{"id":9428,"date":"2016-11-03T21:25:12","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T01:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/"},"modified":"2016-11-03T21:25:12","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T01:25:12","slug":"use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills’ Approach to Water Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an age of increasing corporate social responsibility, General Mills has taken their \u201cConsumer First\u201d slogan to heart and expanded it to incorporate a focus on climate change across the company, value chain, and entire industry. General Mills has sustainability as one of its four core pillars and has become a major advocate for innovative clean energy policies.1<\/sup> Climate change ramifications include major shifts to the water supply across the United States and rest of the world, and General Mills \u2013 which had net sales of over $16.5B in FY20162<\/sup> \u2013 recognizes that it must improve global water stewardship to protect all areas of its business and community, including agricultural inputs and manufacturing processes.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Being a native Californian, water conservation is a topic near and dear to my heart. Climate change has already caused severe fluctuations in water supply globally, and will continue to aggravate the uncertainty and severity of this variability. Not only are rainfall, flood, and drought cycles less predictable, but their magnitude has a significant impact on water supply and sanitation, agricultural production, energy, and environmental sustainability.4<\/sup> In particular, food production \u201crelies heavily on an adequate supply of clean water, for growing crops and making products for today\u2019s consumer.\u201d5<\/sup> A recent study published in Nature<\/em> noted that over the time period of 1964-2007, \u201cdroughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9\u201310%…with production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields.\u201d6<\/sup> Especially as the world\u2019s population continues to grow, the potential for decline in agricultural yield due to water issues relating to climate change will threaten food safety. Changes in the frequency of both droughts and floods could pose challenges for farmers and ranchers, causing more of the population to be food insecure and also lead to a far-reaching negative impact on the economy and businesses operating within it.7<\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

General Mills recognizes the threat that climate change poses to global water supply and the importance of water conservation for many aspects of its own business. Water is utilized by all parts of its supply chain, from initial growing of ingredients for food products in agricultural regions to manufacturing plants tasked with assembling and packing the final products. Created in 2014, General Mills\u2019 Climate Policy notes that:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We realize that the majority of the water required to bring our products to consumers is used upstream of our direct operations. General Mills has assessed that 99% of the water use associated with our value chain occurs upstream of our direct operations in agriculture, ingredient production, and packaging.5<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Security in the water supply is vital for General Mills\u2019 food processing, and climate and weather extremes can reduce the water quality and increase the risk of germs transferred after the harvest process during handling and storage.8<\/sup> Even worse, bringing water from other regions to agricultural areas affected by droughts, as described above, can have a compounding effect on climate change given that the \u201csystems used to treat and move public water supplies require large amounts of energy, produced mainly by burning coal, natural gas, oil and other fossil fuels.\u201d9<\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For all of these reasons, General Mills has committed to water conservation and sustainably sourcing ten priority ingredients \u2013 representing over 50% of total ingredient buy \u2013 by 2020.5<\/sup> Increasing pressures on water supplies due to climate change will continue to pose risks for global operations and supply chains, so General Mills is taking action now to address water issues.10<\/sup> The Company recognizes that it can have an influence on more than just its suppliers and business partners; it is pursuing a long term multi-stakeholder water stewardship strategy that includes local communities, governments, and NGOs in the regions where its operations and growing regions are located. It is working with smallholder and conventional farmers to strengthen globally sustainable farming practices.1<\/sup> Additionally, it is publicly setting global targets and tracking its progress in reduction in both water usage and transportation as an effort to ensure accountability.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

General Mills can continue to take steps towards improving water conservation and protecting against climate change. It should continue its partnership with The Nature Conservancy, fulfilling its commitment to \u201ccomplete additional watershed assessments, develop stewardship plans for at-risk watersheds, and meet with communities to provide leadership and on-the-ground action,\u201d proving that it really is walking the talk.11<\/sup> Additionally, it can also look to competitors for inspiration and best practices. For example, Kellogg supplies its farmers in the Great Lakes region with precision water conservation tools that allow for measurement and variation of nutrient and water management field-by-field, preventing waste that occurs when using a one-size-fits-all approach.12<\/sup> There is no one way to tackle water supply issues, but General Mills is helping to pave the way forward to address climate change and should continue to set a good example for its communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(800 Words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. General Mills, Inc. \u201cClimate Change.