About Us
RIPE (Rural Investment to Protect our Environment) is a non-profit program dedicated to supporting bipartisan common sense climate policy by enabling America’s agricultural producers to earn a fair and profitable incentive from voluntary environmental stewardship practices. RIPE’s mission is to cultivate a coalition of agriculture leaders and environmental organizations to champion a climate policy that can secure bipartisan support for the needs of our nation’s growers and environment.
The RIPE Roadmap is a common sense policy proposal to compensate growers for voluntary stewardship practices at rates that reflect the ecosystem service values they deliver to society. Those values include public benefits to climate stabilization, water quality, water conservation, air quality, and soil health. The payment rates are designed to offer producers a fair and robust stewardship incentive that covers the full cost of the stewardship practice and carbon compensation, enabling farmers and ranchers to net a stewardship incentive that is fair and profitable.
Governance
RIPE’s steering committee is comprised of agricultural industry leaders and environmental thought-leaders. RIPE is currently a fiscally-sponsored project of Multiplier, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to sustainability and equity, and is working towards becoming an independent nonprofit in 2021 that would report to a board of agricultural industry and environmental leaders. Funding is currently provided by the environmentally-oriented foundations below, and RIPE is working towards a blended funding model for 2021 that would include support from environmental foundations and agricultural trade associations.
Philanthropic funding is provided by:
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- The Flora Family Foundation
- The Energy Foundation
- Individuals, like you
