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GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2016 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 8 B Corporations Continued from PAGE 1 they treat their employees well," she said. She also added that it's about respect- ing customers, employees and the pub- lic, and being honest. "If people are asking questions and you can't answer them, you probably have something to hide," she said. "B Corp status opens you up, keeps you transparent and aligns your values." In addition to the rigorous certifica- tion process, companies commit to their cause by amending corporate bylaws to include social and environmental mis- sions. That is, B Corps choose to make themselves legally beholden to work to- ward missions other than profit. And in states where Public Benefit Corporations (PBCs) can incorporate, B Corps must make the switch from corporate struc- tures like Limited Liability or C Corpo- ration within two years of certification. Companies in states and countries where PBCs cannot yet incorporate must make the switch within four years from the time legislation does pass. In doing so, B Corps become equally bound to share- holders, employees, social good and en- vironmental impact, not just the former. "We were able to integrate all the ele- ments of our mission into our articles of incorporation," said Mathieu Senard, Co- Founder and Co-CEO of Alter Eco, a B Corp since 2009. "Legally binding, our product has to be organic and non- GMO." He added that Alter Eco made the switch as soon as the possibly could, in 2013, right when the company's home state of Delaware passed the legislation. There's also an annual fee, and compa- nies must requalify every year. The cost is $5000 a year for companies making less than $20 million in annual sales, while companies that make more than $20 million pay $10,000. Members of what's lovingly referred to as the "B Community" say the benefits are well worth the costs. "This model works! It's showing busi- nesses that they can do good for people and the planet and also be comfortable and keep a healthy business," said Senard. "It's a way to show your impact and your mission, too. It's one thing when you talk about your company and say you're doing all these great things, but it's more powerful when a third party certifies you and tells the whole world what you're doing." Companies can also add the B Corp seal to their websites and packaging to let everyone know they're part of the B Community. "Once you become a B Corp, you work with other B Corps," said Ginsberg. She added that becoming a B Corp comes with a few discounts and a large number of important contacts. They can learn from each others' example, or work with B Lab to improve. B Lab's online system enables businesses to increase their score year round. "You can modify and update that score anytime you want," said Ginsberg. "It's a free-flowing process that helps you track where you are and to get to higher standards. You can change your policies, recycle a different way, put in a greener refrigerator." And that's one of the ways Bare Snacks improved upon its own score. The com- pany asked employees what mattered to them, which included axing the break room paper plates and cups, getting an ef- ficient refrigerator and replacing plastic water bottles with a faucet filter. In addi- tion, the company raised its score by up- dating some of its HR policies. The result, said Ginsberg, was very positive employee response. Alter Eco's score increased from 125 to 148 last year, and Senard attributes that im- provement to the company's acting on sug- gestions from B Lab. "What B Corp has helped us to do is put the spotlight on areas where we can improve," he said. "B Lab didn't force us to do it — we just saw we can be better, and we want to be better for our employees, too." Ginsberg said many food producers have been leaders in this movement. "It's really going to help differentiate your brand for consumers," she said. "People are getting more skeptical about the products they buy, and really want to support positive brands because, nowadays, on social media, people see brands they support reflecting their identities. They want their identity to align with their values, which is what B Corps are all about." Even though B Corp certification does appear advantageous to brands, Senard and other B Corp owners specifically pointed out that it's hard to quantify the benefits. Ultimately, they said, it's about making a better business and working toward a brighter future. "Consumers care about the products they buy and how they were developed, how those companies produce and oper- ate," Ginsberg said. "Further, employees care about the companies they work for, and they want their employers to do that as well. I see this trend continuing to grow." "I hope we're going to be a model for other companies to become that," said Senard. "We hope to inspire the entrepre- neurs of the future to start their companies like that, from day one, where the company has a mission to bring some good into this world." Interested parties can head to bcorporation.net to put their business to the test. GN Solutions for Hunger Continued from PAGE 1 tions that can cause a household to ex- perience hunger, according to the report. "We hear every day loud and clear from all areas of the state that people can't support their families," said Donna Yellen, Chief Program Officer from Pre- ble Street, which operates eight local soup kitchens in Maine, in her testimony before the Commission. "They can't get food because they can't find decent jobs." The costs of hunger include greater health care expenditures, reduced worker productivity and greater rates of worker absenteeism. Senior adults are among the most vulnerable to hunger, and the number of older adults is ex- pected to