EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Warns Land O’Lakes To Steer Clear Of ‘Unrealistic’ Climate Targets

Watchdog group Consumers’ Research warned butter giant Land O’Lakes on Friday that its climate-focused initiatives could expose it to lawsuits that may raise costs for customers, according to a letter first shared with The Daily Wire. 

In a letter to Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford, Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild said that the agricultural company should stop pushing net-zero initiatives and focus on satisfying customers. Hild said the climate targets could create legal risks, pointing to a lawsuit filed against meat processor JBS by New York Attorney General Letitia James over its climate promises. 

“Consumers’ Research is concerned that it is only a matter of time before national grocers, food producers, and food retailers, including Land O’ Lakes, Inc., are subjected to state actions targeting their unrealistic net-zero commitments, as has happened with JBS,” Hild wrote.

Hild’s letter pointed to multiple Land O’Lakes climate goals, which closely mirror net-zero targets set by JBS. These goals, featured in its 2021 ESG report and 2023 Community Impact report, include reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030, and net-zero in 2050.

“As this comparison makes plain, Land O’ Lakes’ statements on emissions reduction goals expose the company to the same type of litigation JBS currently faces,” Hild wrote.

James has alleged that JBS’s net-zero target is “greenwashing” that “exploits the pocketbooks of everyday Americans and the promise of a healthy planet for future generations” by misleading customers. 

“The JBS lawsuit by General James has made plain that there is risk lurking in the ESG and sustainability commitments of countless grocers and food retailers. There is no better time than now for Land O’ Lakes to course correct, remove this ESG risk, and pivot back to a pro-consumer approach to its business,” Hild wrote.

The letter went out the same time as Consumers’ Research sent out a “woke alert” detailing how Land O’Lakes has embraced a variety of other DEI and ESG policies. 

For example, the company detailed in its 2021 ESG report that it had mandated “unconscious bias training for all people leaders,” noted that the company has an annual DEI-themed summit, and boasted that it scored 100% when ranked by the leftist Human Rights Campaign. 

Its 2023 community impact report also included a bar measuring how many non-white males it had working for the company. 

The report said that the company wants to “expand supplier equity” and has instituted a “Supplier Diversity Program.” This program is for the company to focus on working with businesses owned by women, minorities, people who identify as gay or transgender, and disabled people.

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In addition to its net-zero goals, Land O’Lakes also pushes several climate focused initiatives.

For example, the community impact report said that the company was “committed to helping our member-owners reduce the environmental impact of farming, especially the impacts of on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions” through its Dairy 2025 initiative. As part of this project, the company hires consultants to measure the farmers’ “milk emission factor.”

In 2020, the Minnesota-based Land O’Lakes dropped the American Indian woman who had adorned its packaging for nearly 100 years after some people complained the logo was racist.