Designed to provide Cooperative Extension agents & other agriculture professionals a background on small-scale processing enterprise development in order to educate producers, processors, & communities. Discusses the concept of value-adding & how it contributes to sustainable agriculture. Introduces four enterprise owners who share their experiences with small- scale processing, & presents a description of issues involved in the start-up of a small-scale processing business, including the technical aspects of small-scale processing enterprises. Discusses efforts where processors & community members collaborate to develop or support a local small-scale processing industry.

The value chain is the tried and true foundation of any profitable business.Sustainability Decoded is a no-nonsense business book that shows you how to increase profits by integrating sustainability into your company's value chain. This practical guide provides innovative tools and approaches for adding value at each station, including: Sustainability Matrix Decision Tool for Codes of Conduct; Triple Bottom Line Short Form; Eco-Label Graphic Matrix; Sustainability Ratio Guide; Life Cycle Analysis Grid; Local-Global Scorecard; the Redesign Card; the Green IT Checklist; the Balanced Scorecard for Life; the Biomimcry Backwards Forwards Tool.Sustainability Decoded provides a profitable means to practice sustainability. It is as useful to the non-business person who needs a quick guide to the practicalities and principles of adding value right across business processes as it is to the seasoned business professional looking for practical and profitable inspiration from sustainability. Includes case studies on Patagonia, and One PacificCoast Bank.

From the Publishers Weekly review: "Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal-Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "

This book investigates the ways in which these systems can promote public value by encouraging the disclosure and reuse of privately-held data in ways that support collective values such as environmental sustainability. Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, the authors' research team has been working on one such system, designed to enhance consumers ability to access information about the sustainability of the products that they buy and the supply chains that produce them. Pulled by rapidly developing technology and pushed by budget cuts, politicians and public managers are attempting to find ways to increase the public value of their actions. Policymakers are increasingly acknowledging the potential that lies in publicly disclosing more of the data that they hold, as well as incentivizing individuals and organizations to access, use, and combine it in new ways. Due to technological advances which include smarter phones, better ways to track objects and people as they travel, and more efficient data processing, it is now possible to build systems which use shared, transparent data in creative ways. The book adds to the current conversation among academics and practitioners about how to promote public value through data disclosure, focusing particularly on the roles that governments, businesses and non-profit actors can play in this process, making it of interest to both scholars and policy-makers.

Whether you are an employee, a manager, an entrepreneur or a CEO, The Sustainable MBA Second Edition provides the knowledge and tools to help you ‘green’ your job and organization, to turn sustainability talk into action for the benefit of your bottom line and society as a whole. Based on more than 150 interviews with experts in business, international organizations, NGOs and universities from around the world, this book brings together all the pieces of the business and sustainability puzzle including: What sustainability is, why you should be interested, how to get started, and what a sustainable organization looks like. A wide range of tools, guidelines, techniques and concepts that you can use to implement sustainability practices. Information on how to be a sustainability champion or intrapraneur in your organization including how to sell these ideas to your team and how to incorporate them into any job. A survey of the exciting trends in sustainable business happening around the world. A wealth of links to interesting resources for more information. The Sustainable MBA Second Edition is organized like a business school course, allowing you easy access to the relevant information you need about sustainability as it relates to Accounting, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Finance, Marketing, Organizational Behavior and HR, Operations and Strategy. The Sustainable MBA Second Edition has been updated to reflect global developments in this evolving field to remain the definitive guide to sustainable business. Additional resources to accompany the book are available at www.thesustainablemba.com.