Benchmark equivalence achieved for SAI Platform’s FSA 3.0
26th January 2022
SAI Platform is pleased to announce the benchmarking of Fish Friendly Farming Certification Programme (FFF) against the latest version of the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA).
FFF has achieved Silver Level Equivalence against FSA 3.0. It joins over 150 sustainability schemes that have been benchmarked against the FSA.
Fish Friendly Farming is a certification that was developed by the California Land Stewardship Institute. It certifies growers on management practices that protect the health of their local watershed and the community. First developed in 1997, the initiative has since grown to more than 1,900 participating sites in 15 counties. This expansion reflects the growing interest, both among consumers and winegrowers themselves, in sustainable management practices.
Laurel Marcus, Executive Director for FFF, explains that farmers must comply with a complicated series of rules to achieve certification. “It is a very detail-oriented programme, but that’s the way the environment and community are. It is a complex system, so you have to look at all the places a farm touches the environment that may be causing an impact as well as how it affects the community and workers.”
“FSA benchmarking allows the Fish Friendly Farming programme to be part of a larger evaluation process. It helps attract additional farmers to our programme as well as wineries and other agricultural products”
Laurel Marcus, Executive Director, Fish Friendly Farming
The FSA’s benchmarking programme provides a common reference point for farm sustainability schemes, as well as a consistent approach to determine alignment. Benchmarks are carried out by FSA approved consultants, who assign the scheme a FSA performance level based on a rigorous analysis process.
Achieving Silver Level Equivalence, means that for any farmer applying FFF, the crops that they grow can be recognised at FSA silver level and count towards any other FSA users’ sustainable sourcing targets. Additionally, by-products derived from a supply chain that were successfully FFF certified can now also be sold as FSA equivalent.
“Congratulations to Fish Friendly Farming on its FSA Silver Equivalence. This is a great achievement that reflects the certification’s commitment to promoting sustainable agricultural production” commented Joe Iveson, FSA Manager at SAI Platform.
To learn more about Fish Friendly Farming, visit the website or contact Laurel Marcus laurelm@fishfriendlyfarming.org.
To learn more about benchmarking, and to access scoring for benchmarked schemes, see the FSA Benchmark Overview in our Resource Centre.
