Today, PepsiCo and Walmart announced a 7-year partnership to invest $120 million in programs that help farmers in the United States and Canada enhance soil health and water quality. It aims to enable and accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices on over 2 million acres of farmland by establishing and scaling financial, agronomic, and social programs by the year 2030, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power 778,300 homes for an entire year1.
Jeff Huffman, owner and operator of Island Farms LLC in Maxwell, Nebraska, has this to say about the voluntary adoption of regenerative agriculture practices: “From my perspective, embracing regenerative agriculture is essential.” It’s good for farmers not just because it improves the quality of our food and the environment, but also because it increases their income. To enhance your farm in a way that benefits the bottom line and our environment for years to come, try using less fertilizer and growing a larger crop or using less water and maintaining the same crop size.
Farmers are essential to the success of companies like PepsiCo and Walmart because they grow the ingredients that go into their tasty products. As the two organizations’ supply chain spans the entirety of North America, a wide variety of essential products like potatoes, oats, corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice will play a role in defining what sustainability means. The partnership between PepsiCo and Walmart provides a voluntary, adaptable method of regenerative agriculture that includes farmers in decision-making, values agricultural diversity, and acknowledges that there is no “one size fits all” solution.
“Trust is the foundation upon which sustainable success is built. According to Jim Andrew, PepsiCo’s Chief Sustainability Officer, “We work hard to earn the trust of the farmer so they understand we are investing in their legacy and they can hand their farm down to the next generation.” “Farmers know their industry better than anybody else, and the feedback we’ve gotten suggests that there are three conditions that must be met before regenerative agriculture can be economically viable. They require monetary aid, as well as cultural and agricultural assistance. Together with Walmart, we can support farmers in their efforts to modernize agriculture in a way that helps the environment and the community.
According to Jane Ewing, Walmart’s senior vice president for sustainability, “at Walmart, our sustainability strategy is built to make the everyday choice the sustainable choice for our customers.” The goal of our partnership with PepsiCo is to keep high-quality goods within reach of more people, and one way we’re doing that is by encouraging farmers across North America to adopt regenerative agricultural practices. Together, we can improve farmers’ livelihoods, educate them on better ways to maintain healthy soil, boost crop yields, and set an example for other industries to follow by investing in regenerative agriculture.
Together, PepsiCo and Walmart are working to reduce carbon emissions and improve soil and water quality while also benefiting local farming communities. A resilient food system is crucial to PepsiCo’s business as the largest convenient food and beverage company in North America, as well as to the company’s ability to achieve its ambitious pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) goals, which include accelerating the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 million acres by 2030 (roughly the size of PepsiCo’s agricultural footprint) and reducing absolute GHG emissions by more than 40% across its entire value chain by 2030 (against a
“This effort is a new model for PepsiCo, marking our first, large-scale strategic collaboration focused on sustainable agriculture with a retail partner,” said Steven Williams, Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo Foods North America. Farmers are an integral part of our company’s success because we supply several well-known brands with products that come straight from farms. Our partnership with Walmart will help farmers by providing them with resources such as training, funding for future success, peer mentoring, and shared expenses.
This initiative exemplifies how Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are prioritizing strategic partnerships to hasten the spread of regenerative practices in line with their commitment to safeguard fifty million acres of land and one million square miles of ocean by the year 2030.
If you want to learn more about pep+, click here.
Click here to learn more about what Walmart is doing to help the environment.
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