I recently watched an interesting discussion presented during Supima’s Harvest Symposium. A key point in the discussion was the amount of disinformation about cotton out in the marketplace. According to presenters, “When industry figures—including brands, nonprofits and the media—discuss cotton in particular, a number of statistics get cited time and time again. But some of these frequently mentioned data points are actually misleading.” As I listened, I realized that I had contributed to that as well. So here’s to correcting the story.

The panel discussion, moderated by Sourcing Journal founder and president Edward Hertzman, featured speakers from Cotton Incorporated, Fashion Revolution, Supima, and Transformers Foundation. A core content piece for the session was the 2021 Annual Report from the Transformers Foundation, entitled Cotton: A Case Study in Misinformation. The introduction to the report states:

We believe that misinformation is a key reason why we [fashion] aren’t moving towards positive change. It is crucial for industries and society to understand the best available data and context on the environmental, social and economic impact of different fibers and systems within fashion, so that best practices can be developed and implemented, industries can make informed choices, and farmers and other suppliers and makers can be rewarded for and incentivized to operate using more responsible practices that drive more positive impacts.