Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm chronicles his journey from being anti-business to believing that business holds many of the answers to our environmental crisis in a My Turn in Newsweek this week.
Hirshberg had an epiphany when he was working as a director of an ecological research center. He visited an exposition held by Kraft Foods showing how food would be grown in the future and what struck him was that more people visited that exposition that day than visited his center in an entire year. That day, Hirshberg realized that "only the power of enlightened business could save the world--that until commerce is harnessed for the benefit of the planet, the planet doesn't stand a chance."
Two years later, Hirshberg and Samuel Kaymen started Stonyfield Farm and answered the followed question: Can you run a commercial enterprise that doesn't hurt the planet and still be profitable? The answer is Yes! What's another sign of progress according to Hirshberg? This year, Kraft, the monster-big food producer, introduced organic American-cheese singles.
Big business wants in on the green action and it's easy to criticize them for it. In my opinion, as long as the products they offer truly are safe and eco-friendly, business can be a force for good.
The more safe and eco-friendly products that become widely-available, the better.