International Symposium on Eco-Efficiency in the Lifecycle of Horticultural Production

The Symposium on Eco-efficiency in the Lifecycle of Horticultural Production will be held in Brisbane, Australia in 2014 during the International Horticultural Congress (IHC2014). The 29th IHC Congress is about sustaining lives, livelihoods and landscapes. The link between all three is the full assessment of the life cycle (LCA) of horticultural production: from cradle to grave, or from cradle to gate, if that is more apt. This LCA eco-verification is not only about ensuring safe and nutritious products are sold on the supermarket shelves of the world抯 top supermarkets, it will ensure that the growers and suppliers can sustain their livelihoods. Further, it is about protecting the natural capital stocks of our landscapes in that life cycle: the soils, the carbon, the waters and the biodiversity of our orchards, plus right along the supply chain. Increasingly, the global supermarket chains are the gate keepers through their control of shelf access, not only on the quality of the products they sell, but also the impact of the footprint from the production systems on our landscape抯 natural capital stocks. Eco-verification of the life cycle of the products is being demanded by the supermarkets. Walmart has its Sustainability Index, Marks and Spencer have Plan A, Sainsbury抯 have their 20-by-20, and the French are developing their Grenelle system of eco-verification. Others abound, and the competition is growing. Part of this competitiveness is being fuelled through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) getting involved, and the Food Ethics Council of the UK has recently released recommendations about water labels on food products.