General Mills: Environmental Responsibility

By setting goals that push the company to do more, we demonstrate leadership in establishing aggressive goals within the food industry. 

For example, because we set goals: 

  • General Mills burns oat hulls left over from the milling process to reduce one of our plant's carbon footprints by about 21 percent. 
  • We have an irrigation process that uses 50 percent less water than conventional furrow irrigation, and also reduces electricity and pesticide use. 

Our fact sheets contain these and other interesting details. 

Videos from this campaign

Content from this campaign

Environment

Healthy Soil, Healthy Ranch
Susan and Floyd Bergen own and operate five ranches in Oklahoma and Texas, including a 12,000-acre property in Sulphur, Oklahoma. Here, Susan, who has managed these ranches since 2012, shares her thoughts on the importance of soil health for long-term success in ranching.

Environment

Stomachache? Soil gets them, too
If your mother told you it’s important to chew your food, she was right. Dr. Kris Nichols, microbiologist and former chief scientist of Rodale, can scientifically prove it. “We all have microbes that process food in our stomachs, and if you don’t chew your food well, the microbes get upset and lead to a stomachache,” she says. Believe it or not, soil acts in the exact same way.

Environment

EPIC’s ROAM Ranch: A Photo Journey
Perched on the hunting seat of a bright blue Kawasaki Mule, my tour through ROAM Ranch feels like a safari.

The 450-acre ranch outside of Austin, Texas, is the brainchild of Taylor Collins and Katie Forrest, the founders of EPIC Provisions, and it is the embodiment of their brand’s mission.

Environment

Three Ways We’re Making Our Food Matter
Three focus areas are amplifying the legacies given to us by the founders of several of our brands. Katie Forrest and Taylor Collins (co-founders of EPIC), Lara Merriken (founder of LÄRABAR), Annie Withey (founder of Annie’s) and Gene Kahn (founder of Cascadian Farm and Small Planet Foods) had different paths, personalities and philosophies. However, they all shared a conviction – to be a rumble that shook the food system.

Environment

Practicing Regenerative Agriculture
This post is from Gary Zimmer, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Midwestern BioAg. Known as the “father” of biological agriculture, Zimmer is an internationally known author, speaker, and consultant. He owns Otter Creek Organic Farm, a family-operated, award-winning 1,000 acre farm near Lone Rock, WI, and has been on the board of Taliesin Preservation Inc. since 2011. Zimmer is the author of three books, The Biological Farmer (Second Edition), The Biological Farmer and Advancing Biological Farming, as well as numerous articles on soils and livestock nutrition.

Environment

Cascadian Farm Invests in Soil Health Research Across Organic Oat Supply Chain With Grain Millers
Cascadian Farm, a pioneer in the organic food movement, and parent company General Mills, announced a five-year $125,000 contribution to Grain Millers to support soil health research on oat farms in the Upper Midwest. Research findings and best practices will be shared at field day events to help advance environmental and economical outcomes for farmers.

Environment

Ceres, WWF Expand AgWater Challenge to Drive Water Stewardship in Ag Supply Chains
Cape Town, South Africa could run out of water in a few months, literally turning off the spigot for some four million residents. If a solution to the crisis is not found, social unrest is feared. Beyond the human rights concerns, the region’s vegetable, citrus, grape and nut growers may face shortages as 40 percent of Western Cape Town’s water is currently allocated to agriculture.

Environment

General Mills and Its Natural & Organic Brands Join Annie’s in Forging Ahead on Climate Action
We are very excited to see the Climate Collaborative community growing today with General Mills and its nine Natural and Organic (N&O) brands making new climate commitments. With these new commitments, the entire General Mills N&O product line is now represented in the Collaborative.

Alongside this announcement, General Mills is also coming on board as a Climate Collaborative donor at the highest Catalyst level, which means they’ll be helping fund vital programming and events as we look to the project’s second year.

It is incredibly exciting to have such a large company see the value in the collaborative platform we’ve created—and to see them expand the strong record of climate performance from Annie’s and EPIC out to all of their other natural products brands.

Environment

How General Mills' Natural Brands Make Climate a Priority
From investing in sustainability enhancing technology to supporting regenerative agriculture programs, General Mills is taking on one of today's most pressing environmental issues.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Farmers, Ranchers Set to Gain New Market Opportunities for Improving Soil Health
Today, a national coalition convened by the Noble Research Institute announced its intent to create a new voluntary environmental services market that benefits agricultural producers and improves the environment for society at large.

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