News

FSA Filter Targets Sustainable Practice in Mushroom Cultivation

22nd August 2018

SAI Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) is introducing a filter to verify sustainable practices for the cultivated mushrooms industry. Specific FSA questions and guidance will enable mushroom farmers and their customers to benefit more from this industry-aligned tool. The new FSA filter for mushroom cultivation is available for download from the Toolbox section on the FSA Website.

Mushroom cultivation differs distinctively from most crop production due to the fact that mushrooms are grown in closed space in substrates rather than in soil. This is therefore, an exceptional scenario, leading to the decision to develop a mushroom filter in order to meet the needs of our SAI Platform members and their mushroom suppliers” explained Sven Sielhorst, FSA Programme Lead.

We believe that the new mushroom filter opens up the possibility for mushroom farmers and their customers to benefit further from the FSA in order to meet their sustainability targets”, added Sven.

An independent specialist reviewed how the FSA applies to cultivated mushrooms, and what a filter should look like when providing guidance on sustainable practices for mushroom cultivation.

The review resulted in a mushroom filter with more crop-specific guidance, as well as indicating which FSA questions are not applicable. The filter also has three additional questions related to worker health and safety in closed spaces and the use of peat in substrate casing.

The Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA) is applicable to the production of virtually any cultivated crop. It is applied to assess, improve and verify crop sustainability in over 30 countries and widely varying production systems. As such, the FSA is a single and harmonised reference for crop sustainability for a growing number of food and drinks companies around the world.

The mushroom filter is not applicable to wildly harvested mushrooms.