CLIMATE ACTION AWARD BRITT LUNDGREN STONYFIELD Another new honor this year is the Organic Climate Action Award, which recognizes a person or company demonstrating exemplary leadership in advancing organic solutions to mitigate climate change through policy advocacy, farm to business innovation, or engagement. There are few climate advocates more deserving of this award than Britt Lundgren, Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at Stonyfield. Britt leads Stonyfield’s efforts to reduce emissions from agriculture, focusing particularly on improving the sustainability of the dairy sector, and also spearheads the organization’s federal policy advocacy on organic and climate change solutions. Britt also currently serves as Secretary of the OTA Board, President of the Association’s Dairy Sector Council, co-chair of its Climate Change Task Force, and a member of several other OTA task forces and councils. “Organic farming systems are leading the way when it comes to developing farming practices that are better for the environment and for fighting climate change,” says Britt. “I’m glad to see conventional agriculture embracing the idea that we need to take action on climate change, but we need to make sure that organic producers—who have been doing the right things all along—are not left behind.” Over the past five years, a major focus of Britt’s work has been the development, funding, and launch of OpenTEAM—an open-source “smart-farming” platform that hopes to provide farmers and scientists with in-depth knowledge about managing soil health and soil carbon sequestration. OpenTEAM, which stands for Open Technology Ecosystem for Agricultural Management, is a collaborative effort between Stonyfield, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment. These major food, farm, and climate organizations are working together to deliver quantitative feedback on millions of acres of farmland by 2024, which will help farmers to sequester carbon and promote adaptive soil health management. “I believe the shared sense that we’re working to make the world a healthier place really helps people feel connected to Stonyfield and the work we are doing,” says Britt. “That shared connection makes us a stronger team, even when we’re coping with the many challenges that have emerged during the pandemic.”
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