While dairy products are a good source of energy and protein, they also bear a heavy environmental footprint because of the impact of growing cattle feed and because of cows’ methane emissions.
But in an effort to take some of this burden away from the environment, Danone’s Horizon Organic milk has committed to becoming carbon-positive across its supply chain in just five years.
Carbon-positive means that a company goes beyond net-zero emissions to actually remove and offset additional emissions from entering the atmosphere. Horizon ranked as the world’s largest USDA certified organic dairy brand, believes it would be the first national dairy brand to reach this milestone if achieved.
As part of its plans, the company intends to overhaul its production processes at the farm level with soil initiatives and other practices, while also making rethinking how it packages and distributes its dairy products.
Taking it even one step further, Horizon will also create a $15 million Farmer Investment Fund to support its farmers with low- and no-cost loans for capital, training, technology, and tools for sustainable practices.
With emissions from livestock accounting for about 14.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally, Horizon’s environmental leap marks a commendable effort in the industry.
