<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Helvetica;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoAcetate, li.MsoAcetate, div.MsoAcetate
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:8.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
span.BalloonTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Balloon Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Balloon Text";
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:211692844;
mso-list-template-ids:1039406384;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1
{mso-list-id:1338967896;
mso-list-template-ids:-1064688882;}
@list l1:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l1:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2
{mso-list-id:1852065136;
mso-list-template-ids:843596924;}
@list l2:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l2:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l2:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l2:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">FROM: BusinessWire</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160413005592/en/Dessert-Pollinators">http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160413005592/en/Dessert-Pollinators</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">April 13, 2016 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;color:#1f497d">This is What Dessert Looks Like without Pollinators</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="color:#1f497d">Whole Foods Market, Xerces Society team up to raise awareness of declining pollinator populations</span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20160413005592/en/519065/5/Whole_Foods_Market_Bakery_Department_WITHOUT_Pollinators_Phil_Bond_Photography.jpg?download=1" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1f497d;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="480" height="320" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D19563.63E862D0" alt="Whole Foods Market gives shoppers a startling preview of what dessert would look like without pollinators. (Photo: Business Wire)"></span></a><span style="color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Whole Foods Market gives shoppers a startling preview of what dessert would look like without pollinators. (Photo: Business Wire)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1f497d"><span style="color:windowtext"><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160413005592/en/3756569/Dessert-Pollinators"><span style="color:#1f497d;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="150" height="150" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D19563.63E862D0" alt="Life without pollinators would be a lot less sweet. That's the message Whole Foods Market and the Xerces Society are delivering this month as part of the duo's "share the buzz" campaign to raise awareness around the plight of pollinators, and to inspire shoppers to be part of the solution. (Photo: Business Wire)"></span></a></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">FREMONT, Calif.--(<a href="http://www.businesswire.com/">BUSINESS WIRE</a>)--Life without pollinators would be a lot less sweet. That’s the message Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) and the Xerces Society are delivering this month as part of the duo’s “share the buzz” campaign to raise awareness around the plight of pollinators, and to inspire shoppers to be part of the solution.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">“Sweet tooth or not, life without dessert would be tough to swallow”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">One in every three bites of food comes from plants that depend on pollinators, and with pollinator populations declining at alarming rates, the availability of ingredients in many of the baked goods people enjoy every day is being threatened.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">To showcase the vital role pollinators play in the global food supply, Whole Foods Market’s Fremont, California, store gave shoppers a startling preview of what their bakery choices would be if pollinators vanished. The before-and-after photos are disturbing - as are the findings:</span></p><ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1f497d">97 percent of the dessert choices featured in the bakery department would either disappear or would be significantly altered; only 32 of 1,057 items remained in their original form.*</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1f497d">With key ingredients such as chocolate, coffee, almonds, berries, carrots and even vanilla relying on pollinators for production, hundreds of desserts - from specialty treats like macaroons and tiramisu to everyday favorites like chocolate chip cookies - would be history.</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1f497d">Dairy-based dessert options would be scarce. Pollinators are vital to crops that feed cattle, including alfalfa; without them, there’d be no more cheesecakes, crème brulee, thickly iced cakes, puddings, creamy tarts or éclair fillings. Even the most basic choices like plain white cupcakes that require dairy ingredients would be limited.</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">“Sweet tooth or not, life without dessert would be tough to swallow,” said Eric Mader, pollinator program co-director for The Xerces Society. “But with one-third of the world’s food crops depending on disappearing pollinator species, that may one day be a reality. The good news: it’s not too late. With support from Whole Foods Market and its shoppers and suppliers, our organization is working with farmers nationwide to help them create wildflower habitat and to adopt less pesticide-intensive practices, which will help pollinators thrive.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">With shoppers’ support, Whole Foods Market and its suppliers have donated more than $547,000 to the Xerces Society since 2012. These funds have helped create or improve more than 186,000 acres of pollinator habitat in the U.S., with tens of thousands more acres in development.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">“This campaign is all about inspiring people to take small steps that make a big difference for these small heroes of our food supply,” said Lee Kane, mission and culture coach for Whole Foods Market. “Even simple strategies like shopping organic or planting native wildflowers can tip the balance back in favor of our pollinators.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d">Find product information, kid-friendly educational activities, videos spotlighting lesser-known pollinators like <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcaSRAz9Ubvc&esheet=51319038&newsitemid=20160413005592&lan=en-US&anchor=moths&index=4&md5=19ab1fd5bc90035b332988d90f41eb69" target="_blank">moths</a>,<a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUSTdyp4PpgI&esheet=51319038&newsitemid=20160413005592&lan=en-US&anchor=butterflies&index=5&md5=b9e11b6e0c53daecc625fc128da3cc64" target="_blank">butterflies</a>, <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_bu9aWPFRG8&esheet=51319038&newsitemid=20160413005592&lan=en-US&anchor=fireflies&index=6&md5=07dd898f4bcab913f6f124da111e1687" target="_blank">fireflies</a> and <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DqNfg9LUlW-I&esheet=51319038&newsitemid=20160413005592&lan=en-US&anchor=hummingbirds&index=7&md5=9547a2a1a3012b8fccee21397d590466" target="_blank">hummingbirds</a>, and more at: <a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wfm.com%2Fpollinators&esheet=51319038&newsitemid=20160413005592&lan=en-US&anchor=wfm.com%2Fpollinators&index=8&md5=9ddd51c410ea808466fd9613d7da032f" target="_blank">wfm.com/pollinators</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#1f497d">*</span></b><i><span style="color:#1f497d">The only dessert items that remained unaltered were soy-based vegan “cheesecake” and coconut macaroons. Vegan oatmeal raisin cookies, vegan peanut butter cookies, plain mini cheesecakes, angel food cake, vegan white cake and lemon sticky toffee pudding also remained, but in very limited quantities or with recipe alterations.</span></i><span style="color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Matthew Shepherd</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Communications Director</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"><img border="0" width="128" height="48" id="yiv7410395064_x005f_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D19563.63E862D0" alt="Xerces-logo-CMYK-email_Outlook"></span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Protecting the Life that Sustains Us</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Stay in touch</span><span style="color:#1f497d">: </span><b><span style="color:#67cfe3"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#67cfe3">xerces.org</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><u><span style="color:#21ae49"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#21ae49">Xerces blog</span></a></span></u></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:#acc37e"><a href="http://www.xerces.org/enewsletters/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#acc37e">E-newsletter</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:#007298"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618" target="_blank"><span style="color:#007298">Facebook</span></a></span></b><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span><b><span style="color:black"><a href="https://twitter.com/xerces_society" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">Twitter</span></a></span></b><span style="color:black"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">628 NE Broadway, Ste 200, Portland, OR 97232-1324, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1f497d">Tel: (503) 232-6639 ext. 110; Toll free: 1-855-232 6639 ext. 110; Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#0070c0"><a href="mailto:matthew.shepherd@xerces.org"><span style="color:blue">matthew.shepherd@xerces.org</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1f497d"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>