TCI welcomes the nationally recognized “Animal Welfare Approved” program

The  Trust for Conservation Innovation (TCI)  and the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) are pleased to announce that the Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) program has officially become a program of TCI’s “A Greener World” project, effective November 1, 2014.

“Promoting high welfare, animal-sensitive standards of animal husbandry in farming is a major objective of the Animal Welfare Institute,” said Cathy Liss, president of AWI. “As an organization with a long history pioneering standards for high-welfare farming practices, AWI developed the Animal Welfare Approved program, establishing standards predicated on the principle of fitting the farming system to the animals, rather than the animal to the system.  The program has since flourished. Today, Animal Welfare Approved has come to be the most highly regarded food label in the nation in terms of animal welfare, with an increasing number of farmers, exceptionally high standards that are continually evolving, and a growing team of well-trained, knowledgeable staff and consultants.”

TCI is a nationally recognized nonprofit that incubates and accelerates program capacity for initiatives that conserve, protect and sustain a resilient world. TCI’s portfolio includes projects in sustainable food and agriculture systems, wildlife conservation, energy efficiency and urban infrastructure, marine and fisheries conservation, and conservation technology. Serving as an umbrella organization, TCI provides a cost-effective, shared administrative backbone that includes comprehensive human resources and financial management, insurance and risk management, grants administration, fundraising support, and fiduciary oversight.

AWA will continue its groundbreaking work in auditing and certifying farms according to the highest welfare and sustainability standards as part of TCI’s “A Greener World” project.  “A Greener World” seeks to define and support sustainable agriculture in the broadest sense, educating today’s consumers about the environmental and social outcomes of their food purchasing decisions, and using robust and trusted farm certification to help reconnect food producers and consumers. As part of “A Greener World,” AWA will build on its success in certification and educational outreach, while expanding to offer even more resources to farmers and consumers. AWI will remain an important ally of the project and will have representation on the AWA Advisory Board, which provides oversight for the program’s standards and operations. 

“This is an exciting time for the AWA program and our community of famers,” said Andrew Gunther, program director of AWA. “TCI will provide us with essential financial, administrative, and legal support, allowing us to focus our energies on what we do best. As we explore new areas of growth for our certification program, we look forward to continued collaboration with AWI. We are grateful for the stewardship provided by AWI over the past eight years, and for the encouragement they are giving us as we enter the next phase of our growth plan.”

The Animal Welfare Approved logo is a trademark of the Animal Welfare Institute and is licensed to the Trust for Conservation Innovation for the exclusive use of the Animal Welfare Approved program, a program of A Greener World.