It all starts with cotton at Levi Strauss & Co. And, because cotton comprises a large proportion of our products, we have a responsibility to support sustainable agriculture practices that contribute to environmental stewardship and social fairness for the farmers that work in cotton supply chains.
But we can’t work alone to deliver the solutions our planet and communities need to reach the ambitious goals we’ve set for ourselves. There are conveners and networks dedicated to ensuring the future of cotton by working together. That’s why we’ve joined the Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA).
OCA is a multi-stakeholder organization fully dedicated to organic cotton. In their words, “Our mission is to unleash organic cotton’s full potential for positive impact – from field to fashion. By uniting the sector, we can challenge ‘business as usual’, increase global organic cotton supply, empower organic cotton farmers and provide a roadmap for systemic change.” In layman’s terms, this means growing more organic cotton in a way that has a positive impact on the planet, the farmers and the businesses that rely on cotton for their products.
Joining OCA will help us make further progress toward our sustainability goals by enabling us to innovate within the organic cotton supply chain, source direct from farmers and ensure positive social and environmental impact at each step of the supply chain.
“We are proud to join Organic Cotton Accelerator, because for the first time, we’ll be able to source direct from organic cotton farmers and work with others to identify scalable solutions for the industry,” said Jeffrey Hogue, LS&Co.’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Organic Cotton Accelerator is unique in that it unites the global organic cotton sector. It enables measurable improvements to farmers’ livelihoods and local communities, creating conditions for change. This partnership strengthens our strategy to source more sustainable cotton for our products and provides new opportunities to solve the challenge facing our industry.”
We plan to leverage OCA’s expertise and network to work together to unleash the potential of organic cotton. This means we can contribute to improving farmer livelihoods and producing enough high-quality organic fibers to supply businesses worldwide. As a Contributor to OCA, we aspire to create a pipeline for organic cotton for our products. We see this collaboration as essential in helping us deliver on our long-term sustainability goals and our vision to have an outsized positive impact on the apparel industry and the planet.
“Levi Strauss & Co. has a deep commitment to sustainability and innovation, demonstrated by the pioneering of sustainable solutions for their denim,” said Bart Vollaard, Executive Director at OCA. “We’re incredibly proud to welcome them as a Contributor to support organic cotton farming, taking care of the people who grow cotton and the land on which it grows to secure its future.”
