ISHS Acta Horticulturae 724: IX International Symposium on the Processing Tomato
BUILDING AND IMPLEMENTING ‘GROW SUSTAINABLY™’ FOR PROCESSING TOMATOES |
| Authors: | J.S. McMaster, L.C. McMaster, S. Meerman |
| Keywords: | environmental management system, sustainability indicators, ISO14001, risk assessment, Unilever |
| Abstract:
To date no comprehensive and holistic environmental monitoring and food safety assurance system which provides traceability for product and compliance with regulatory requirements has been developed for the Australian tomato industry. A partnership of Unilever Australasia, Horticulture Australia Ltd and representatives of the Australian tomato industry collaborated to resolve an EMS which monitored environment risk and food safety issues at the farm level and complied with ISO14001. The system, known as ‘Grow Sustainably™’ was designed by integrating food safety and occupational health and safety issues with the results of a desktop survey of international farm best management practices into a set of 10 indicator clusters designated by Unilever. The process entailed an integrated risk assessment of candidate tomato farms and included a risk assessment calculator. A main driver for the development of the ‘Grow Sustainably™’ system is supply chain assurance. Competency based training modules were developed along with a client server web tool to provide farmers with remote access to key management information. It is concluded that the ‘Grow Sustainably™’ system provides a holistic framework for industry initiatives to reduce environmental impacts and provide supply chain assurance. | |
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