CEA Food Safety Coalition Announces New Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance; Tom Stenzel Shares
WASHINGTON, DC - With the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) sector rapidly expanding, the CEA Food Safety Coalition is growing alongside it. To continue developing industry-wide food safety standards for indoor leafy greens growers, the organization is expanding its focus and introducing a new association.
“With a new name and mission, the new Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance—CEA Alliance—will expand its membership to serve growers delivering the freshest, best-tasting, and most nutritious fruits and vegetables to consumers, with the least environmental impact; reducing the use of water, land, and other scarce resources; and employing the most rigorous practices to ensure the safety of our products,” said CEA Alliance Executive Director Tom Stenzel.
Members of the alliance include both indoor vertical farms and greenhouse growers, according to a release. The Board of Directors for the new CEA Alliance include:
- Marc Oshima, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, AeroFarms
- Katie Seawell, Chief Commercial Officer, Bowery Farming
- Tim Cunniff, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President-Sales, Little Leaf Farms
- Todd Linsky, Superior Fresh/TLC
- Dinesh Babu, Vice President of Food Safety and Compliance, Revol Greens
- Matt Lingard, Vice President for Agriculture and Science, BrightFarms
- Dan Malech, Senior Vice President, Strategy and General Counsel, Plenty
The CEA Alliance will continue supporting the food safety standards for indoor-grown produce, but it will expand its portfolio of services to include public policy advocacy, support of sustainability and climate-smart agriculture, and support of retail and foodservice companies in delivering differentiated produce to consumers.
“Transparency with our customers and end consumers is an important part of our culture. Consumers can count on CEA growers to seek continuous improvement in growing the most sustainable, nutritious, and freshest produce possible, using the very highest standards for food safety and quality,” Stenzel added. “CEA growers aspire to be the fresh produce of choice for consumers while working with traditional outdoor growers to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. Consumers worldwide need to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables for health, and CEA-grown produce will be an important ally of conventional agriculture in delivering that solution.”
On top of suppliers, the alliance will also add a new membership category for retail and foodservice companies.
For more information about this new association, click here.
How will this alliance help drive the CEA sector even farther forward? Keep reading AndNowUKnow for updates.
