Promoting Market Incentives for Conservation

Food Alliance is a national nonprofit organization that creates market incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. The Food Alliance certification and eco-labeling program is based on standards for socially and environmentally responsible agricultural practices. Farms and ranches that meet Food Alliance standards, as determined by third party inspections, are granted the right to use our eco-label (the second leading agricultural eco-label in the U.S. after “organic”) to distinguish their products in the marketplace. The Food Alliance program is unique in that it is the only sustainable agriculture label that has specific criteria for conservation of soil, water, range and wildlife Habitat. Growing market demand for certified products is a strong complement to federal incentives such as those provided by NRCS. The purpose of this project is to enroll over 130 producers in five states in Food Alliance’s innovative eco-labeling program. An additional 30,000 producers will be engaged through a comprehensive outreach effort.