Not only do hedgerows help block damaging winds, but they can create pollinator habitat, increase carbon capture, and bolster crop production!
Bee Better Certified
More Retailers Are Requiring Produce to be Certified as Pollinator-Friendly
With two of the largest food retail companies in the US already making commitments to pollinator health, more are likely to follow!
Helping Bees by Growing a Better Food System
Consumer demand ultimately pulls along our entire food supply. Demand for a particular product will trickle all the way back to the farms where it comes from. Bee Better Certified allows consumers to change the food system to help bees through the power of their wallets.
Bee Better Certified: One Acre at a Time
When we launched Bee Better Certified® in 2017, our sights were set high on a large long-term goal: to move the agricultural industry towards being a safer landscape for bees and other pollinators. Large-scale change happens little by little over an extended period of time, and with each year that passes we continue to see increased interest and adoption of the program throughout the food industry.
Walmart Commits to Bee Better Certified and Other Measures for Pollinators
Walmart has committed to help address the pollinator crisis by asking its fresh produce suppliers around the world who supply its U.S. stores to phase out use of highly toxic and long-lived insecticides. By 2025, all fresh produce suppliers to Walmart must be certified in one of ten different third party-verified sustainable farming standards, a list that includes Bee Better Certified.
Pollinator Conservation Program Digest – September 3, 2020
In this edition of our regular updates from the Pollinator Conservation Program, Jessa Kay Cruz gives a view into work being done with vineyards in California, and Nancy Lee Adamson shares her experience of how community science creates connections between people and nature.
Pollinator Conservation Program Digest – August 6, 2020
This edition of our Pollinator Conservation Program Digest focuses on work being done by some of our farming partners: Stephanie Frischie reports on habitat projects done by farmers growing crops for Cheerios and Cameron Newell describes ways in which his work has changed due to the coronavirus.
Bee Better Certified: Protecting Bees and Providing a Level Playing Field for Farmers and the Companies that Support Them
Four years ago, we began to hear the same question from a number of food companies that wanted to do more for pollinators: Could Xerces develop a certification program to verify pollinator conservation practices on farms and provide a transparent way for consumers to recognize and differentiate food products produced in ways that are better for bees? The answer was Bee Better Certified.
Evolution in Attitudes Leads to Greater Interest in Pollinator Conservation
Twenty years ago, being referred to as the “bee guy” wasn’t always positive. In contrast, today many people are keen to learn about what they can do to protect pollinators. We are proud to be part of the reason that the public has become more aware of, and engaged in, pollinator conservation.
Arriving in Stores: Bee Better Certified Blueberries
In partnership with AC Foods and Oregon Tilth, we’re pleased to announce the arrival of California Giant brand Bee Better Certified organic blueberries.
Bee Better Certified Engages the Almond Industry
With a robust set of requirements on pesticide use and the highest standards for protecting and restoring pollinator habitat of any food certification, Bee Better Certified represents a new era in biodiversity protection on farms.
Bee Better Certified: An Evolving Standard
After a year and a half of Bee Better Certified®, we have analyzed how the standards work for the many operations that are already implementing them, and have adjusted our requirements accordingly.
From the Field: A Visit to Klickitat Canyon Vineyard
Klickitat Canyon Winery is teeming with life of many kinds, from flowers and bees to birds and spiders. The organic vineyard is working towards becoming Bee Better Certified.
Sran Family Orchards: The First Bee Better Certified Farm
Sran Family Orchards, the world’s largest grower of organic almonds, has long committed to sustainable farming, with flower-rich pollinator habitat as an integral part of the almond orchards. This investment recently paid off when Sran Family Orchards gained certification as a Bee Better Certified grower.
Bee Better Certified™: Creating Better Places for Bees
As part of our agricultural pollinator conservation efforts we are launching a new farm and food certification program, Bee Better Certified™—the first third-party certification program in the world focused specifically on pollinator conservation.
New on the Blog
