Integral sustainability

One cannot reduce the idea of sustainable food production to one aspect such as "saving energy" or "fair trade". All natural and human resources must be taken into account. The Sustainability Flower was developed to offer just that: a fully integrated approach. 

Scientific research shows that organic agriculture yields the best overall performance, if all social, ecological and economical aspects of sustainability are taken into account. Since different aspects of sustainability can sometimes conflict, innovation and an integral approach are needed to achieve a truly sustainable food production.

“The different aspects of sustainability are intricately linked. The image of the Sustainability Flower illustrates this elegantly. It has greatly helped us to bridge the anonymity gap between the farmer and the consumer. We trust it will find broad acceptance in the future. There can be no sustainability without transparency.”

​Volkert Engelsman, CEO of Eosta

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Wageningen University & Research Centre, a Dutch scientific institute, has investigated the integral sustainability achievements of organic agriculture. The results were published in 2011 in the report "Perspectief op duurzaamheid" ("An outlook on sustainability").