Sustainability
Michael Cutler Company uses sustainable farming practices that focus on conservation and efficiency.
Growing for the Future
With thousands of acres sustained by Michael Cutler Company across North America, our focus is on providing consumers with the best quality produce while preserving our resources.
In order to ensure a long-term plan for efficient, responsible farm production, we pursue education for our growers through farm associations and other industry resources. We continually conduct tests on new seed varieties and soil amendments with the support of academic universities to boost our yields and quality of crops.
Our sustainable practices at Michael Cutler Company have been developed around four main goals. These goals focus on helping our farmers prosper while providing consumers with a safe, satisfying food all while protecting the environment.
Our four main goals are:
- Environmental stewardship
- Efficient use of non-renewable resources
- Growing for the future
- Consumer Safety
Environmental Stewardship
Even though sunlight and air are available everywhere, nutrient rich soil and water are not. When farmers plant, grow, and harvest a crop, they deplete the land of essential nutrients. Without replenishment of these nutrients, farming land would become unusable and suffer from reduced yields.
In order to avoid this problem, Michael Cutler Company uses crop rotation in order to replenish these essential nutrients. Legume crops like peanuts or beans are planted to restore essential nutrients like nitrogen. In order to prevent runoff risks, headlands are built up to maintain the runoff in the valleys naturally created by growing on raised beds. Catch basins are also used to hold runoff water to be used for future irrigation.
In recent years, Michael Cutler Company has converted much of our consumer plastic packaging over to Oxo-biodegradable Plastic Technology. This allows our packaging to biodegrade into environmentally friendly products in only a few months or years compared to decades or longer with old packaging.
Efficient Use of Non - Renewable Resources
In order to optimize water use during the growing process, Michael Cutler Company conducts soil analysis to determine moisture levels. Our goal is to ensure the proper amount of water is used to create healthy, quality produce. In our production facilities, water is first used to cool and wash product. The water is then reclaimed and used to flume organic waste out of the facility. After leaving the facility, water is then transferred to a pond where it is used for future irrigation. When irrigating fields, updated sprinkler systems are used to provide just enough water for plants to grow, reducing runoff and nutrient waste.
Michael Cutler Company’s focus on locally grown product has saved valuable food miles while providing customers with product grown near them. Not only does this reduce the cost of freight and in turn the product, but it reduces the emission of greenhouse gases from today’s transportation methods.
Consumer Safety
With produce and food borne illness in the news, Michael Cutler Company continues to pride ourselves on not only bringing the freshest produce to market, but also providing the safest growing and processing procedures in the industry.
Michael Cutler Company is committed to providing safe, wholesome food. Our growers follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to ensure compliance with current farming procedures. We also follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and have been audited and certified Food Safe by NSF - Davis Fresh Technologies in our company owned facilities.
Conclusion
Michael Cutler Company’s pursuit of learning and implementing new and improved farming practices is constant. As weather and soil conditions changes from year to year, our internal practices evolve. We have extensive communication and training with our farming staff to keep our team informed of all new and evolving practices.