in the creation of healthier food systems.
Anaerobic Digestion 101: How Vanguard Renewables takes Organic Waste and Makes Renewable Natural Gas
Vanguard Renewables’ Farm Powered process includes engineers, scientists, and a team of logistics experts to get inedible food and beverage waste to our recycling facilities or to our digesters. Not to mention our farm partners whose dairy cows are producing the manure that gets mixed with inedible food and beverage waste to make the magic happen.
Catch Vanguard Renewables Chief Sustainability Officer, David Darr, on the latest episode of The Dairy Download podcast
On the latest episode of The Dairy Download, we speak with two experts with decades of experience helping producers and processors advance their sustainability measures.
Can Biodigesters Save America’s Small Dairy Farms?
The sustainable technology presents an opportunity to turn cow manure and food waste into renewable energy and added income. But biodigesters are not always easy to operate, and they can be costly to replace.
Where There’s Beer, There’s Hope
Breweries are thinking more and more about what they can do to make a change to be sustainable, reduce their CO2 emissions, and dispose of their spent waste in a way that is good for the environment and keeps that waste out of our landfills and waterways.
Dairy Farmers: How dairy farmers are making milk and cheese more sustainable
Sustainability has become a priority for brands around the globe, especially for those that understand the value of creating a positive social and environmental impact. Meanwhile, consumers are becoming more selective of the companies they support — intentionally buying from those that are ethical and transparent about their business practices.
Celebrating the Women Who Keep Our Family Farms Running
We sat down with Denise Barstow Manz, a seventh-generation family member who helps run Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery, to talk about women's role on their family farm.
Conquering the Grass Ceiling: Female Farmers Feeding America and the World
According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, women are the face of farming globally. Yet in the United States, according to The Female Farmer Project, women operate only 14 percent of farms and control 7 percent of farmland.
Starbucks Innovates, Tests and Learns from Store Partners to Achieve Waste Goals
Starbucks invests ahead of the growth curve and innovate by testing new technologies that help us learn how to create the best possible experiences for our partners and customers. This work is being done through collaborative partnerships like our support of the Dairy Net Zero Initiative, Closed Loop Partners and TONZ and the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance.
The Woman Who Revolutionized Dairy Farming
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it is vital to tell the untold and forgotten stories of women who were innovators and leaders, especially of those women who made radical contributions during a time when their perceived role was to be seen and not heard.
Food Labels & What They Mean: A Conversation with Danielle Nierenberg
Danielle Nierenberg from Food Tank, the first NGO to join the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, recently joined the Edible Communities Podcast to talk about all things food labels
US Dairy Industry Quietly Leads the Way Toward Sustainability
Dairy farmers have been quietly leading in the sustainability space for over a decade. A range of perspectives about dairy’s sustainability journey and the lessons we have collectively learned.
One Gas identifies 175 Bcf of renewable natural gas resources, lines up projects
One Gas Inc. is expanding its plans for renewable natural gas projects after a study identified 175 Bcf of potential renewable gas feedstock across the company's three-state gas utility footprint.
Webinar – Beyond Net Zero: How Nestle, Dole Sunshine, Unilever, and VR are Boosting Sustainability Impacts
Most companies have sustainability goals today; many have committed to Science Based Targets or a "net zero" carbon impact. Attend this panel to learn how Nestle, Dole Sunshine Company, Unilever, and Vanguard Renewables are doing even more for the health of our planet
Sustainable Brands: No Matter the Industry, We All Have a Role to Play in Fighting Hunger
So, why is the founder of a renewable energy company writing about food insecurity? Food insecurity is circular, where those that face food insecurity also face poverty; and that cycle, for many, never ends. If we don’t help our neighbors break that cycle now, we could lose a whole generation of Americans.