ANSI and Leonardo Academy Working Toward Sustainability Standards
Bob Dolibois, Executive Vice President of the American Nursery and
Landscape Association, said during his presentation “Greening and the
Green Industry” at the 2008 WESTERN Annual Meeting and Trade Show that
the drafting of an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Standard on Sustainable Agriculture is one of two major initiatives
affecting the green industry, and Leonardo Academy agrees.
Leonardo Academy (www.leonardoacademy.org) is a member of the ANSI (www.ansi.org), which coordinates the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in the United States. As an ANSI Accredited standards developer, Leonardo Academy is leading the standard development process of the Sustainable Agriculture Draft Standard for Trial Use (SCS-001). They believe that these national standards are an important tool for teaching sustainability objectives.
Leonardo Academy, a non-profit organization founded in 1997 with a vision of advancing sustainability and putting the competitive market to work on improving the environment, develops and distributes strategies, guidance, metrics, standards, education, and information on how to increase sustainability. They also help companies, organizations, families, and individuals successfully promote, encourage, and implement sustainability.
Currently the organization is developing Leonardo Academy Standards
for ANSI Accreditation for Emission Inventories, Reduction Credits and
Offsets; Sustainable Vehicles; and Sustainable Organizations.
The "Sustainable Agriculture Draft Standard for Trial Use: Sustainable
Agriculture Practice Standard for Food, Fiber and Biofuel Crop
Producers and Agricultural Product Handlers and Processors (SCS-001),"
published April 13th 2007 by Scientific Certification Systems and
posted in the ANSI Standards Action newsletter, is an example of
Leonardo Academy providing ANSI process administration for standards
being developed by other organizations.
The eight elements of sustainability defined within the standard so far, according to Johna Roth, a project manager for Leonardo Academy, who recently addressed a national sustainable agriculture standard on Branch-Smith Publishing’s Green Beam Pro Web site, are:
Environmental sustainability
-
Sustainable crop production
-
Resource conservation and energy efficiency
-
Ecosystem protection
-
Integrated waste management
Social and economic sustainability
-
Fair labor practices
-
Community benefits
Product integrity
-
Product quality
-
Product safety and purity
Asked by Green Beam Pro if it's realistic that a single working standard can be developed that has application across all agricultural segments throughout the entire country, Roth replied, "To address the broad array of agricultural segments addressed by the standard, it is structured into two parts -- the core body of the standard, which establishes general requirements applicable across agricultural sectors, and sector-specific annexes, which delve into the issues of unique interest to a specific sector. This structure will allow the standard to expand to meet the needs of many sectors. There is no urgency that such sector-specific annexes be completed within the initial timeframe.
"The Draft Standard for Trial Use is subject to modification by the Standards Committee and subcommittees, which will have an opportunity to review this structure and determine its adequacy."
The Leonardo Academy will present the final draft to ANSI within the three-year window established for standards being developed through the ANSI Draft Standard for Trial Use mechanism. This is not likely to occur before April 2010, according to Roth.
If you are interested in participating in this standard development process, you can contact Leonard Academy via e-mail to Development-SCS-1@leonardoacademy.org.