\u201d https:\/\/www.generalmills.com\/en\/Responsibility\/Environment\/Climate-change<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  2. General Mills, Inc. May 29, 2016 Form 10-K. https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/40704\/000119312516638404\/d221637d10k.htm#tx221637_11<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  3. General Mills, Inc. \u201cGlobal Responsibility.\u201d https:\/\/globalresponsibility.generalmills.com\/HTML1\/tiles.htm?_ga=1.88374301.701342848.1478133097<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  4. Alavian, Vahid; Qaddumi, Halla Maher; Dickson, Eric; Diez, Sylvia Michele; Danilenko, Alexander V.; Hirji, Rafik Fatehali; Puz, Gabrielle; Pizarro, Carolina; Jacobsen, Michael; Blankespoor, Brian. \u201cWater and climate change : understanding the risks and making climate-smart investment decisions.\u201d World Bank. (2009) http:\/\/documents.worldbank.org\/curated\/en\/362051468328208633\/Water-and-climate-change-understanding-the-risks-and-making-climate-smart-investment-decisions<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  5. General Mills, Inc. \u201cClimate Policy.\u201d https:\/\/www.generalmills.com\/News\/Issues\/climate-policy<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  6. Lesk, Corey; Rowhani, Pedram; Ramankutty, Navin. \u201cInfluence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production.\u201d Nature 529, 84\u201387 (January 2016) http:\/\/www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/v529\/n7584\/full\/nature16467.html<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  7. https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/climate-impacts\/climate-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supply#ref3<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. USGCRP (2014). Ziska, L., A. Crimmins, A. Auclair, S. DeGrasse, J.F. Garofalo, A.S. Khan, I. Loladze, A.A. P\u00e9rez de Le\u00f3n, A. Showler, J. Thurston, and I. Walls, 2016: Ch. 7: Food Safety, Nutrition, and Distribution. The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, 189\u2013216.<\/li>\n
  9. GRACE Communications Foundations. \u201cThe Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources.\u201d http:\/\/www.gracelinks.org\/2380\/the-impact-of-climate-change-on-water-resources<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  10. The Nature Conservancy. \u201cIrapuato Water Stewardship Assessment.\u201d http:\/\/www.nature.org\/about-us\/working-with-companies\/companies-we-work-with\/irapuato-water-stewardship-assessment.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  11. The Nature Conservancy. \u201cCompanies We Work With: General Mills.\u201d http:\/\/www.nature.org\/about-us\/working-with-companies\/companies-we-work-with\/general-mills.xml<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n
  12. \u201cHow COP21 is feeding Kellogg\u2019s supply chain strategy.\u201d https:\/\/www.greenbiz.com\/article\/how-cop-21-feeding-kelloggs-supply-chain-strategy<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As climate change causes major variability in water security, General Mills feels the imperative to set a good example in water conservation for its entire value chain and the communities within which it operates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2253,"featured_media":9429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[125,1218,1329,192,1447],"class_list":["post-9428","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountability","category-climate-change","category-general-mills","category-social-responsibility","category-water-supply"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/climate-change-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nUse Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As climate change causes major variability in water security, General Mills feels the imperative to set a good example in water conservation for its entire value chain and the communities within which it operates.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/GM-blog-image.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"274\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/GM-blog-image.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-04T01:25:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/GM-blog-image.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/GM-blog-image.jpeg\",\"width\":630,\"height\":274,\"caption\":\"The General Mills Inc. logo is surrounded by Cheerios and Corn Chex in this arranged photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. General Mills Inc., the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt, reduced its earnings forecast for its current fiscal year as weak demand and rising costs squeeze food producers. Photographer: Andrew Harrer\\\/Bloomberg via Getty Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills’ Approach to Water Conservation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"As climate change causes major variability in water security, General Mills feels the imperative to set a good example in water conservation for its entire value chain and the communities within which it operates.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":630,"height":274,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/GM-blog-image.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/","name":"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills' Approach to Water Conservation - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/GM-blog-image.jpeg","datePublished":"2016-11-04T01:25:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/GM-blog-image.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/GM-blog-image.jpeg","width":630,"height":274,"caption":"The General Mills Inc. logo is surrounded by Cheerios and Corn Chex in this arranged photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. General Mills Inc., the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt, reduced its earnings forecast for its current fiscal year as weak demand and rising costs squeeze food producers. Photographer: Andrew Harrer\/Bloomberg via Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/use-milk-in-your-cereal-not-water-general-mills-approach-to-water-conservation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Use Milk in Your Cereal, Not Water: General Mills’ Approach to Water Conservation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/9428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/9428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}