Following Agreement, Green Century Withdraws UNFI* Shareholder Proposal Regarding Food Waste Disclosure
Press Release Contact: Kyle W. Kempf, Green Century Capital Management, kkempf@greencentury.com, (617) 482-0800
BOSTON, September 6, 2018 – The Green Century Equity Fund (Green Century) has withdrawn its shareholder proposal with United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), after the company agreed to provide additional disclosures regarding operational food waste management. UNFI is the largest organic and natural food distributor in the United States and is the primary supplier for Whole Foods Market.*
“The goal is to get UNFI to effectively manage and minimize its environmental impact. Increased disclosure and transparency around operational waste is an important first step to achieving that goal,” said Jared Fernandez, Shareholder Advocate at Green Century. “This is especially true for a company like UNFI, which has been rapidly scaling its exposure to fresh and perishable food products in recent years.”
Green Century’s agreement with UNFI will result in a waste stream audit, which will quantify the amount of food waste annually sent to landfills and provide a detailed breakdown of landfill diversion tactics and an estimate of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions UNFI will avert with its efforts. All of the data will be published, after the audit, in the company’s 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility report.
In the United States, nearly 40% of all food is wasted. Global food waste is responsible for an estimated 3.3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions, twice the total greenhouse gas emissions of all vehicles on all roads in the United States in 2010. If global food waste were its own nation, it would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and the United States.
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About Green Century Capital Management
Green Century offers three environmentally and socially responsible mutual funds. Through fossil fuel free investing and our three-pronged approach of sustainable investing, active shareholder advocacy, and support of environmental and public health non-profits we work to curb climate change, improve environmental policies, and limit environmental impacts of company supply chains.
*As of June 30, 2018, United Natural Foods, Inc. comprised 0.48%, 0.02%, and 0.00% of the Green Century Balanced Fund, the Green Century Equity Fund, and the Green Century International Index Fund, respectively. Other securities mentioned were not held in the portfolios as of June 30, 2018. References to specific securities, which will change due to ongoing management of the Funds, should not be construed as a recommendation by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
You should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. To obtain a Prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds please click here, email info@greencentury.com, or call 1-800-934-7336. Please read the Prospectus carefully before investing.
Stocks will fluctuate in response to factors that may affect a single company, industry, sector, country, region or the market as a whole and may perform worse than the market. Foreign securities are subject to additional risks such as currency fluctuations, regional economic and political conditions, differences in accounting methods, and other unique risks compared to investing in securities of U.S. issuers. Bonds are subject to a variety of risks including interest rate, credit, and inflation risk. A sustainable investment strategy which incorporates environmental, social and governance criteria may result in lower or higher returns than an investment strategy that does not include such criteria.
This information has been prepared from sources believed reliable. The views expressed are as the date of this writing and are those of the Advisor to the Funds.
The Green Century Funds are distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC. 235 W Galena Street, Milwaukee, WI 53212. 9/18
