Sustainability
ASTA is committed to ensuring that spice production can continue for future generations without compromising the ability of the environment to support it or the well-being of the people involved in its cultivation, processing, and trade.
What Sustainability Means
Sustainability within the spice industry involves a commitment to maintaining or improving conditions and processes over time without depleting resources or causing harm to the environment, society, or economy. Sustainability requires a holistic approach that considers environmental, social, and economic aspects, and it can be achieved through education, advocacy, and practical change.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability involves growing and harvesting spices to minimize or to deliver a positive environmental impact. It also includes practices such as preventing soil degradation, preserving water resources, and ensuring that the cultivation of spices doesn’t lead to deforestation or loss of biodiversity.
Climate Resilience
Building resilience against climate change is a crucial aspect of sustainability in the spice industry. This includes adapting farming practices to changing weather patterns, using drought-resistant crop varieties, and implementing measures to protect against extreme weather events.
Social Sustainability
The global spice industry relies on the success of smallholder farms typically in low and middle income countries. Social sustainability focuses on improving the livelihoods and well-being of those farmers and their communities. This can involve ensuring fair labor practices and gender equality, providing access to education and healthcare, and supporting community development projects.
Economic Sustainability
For the spice industry to be sustainable, it must also be economically viable for all stakeholders, from the farmers who grow the spices to the companies that process and sell them. This includes providing fair prices to farmers, ensuring stable supply chains, and creating resilience against market and climate fluctuations.
Sustainable Sourcing
Sustainable sourcing of spices involves procuring spices in such a way that supports sustainable farming practices, reduces the carbon footprint, and ensures the long-term viability of spice crops. This also means transparency and traceability in the supply chain, allowing consumers and businesses to understand where their spices come from and how they were produced.
Our Commitment to Promote a Sustainable Spice Supply
For the American Spice Trade Association, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword. ASTA is committed to meaningful, ongoing action to promote a sustainable spice trade. This is achieved through collaboration and partnerships, influencing policy through advocacy, targeted projects, and ongoing education.
Education on Sustainability
ASTA is dedicated to the continued education of members and partners to develop awareness, a common terminology, and an understanding of sustainability issues. Our Sustainable Sourcing Guide provides members with a checklist of questions and documentation to gather throughout the supply chain to ensure due diligence. Ongoing education through webinars, such as Sustainability 101, provides members with a deeper understanding of sustainability with opportunities to explore adopting sustainability measures for their businesses and navigate other sustainability issues.
The American Spice Trade Association also hosted the ASTA/SSI Sustainability Symposium in conjunction with the 2022 ASTA Annual Meetings & Exhibits to initiate the conversation about sustainable spices across the industry. This also provided participants with an opportunity to gain insights from key customers on the importance of addressing sustainability issues.
