An Introduction to LFP Standards
These standards are designed to provide guidance to farmers on practice and system requirements to be certified as an LFP operation. These standards are designed to describe a different level of farm performance than occurs in conventional food production and distribution, consistent with LFP principles.
LFP certified farmers and processors work to:
- Employ sustainable production systems that:
- Reduce or eliminate synthetic pesticides and fertilizers;
- Avoid the use of hormones, antibiotics, and genetic engineering; and
- Conserve soil and water.
- Provide safe and fair working conditions for on-farm labour.
- Provide healthy and humane care for livestock.
- Protect and enhance wildlife habitat and biodiversity on working farm landscapes.
- Reduce food-related energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through energy conservation, recycling, minimal packaging, and local sales.
The standards strike a balance between economic, social and environmental considerations, and must represent significant progress in the transition to more sustainable practices. They provide farmers with the flexibility to utilize a range of practices, based on their assessment of what is most suitable for their operation. LFP requires a whole farm application of the standard, even if only some of the product is being sold as LFP approved (e.g., no parallel production from the same farm).
A visual overview of the standards is provided in Figure 1. The standards outline approved practices, with points associated with each practice. Operations employing prohibited practices or not meeting mandatory conditions are ineligible for the programme. In total, an LFP standard typically contains up to 1200 points. Farmers must accumulate 75% of the available base points from their practices for their operation to be LFP approved. In addition, farmers must receive at least 50% of available points in any other area where points are applicable (e.g., biodiversity, energy and packaging). Bonus points are available for some practices that may not be achievable for many growers. Bonus points do not count in the total of available points, so there is no penalty for not using bonus point practices. Growers must keep detailed records of all farming activities to verify that approved practices and systems have been used.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, standards are strengthened annually, based on input from growers and other experts.