America’s no-cost sugar policy supports well-paying jobs and provides economic opportunities for our communities. In fact, the sugar industry generates 142,000 jobs across the country and adds $20 billion to the U.S. economy.

Sugar companies pay fair wages and offer good benefits, providing opportunities in communities where jobs can otherwise be limited. Our industry takes pride in fostering a skilled workforce. Whether it’s partnering with community colleges to develop educational opportunities or providing tuition reimbursement, additional training and technical classes, the sugar industry is continually encouraging growth and career advancement.

 

The skilled employees who help produce high-quality American sugar are an integral part of our industry. The American Sugar Alliance recently traveled to Minnesota to hear from sugar company employees on-the-ground about the steps our industry is taking to create a sustainable workforce.

Kelly Moorhart, a safety specialist at American Crystal Sugar Company, made incredible advancements in her career thanks to the company’s tuition reimbursement program. “They invested so much in me, and so early on in my career… I really do appreciate the fact that American Crystal Sugar invests so much in their employees,” said Moorhart.

American Crystal Sugar Company also partners with Minnesota State Community and Technical College to develop employee maintenance skills. This success of this partnership has been recognized by the American Association of Community Colleges as a finalist for their 2020 Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership Award of Excellence.

Elsewhere in the factory, Technical Training Lead, John Wagar, helps lead the Process Technician program. This training program provides a clear career path and the necessary on-the-job training to ensure long-term employee success.

All American Crystal Sugar Company employees are members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. In fact, 100 percent of beet sugar processors employ union labor, as do most cane refineries.

Outside of the factory, sugar companies and employees are active within our neighborhoods and engage with local leaders to help foster more sustainable communities.

Thanks in part to U.S. Sugar, thousands of students in Florida started school in August 2019 with brand-new backpacks filled with the supplies they would need for a successful year. Brannan Thomas, U.S. Sugar’s Community Relations Manager and a native of Belle Glade, helped lead this project and has spearheaded countless other initiatives to support youth programs, schools and other charities in the area.

“The support of the sugar industries in South Central Florida create sustainable communities, and I am proud to be a part of that,” Thomas said.

Wylie Wisnewski, a teacher at Red River Area Learning Center, did not have the resources he needed to create an engaging project-based learning environment. Through the American Crystal Sugar Company Community Roots program, Wisnewski and his classroom received two STEM Grants to ensure students had the resources they needed.

The American sugar industry does more than just produce affordable homegrown sugar. We invest countless volunteer hours and significant financial resources into our employees, schools and communities.

People lie at the heart of our industry, and we are proud to help empower our workforce and create a more inclusive and sustainable society.

Next week, sugar farmers from Florida to California will be trading in their jeans and boots for ties and suits to meet with dozens of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They will be sharing an important message with Congress: foreign sugar subsidies distort the global market and hinder sustainability.

Thankfully, America’s no-cost sugar policy rewards responsible actions to protect our planet. Our farmers are leading the way on sustainable sugar production.

The American Sugar Alliance recently traveled to two sugar-farming states to talk with sugar producers first-hand about the farming practices they are using to sustain our environment.

“We are the original folks that understood sustainability. By nature, we have to sustain what’s precious to us, and what is vital to us and that’s our land,” says Michael Ellis, Vice President of Strategic Environmental Affairs at U.S. Sugar. Florida’s sugarcane farmers value the incredible resources and unique ecosystems that Florida has to offer and have invested more than $450 million to restore and preserve the Everglades.

In order to protect the Everglades, it’s critical to keep soil on farms and prevent phosphorus from entering the water. Sugarcane farmers in South Florida collaborated with scientists, industry partners and government agencies to develop state-of-the-art farming practices to protect the environment and reduce the amount of phosphorus entering Florida’s waterways.

The result? For the past 24 years, Florida sugarcane farmers have on average reduced the amount of phosphorus leaving their farms by 56 percent. That’s more than double the reduction target required by law.

“Being able to produce a crop, helping feed the world, and making the environment a better place? It’s a win-win,” says Jarad Plair, a farm manager for U.S. Sugar.

Nearly 2,000 miles away, we joined fifth-generation farmer Curt Knutson as the sugarbeet harvest in Minnesota was in full swing. Sustainability is not just a buzzword for Knutson and the other farmers who are part of the American Crystal Sugar Company co-op. It’s a way of life.

“We do things sustainably, that’s what keeps us going generation to generation,” Knutson says.

For Minnesota’s Red River Valley, sugarbeets are also a critical component of the region’s economic sustainability. American Crystal Sugar Company produces and sells approximately 3 billion pounds of sugar a year, and those sales have a $4.5 billion economic impact in the Red River Valley. The sugarbeet crop supports more than just the farmers, it supports grocery stores, equipment manufacturers, service providers and everyone else who lives in that region.