The USDA is funding “climate smart” agriculture in an attempt to help the U.S. reduce its emissions, 10 percent of which come from agriculture. Tyson is the lead partner on a project that just received
a $61 million grant from the USDA, so that they can work on “
Climate-Smart Commodities.” And, in particular, climate-smart beef.
The USDA hasn't responded yet to my request for comment. But for the climate-friendly certification, I just couldn't find anything on it in my initial search.
However, I did find the third-party verification company for Tyson's Brazen Beef, and it's a company called
Where Food Comes From, Inc. They are the company that is meant to go through Tyson's list of “Here's how we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions,” and verify that that is true. So I reached out to their director of sustainable animal proteins, Lora Wright, but she replied that they couldn’t comment for the story.
They directed me to Tyson–whom Wright used to work for.