General Mills Inc: Disclosure of Regenerative Agriculture Practices within Supply Chain

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WHEREAS: Industrial agriculture’s reliance on conventional farming practices — including monocropping, tillage, and substantial synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use — demonstrably harms the health of workers and nearby communities, pollinators, soil fertility and retention, the climate, and water and air quality, among others. 

Conventional farming relies on the application of hundreds of tons of synthetic pesticides annually, which causes serious long term health impacts to farmworkers, including cancer, birth defects, cognitive impairment, and acute pesticide poisoning that results in approximately 11,000 deaths annually.[1],[2] Pesticide use also directly harms pollinators, which are critical to 35% of crop production, and contributes to air and water pollution.[3]  

In contrast, regenerative agriculture, a set of farming practices including reduced tillage, crop rotation, cover cropping, natural pest management, and the reduction of pesticide and synthetic fertilizer use, preserves topsoil and soil health while reducing impacts to humans and the environment.[4]

The Boston Consulting Group estimates that farmers using regenerative practices will experience increased resiliency and see a 70% increase in profits over time compared to peers that farm conventionally.[5]  

On its “Pesticides, food safety and ecosystem health” page, General Mills identifies regenerative agriculture as its #1 pesticide reduction strategy and sets a goal to advance regenerative agriculture practices on one million acres of farmland by 2030.[6] However, the Company does not disclose if or how it tracks, monitors, or reports pesticide use reduction by its suppliers engaging in regenerative agriculture practices, representing an important blind spot for the company and raising the potential for claims of greenwashing against the Company.   

While General Mills publicly discloses pounds of pesticides avoided annually by its organic farmers, it does not report pesticide use reductions by its suppliers using regenerative agriculture practices, leaving shareholders in the dark as to the effectiveness of these practices in reducing pesticide use.

Other major food companies are taking action to quantitatively report outcomes of their pesticide reduction practices:  

  • Conagra reports its farm management practices, including regenerative agriculture, avoided 112,500 gallons of soil fumigants and 5,340 gallons of post-emergence herbicides in its supply chain from 2021 to 2022.[7]

  • Campbell’s publicly discloses the percentage of pesticides, hazardous to humans and pollinators, avoided in its tomato and potato supply chains using crop rotation, reduced tillage, and integrated pest management.[8]  

  • Lamb Weston reports the amount of active ingredient pesticides (3.4 lbs. per ton harvested) used across its supply chain representing progress toward its 2030 pesticide reduction goal.[9]   

In a competitive marketplace that is increasingly demanding clean food and reduced human and environmental harm, understanding and disclosing supplier use of pesticides can reduce risk for shareholders and our company, while minimizing harm to stakeholders.  

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that General Mill disclose, at reasonable expense and omitting proprietary information, the reduction of pesticides achieved through adoption of its regenerative agriculture practices.

Resolution Details

Company: General Mills Inc.

Lead Filers:
As You Sow

Year: 2024

Filing Date: 
April 2024

Initiative(s): Environmental Health

Status: 28% Vote

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Proxy Memo

Press Release 9/24/24

Environmental HealthAs You SowRegenerative Agriculture, Regenerative, agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, General Mills, Supply Chain