Last weekend, we were honored by the Savory Institute with its Frontier Founder Award in recognition of the pioneering company’s commitment to regenerative sourcing. The award was received during a news briefing for Savory’s Land to Market™ program, the world’s first verified regenerative sourcing solution, at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif. The award was accepted by Taylor Collins and Katie Forrest, our co-founders, who have championed Savory and its Land to Market program since its inception.
“This is a huge honor,” said Collins, as he received a ceremonial spear, commemorating EPIC’s willingness to be ‘tip of the spear’ for responsible sourcing. “When my wife, Katie, and I founded EPIC, our mission was to fuel a food production system that fosters a healthier, more responsible relationship with our bodies, our animals, and our planet. Savory’s Land to Market program means we can formally integrate a net positive impact on the land into our sourcing practices.”
Collins added, “The Land to Market program will create a pathway for a new generation of farmers, companies and consumers to come together to regenerate grasslands and soils around the world. That’s a legacy we can all be proud of”.
As a company, we have been a vocal advocate for regenerative agriculture, and were featured in Savory’s film 'The Story of Meat' which showcases farms in the Savory network that are successfully producing livestock-derived supply while regenerating land.
Chris Kerston, Savory’s director of market engagement and public outreach, said, “We are thrilled to have EPIC as a founding market partner and thank them for their tireless support of Savory initiatives. They are true trailblazers and we hope that their commitment to Land to Market will inspire other brands to ‘walk the talk’ as they have, by sourcing their meat, leather, wool, and dairy supply from the Land to Market roster of verified regenerative farms and ranches.”
Following our lead, early market partners in Land to Market include UNION™, Zuke’s™ Natural Treats and Supplements, and Applegate™. As early adopters of Savory’s Land to Market program, these brands will lead the way in sourcing food and fiber from farms and ranches whose regenerative management practices are verified to improve ecological outcomes.
A key component of the program is the Ecological Outcome Verification™ (EOV). Developed in collaboration with leading scientists and researchers around the world, EOV is an empirical and scalable land assessment methodology that tracks outcomes in biodiversity, soil health, and ecosystem function, such as water infiltration and carbon sequestration. Those farms demonstrating positively trending outcomes receive the Ecological Outcome Verification and are entered into a regenerative supplier roster from which brands and retailers can access supply.
Partnering brands are expected to roll out select EOV products at the retail level by 2019. Savory’s goal is to positively impact 1 billion hectares (2.47B acres) of grasslands through Holistic Management by 2025. Its regional Hub Network is equipped to train and monitor for positive ecological outcomes on thousands of farms and ranches around the world. To learn more about the program, visit: http://www.savory.global/landtomarket/. Producers, brands and manufacturers can contact Chris Kerston at CKerston(at)savory(dot)global for details.
ABOUT SAVORY INSTITUTE’S LAND TO MARKET™ PROGRAM:
Savory Institute’s Land to Market is a grassroots program that allows every participant in the agricultural sourcing network to regenerate the land on which we all depend. This program brings together leading ecologists and soil scientists, farmers and ranchers who produce food and fiber, brands and retailers who source livestock-derived supply, and consumers who buy food and fiber products at retail. The program has three areas of emphasis: recognizing farmers and ranchers for their positive ecological outcomes; providing sourcing solutions for conscientious brands and retailers; and empowering consumers to "vote" for a regenerative future through their purchase power. When embraced at scale, Land to Market offers an adaptive solution to the issues of climate change, carbon sequestration, water infiltration and food security. For more information visit: https://www.savory.global/landtomarket.