Folks, I have been remiss!
In my post of Friday, March 13, I listed the items of importance to potato processors, based on many discussions I have had over the past months. I need to add one item to that list: carbon footprint reduction, aka green efforts, aka minimizing effect on the environment, aka maximizing sustainability. We, as designers and manufacturers of processing equipment have responsibility in this area based on two maxims:
- We have the responsibility to reduce overall cost of ownership of our solutions continuously, and a major part of that is reduction in facilities consumption: electricity, water and compressed air (another form of electrical power); plus reduction in good product loss and other waste. This has its own direct payback.
- We have the responsibility to do our part to ensure that life as we know it on this planet continues. Sustainability. Taking the initiative to preserve natural resources, help the plants and animals with which we share the earth to thrive, ensure that the world remains a pleasant place to live for our children and grandchildren. This category does not always have direct payback, but it is a burden we must bear seriously if we want to be in business for the long term.
Short story: we are all in this together!
Perhaps in times past, sustainability has not been in the forefront of our thoughts. No longer! All of our efforts going forward will have sustainability as a major facet of focus. Also, there are areas where we have already been doing the right thing in reducing natural resource consumption; we need to do a better job in letting others know what we have done.
We also need to do some proactive thinking about how to get after the major energy consumption facets of the processed potato business. How do we get more for less from blanching, frying and freezing? Some of the answers may lie in process/equipment developments, some in product categories where processing requirements are reduced.
But in the end, the message is clear: We must all work together on sustainability. When we do, great things can be accomplished!
Tim
1 Comments (Click Here to View or Comment):
How serious do you think the food industry is about 'green'. There is so much waste, energy consumption, water use, etc. in this industry. In fact, the food industry is the largest value added industry in the U.S., which would lead one to believe that it has a very large carbon footprint. I'd like to hear from those customers and industry experts on what steps they are taking to prove headway in this area.
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