Lidl develops first biodiversity standard for conventional fruit and vegetable farming
The loss of biodiversity poses an existential threat to ecosystems. As a food supplier, Lidl is aware of its responsibility to preserve ecosystems.
Against this backdrop, Lidl is working with internationally recognized experts on sustainable food systems and agricultural experts to develop the first biodiversity focused cultivation standard for the conventional cultivation of fruit and vegetables in Europe. This standard is developed as an add-on to the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance Standard (IFA) and thus integrated into an established certification system. GLOBALG.A.P. is a leading global certification program whose mission is to bring farmers and retailers together to produce and market safe food, to protect scarce resources, and to build a sustainable future.
In the future, the standard will be available to all market participants from producers to distributors so that they can work effectively to protect biodiversity.
The team of experts includes Sustainable Food Systems GmbH (SFS) in the role of project leader, as well as the Global Nature Fund, Bioland, the Lake Constance Foundation, representatives of agricultural producers and Nürtingen Geislingen University. The multistakeholder approach takes into account different perspectives and accompanying measures and thus promises high acceptance.
The result of this process will be that, in the future, farmers will implement measures in their business activities based on a catalog of criteria, which will contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and thus to the protection of species diversity. The standard is expected to be available by the end of 2021.