rive over the next few decades. Compared to seniors who don't experi- ence hunger, those who are hungry are three times as likely to suffer from de- pression, 50 percent more likely to have diabetes and 60 percent more likely to have congestive heart failure or a heart attack. Hunger also has indirect costs, includ- ing impairment of childhood health and development, which exacts a price in their academic achievement and even their mental health. About 4.4 million of people in households that include chil- dren under 6 are in households that re- port hunger, and households headed by single parents are particularly vulnera- ble. Adults in these households fre- quently go without food so they can feed their children, but that affects their abil- ity to juggle parenting, work and self- care, according to the report. Hungry adults have higher rates of obesity and diabetes. While the government can't solve the problem of hunger within our borders alone, improvements in government pro- grams can play a part. The government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro- gram (the program formerly known as Food Stamps) needs to get better, as do child assistance programs. Those pro- grams are neither as effective, coopera- tive or as efficient as they should be, according to the Commission. The U. S. spent $103.6 billion on food and nutrition assistance programs in 2014, with one in four Americans having participated in at least one of the govern- ment's 15 food assistance programs at some point during the year. The largest of these government programs are SNAP, WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Chil- dren), the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, the Summer Food Service Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. WIC provides food, health care refer- rals and nutrition education for low-in- come pregnant or post-partum women and to infants and children under five who are at nutritional risk. In 2014, more than half of all newborn children in the United States participated in the WIC program, which has been credited with a 68 percent reduction in hunger among families with young children. WIC is associated with healthier births, more nutritious diets and improved cog- nitive development as well as a greater likelihood that children will be immu- nized, according to Kate Breslin, Presi- dent and CEO of the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, who testified be- fore the Commission. SNAP is the country's largest food as- sistance program. It works by giving low-income individuals and households additional income to buy groceries. SNAP provided assistance to 46.5 million people in an average month in 2014 and is credited with decreasing the percent- age of households experiencing hunger by 12 percent to 19 percent. In house- holds participating in SNAP, children are 16 percent less likely to be at risk of de- velopmental delays, and they have lower rates of hospitalization compared to chil- dren in similar households that don't participate in SNAP. The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs operate in more than 100,000 schools and residential institutions and served more than 30 million students in the 2014 fiscal year. In 2014, nearly 22 million school children received a free or reduced price school lunch. In addition to these government pro- grams, a variety of individuals, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations and corporations are engaged in hunger re- lief efforts in their communities. These in- clude Feeding America, the largest umbrella organization for food banks and food rescue organizations. In 2010, Feeding America-affiliated agencies distributed food to 37 million Americans, including 14 mil- lion children. More recently, in 2015, the Specialty Food Association donated more than 97,000 pounds of food at last Sum- mer's Fancy Food Show with the help of 324 City Harvest volunteers and another 100,000 pounds of food at the 2015 Winter Fancy Food Show in conjunction with Feed the Hungry. "Stonewall Kitchen, like a lot of other companies here at the Fancy Food Show, is a small company. We're not a faceless corporation. We know the people in our communities. We donate food, and we work at our local soup kitchens in Maine and New Hampshire, so donating our food here at the show is just a logical extension of that," said John Stiker, CEO of Stonewall Kitchen. Most of the Commission's recommenda- tions for improving government food assis- tance programs without additional spending relate to improvements in either SNAP or child nutrition programs. For SNAP, the Commission recommendations are intended to promote work, improve nu- trition and enhance well-being. In partic- ular, the Commission recommends that Congress and the USDA should require states to encourage SNAP applicants who are able to work to do so by supporting them in their efforts to seek employment or participate in work-related activities that might realistically lead to available jobs. The Commission also recommended that individual states should have more flexibil- ity in how they use employment and train- ing funding tied to SNAP, so that, for instance, a state might use some of its SNAP money to provide substance abuse and mental health treatment if that's what will help a SNAP recipient get back to work. The Commission also recommends that Congress and the USDA should find ways to encourage SNAP recipients to purchase fruits, vegetables, high-quality proteins, whole grains and other healthy foods and to disallow the use of SNAP benefits for purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages. These might include requiring grocery stores and other stores that qualify as SNAP vendors to devote more prominent shelf space for healthier foods and vegetables. GN

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