As a life-long public health professional and nutrition adviser, I’m excited to share news that’s close to my heart. Today, Nestlé is №1 in the first-ever U.S. Access to Nutrition Index, a ranking of food and beverage companies’ success in using policies, practices, and product portfolios to address nutrition challenges.

While we appreciate the recognition, the real award for us is seeing our progress in improving access to healthy foods and knowing we’re making a difference in people’s lives. The ranking also confirmed that our strategy of embedding nutrition in our processes is paying off.

Three approaches helped differentiate us in this ranking and continue to guide our work moving forward.

The Duke Energy Foundation announced it is providing a $160,000 grant to DonorsChoose.org to fund relief projects by public school teachers in 16 counties across North Carolina and South Carolina.

At NRG, supporting a more sustainable future goes beyond our own emission reduction goals. There are many ways the concept is taking hold at our company and in the communities we serve—one example is through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

Scrap Culture, authored by Royce Epstein, Mohawk Group’s design director, takes designers on a multi-disciplinary global exploration of the new ways waste can contribute to a sustainable future and beautify our spaces. Every kind of design practice, from fashion to furniture to product to fine art, is considered. Epstein did a run through of the CEU at Mohawk’s fifth annual Future Workplace Design (FWD) event last week, which was held at the company’s LEED and WELL-qualified New York City showroom.

The international nonprofit Access Now calls privacy a “cornerstone of human rights in the digital age.” In fact, more and more technologists, advocacy groups, and consumers are calling for stronger laws and regulations on data privacy as a fundamental human or civil right. As companies collect and use an increasingly staggering amount of personal information, there is greater attention on what their responsibility is—both ethically and legally—in handling all of this data.

CITGO celebrated its second annual National STEM Day event on Nov. 8, 2018 by honoring the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) community and observing the progress made in the advancement of STEM education in Houston and Corpus Christi, Texas, Lake Charles, La, and Lemont, Ill.

Check out the Ray C. Anderson Foundation's November Newsletter.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1 in 4 of total deaths worldwide are caused by environmental risk factors. Air, water, and soil pollution; improper waste management; and ecosystem degradation all negatively impact human health.

GRI and CDP have released a linkage document between the updated GRI Water and Effluents standard and the CDP Water Questionnaire that helps companies report on their water related impacts.