Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. this week announced its commitment to advance sustainable agriculture practices across the entirety of its farmland by 2020.

The farmer-owned cooperative has committed to sustainably farming all of its cranberries, making the company the first fruit cooperative in North America to verify 100% of its crop as sustainably grown.

In its next phase, Ocean Spray will work to verify Ocean Spray’s fruit as sustainably farmed by benchmarking it to the Farm Sustainability Assessment (FSA), a comprehensive tool for sustainable farming that was developed by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI Platform).

SAI Platform defines sustainable agriculture as the efficient production of safe, high-quality agricultural products, in a way that protects and improves the natural environment and the social and economic conditions of farmers, their employees, and local communities, as well as safeguards the health and welfare of all farmed species.

Cranberries are one of only three fruits native to North America that are cultivated in the United States. As a result, Ocean Spray cranberry farmers recreate growing conditions that mimic nature. According to the company, Ocean Spray’s farmers use long-term, sustainable growing practices to support not only the health of cranberry farms, but also the well-being of surrounding wetlands, upland forests, and neighboring communities.

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