Author name: Lane Jost

A lifelong conservationist, angler, gardener and writer, Lane is a Corporate Responsibility strategy consultant based in Chicago, where he currently works a CR consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Prior to joining PwC, Lane was a global sustainability performance and stakeholder engagement specialist for Sodexo North America. He has experience in microfinance program evaluation at Grameen Foundation. A former President of the Net Impact Chapter at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), Lane has a master's in International Development Economics from the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD (IR/PS) and a bachelor's in history and international studies from Kenyon College. Prior to working in the sustainable business sphere, Lane spent six years as a communications and marketing professional focusing on arts and culture in New York City, where his work included the creation of the jazz website gothamjazz.com and serving as the publicist for the New York Philharmonic.

Net Impact 2011: Keen Healthcare CEO Vail Horton Inspires the Inspired

1 Comment / Inspiring Ideas, Inspiring People, Leadership, Social Entrepreneurship / By

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigpyiEhWxY&w=560&h=315] In one of the most stunning keynote sessions I have attended over the past five Net Impact Conferences, Keen Healthcare CEO Vail Horton, who was born without legs or proper bone growth in his arms, closed yesterday morning’s “speed keynote” session to a thunderous standing ovation at the Portland Convention Center. Horton told …

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US Takes a Step to Expand Fish Farming in Federal Waters

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On Friday, the Obama administration took a major step in the long anticipated process of making it easier for  commercial aquaculture firms to operate in federal waters. Currently there isn’t any fish farming — the cultivation of everything from bivalves like oysters and mussels to predators like salmon — in federal waters. Only states allow …

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Is the Decline of US Wild Fish Becoming Like Peak Oil — Exaggerated?

2 Comments / Policies, Resources / By

The tumult that still trails BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, now over a year old, has fueled global concerns over wild fish stocks and the overall sustainability of world fisheries. The bluefin tuna, one the most prized (and absolutely delicious) commodities of the sea, has become a symbol of weak global fishing regulation and there’s …

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M & A Spike Continues with U.S. Foodservice Buying a Waste to Energy Firm

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Corporate deal-making has exploded in the past few weeks sustaining modest stock market gains despite volatile price trends in commodities like oil and food (not to mention billion-dollar war games in Libya). We’ve seen AT&T attempt to gobble up T Mobile, Proctor and Gamble dispense with Pringles for $2.35 billion, and now U.S. Foodservice has …

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Tea Party Accelerates Efficient Light Bulb Rollback

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So, the CSR skeptics in the US decry the private sector’s role in market failures arguing that only the government has the capacity and the purview to solve (or at least mitigate) externalities like poor energy efficiency. The recent chicanery surrounding energy/climate reform and now light bulbs are illuminating examples of why we cannot sit …

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Social Business Good, Corporate Social Responsibility “Largely Nonsense”

3 Comments / Corporate Social Responsibility, Opinion, Sustainable Agriculture / By

A New York Times business feature on PepsiCo’s support of Mexican corn farmers has thrust a glowing light on the firm’s business practices, while simultaneously beating the anachronistic drum against the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Reporter Stephanie Strom provides an interesting overview of how over 300 poor farmers in San Gabriel, Mexico have …

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The Meat on the Bone: More Details on Whole Foods’ New Animal Welfare Label

1 Comment / Sustainable Agriculture / By

Now that the news of Whole Foods’ adoption of the Global Animal Partnership’s animal welfare certification is a week old, it’s time to look a bit deeper at both the market demand for this new information, and what costs suppliers must pay to become certified. A few readers expressed their concerns about the economic cost …

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Whole Foods Announces Animal Welfare Rating System

5 Comments / News, Sustainable Agriculture / By

Today, Whole Foods has announced in a press release the adoption of a five-step animal welfare rating system in partnership with the NGO Global Animal Partnership. The system is designed to provide consumers with incentives to purchase animal proteins from sources that are constantly committed to improving the conditions of farmed and ranched animals. The …

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The Failure of Google’s “Do No Evil” Approach to Social Innovation

2 Comments / Corporate Social Responsibility, Philanthropy / By

Yesterday’s extensive feature in The New York Times business section on Google.org’s failure to match its own lofty social innovation goals is a must read for anyone interested in the intersection of philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and information technology. The piece chronicles Google’s philanthropic endeavors since the firm issued its inaugural IPO in 2004 when …

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Has Wal-Mart Become More Influential than the FDA?

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UPDATED — 10:59am CT… Michelle Obama has now officially endorsed Wal-Mart’s plan. Today, Wal-Mart has made yet another strident announcement, this time trumpeting a five-year strategy to increase the volume of healthy foods sold in its stores. The nation’s largest grocery retailer will aim to reduce the levels of sugar, salt and fats in thousands …

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Where Carbon Footprint Reporting Meets Greenwashing

1 Comment / Corporate Social Responsibility, Opinion / By

As we forge deeper into 2011, the number of CSR reports from fiscal 2009 and 2010 that cross my desk with headlines boasting corporate enterprise carbon footprint reductions in the 5%-12% range is astounding. Here’s a quick sample: Reckitt Benckiser (RB) plc (2010): Reduction of 11% KPMG (2009) : Reduction of 7% While it’s certainly …

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