industry’s best interest, create a positive industry narrative and develop future data practices. This is one of GreenLink’s unique advantages. The early adopters of the platform have the additional benefit of having an impactful say in how the platform develops and evolves over time. Those who have already participated have been key influencers in how GreenLink® has developed based on feedback and requests. In early June 2023, the Western Growers Science team announced a partnership with Frank Yiannas. Yiannas is set to continue his advocacy for food safety after his time as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Yiannas once said that modern times require modern approaches, and GreenLink® is a move toward that. There is a growing number of participants who are contributing their data and their voice to GreenLink®. The more organizations that are unified in the objective to engage in action and communication around food safety, the more impact the initiative will have. It’s this initiative that will inspire larger-scale engagement across the industry to create a more influential presence in the space of food safety. As Frank Yiannas has said in the past, “When it comes to food safety, it's not a competitive issue. We all win or lose together.” For more information about participating in GreenLink®, reach out to the Western Growers Science team at science@wga.com or go to greenlinkdata.com.
One of the objectives and strengths of Western Growers Family of Companies is to unify and strengthen the specialty crop industry, and GreenLink® is another manifestation of that initiative, giving the platform an advantage that other data-sharing platforms don’t have. Those who are already contributing data in GreenLink® are adding to the conversations that are occurring to the grower-supportive narrative happening around food safety. A single operation is limited in scope to the data that they have, but GreenLink® collates the data to widen the scope for a broader perspective to make more impactful messaging. The participants own and govern their data in a way that strengthens this outward communication while maintaining their individual contributions. Participants have the option to become a part of the Data Governance Committee—which assists
platform development, including the platform’s interface and layout as well as long-term expected and desired outcomes; or the Stakeholder Committee, which includes stakeholders who may benefit and inform the aggregate and anonymized database. GreenLink® participants always have the opportunity to interact on an individual basis with either the Western Growers Science team or Creme Global, the organization that specializes in data science and scientific modeling that is working with Western Growers to make GreenLink® happen. GreenLink® has streamlined integration with existing data management systems that provides useful insights and the ability to analyze and compare data securely and confidentially. As a Western Growers- backed platform, the core of the objective of GreenLink’s utility is to be driven by the specialty crop industry to work for the
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Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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