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</span></span><span lang="EN"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9pt"> </span><i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:7pt"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center;line-height:normal;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:9pt"> </span><b style="font-size:11pt;text-align:center"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:13pt;line-height:115%">It’s
Official! Pollinator Partnership Makes
Third-Party Verified Option of Bee Friendly Farming</span></b><span lang="EN" style="text-align:center;font-size:13pt;line-height:115%">®<b>
Certification </b></span><b style="font-size:13pt">Available to All. Check it
out!</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">San Francisco August 31, 2023 – <b>Pollinator
Partnership</b> is pleased to announce that the new third-party verification
option for its <b>Bee Friendly Farming® Certification is available for all
farmers. Bee Friendly Farming®
Certification</b> is a program designed to encourage farmers and growers to
provide safe habitats for bees and other pollinators. This option has been
developed in partnership with and overseen by <b>Where Food Comes From</b>. <b>Silk
Canada, </b>a brand from<b> Danone</b>,
and <b>KIND Snacks</b> were the first brands to step forward in support of this
program along with two almond suppliers in California, <b>Harris Woolf Almonds</b>
and <b>Treehouse California Almonds</b>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><b><span lang="EN">Pollinator Partnership</span></b><span lang="EN"> and <b>Where Food Comes From</b> are now ready to offer this option to
all farmers, ranchers, and dairy producers everywhere. <b>Bee
Friendly Farming® Certification</b> has over 450 farms in its second-party
verified program. The third-party option carries the same standards, with an
additional third-party review, and will be of interest to many suppliers and consumers.
The <b>Bee Friendly Farming® (BFF)
Certified</b> program is administered by <b>Pollinator
Partnership</b>, a 501(c)3 non-profit (<a href="http://www.pollinator.org" style="color:blue"><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">www.pollinator.org</span></a>) dedicated to protecting
pollinators and their ecosystems. The new third-party option complements the
existing second-party <b>Bee Friendly
Farming® Certified </b>program, using the same standards and support for
farmers and growers to implement regenerative practices that support
pollinators. The growers deliver forage and nesting sites, avoid pesticide use
by implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM), with the additional potential
to realize improved soil health, increased carbon sequestration, elevated water
quality, and ensured pollination efficacy.
<b>Where Food Comes From</b>
verifies the compliance in the new third-party certification option. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">Along with this announcement, there are
two tools newly available to all Bee Friendly Farming applicants and members. The
first is our new Bee Friendly Farming personal account system. This custom
designed, proprietary account system allows all producers to manage their BFF information,
access their certificates, and stop and start at will while filling out the
qualifying information forms. This private account system was developed to be
an efficient, accurate, and secure tool for farmers to continue to keep track
of their work with pollinators as part of their operations and to apply for certification.
The second tool is new report templates for Integrated Pest Management that
will help growers keep track of their monitoring, non-chemical pest
interventions, calibration, and applications.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">Through this partnership, <b>Silk Canada</b> and <b>KIND Snacks</b> are demonstrating their leadership. Their efforts are still underway to protect
and promote the health of pollinators through trying to find ways to grow
almonds more sustainably; these efforts have paved the way for other brands and
growers to adopt these practices. "We were thrilled to partner with <b>Silk Canada </b>and<b> KIND Snacks</b> in our third-party beta-test of the <b>Bee Friendly Farming® Certified</b>
program," said Kelly Bills, Executive Director of Pollinator Partnership.
"By working together, we have helped create (and now make available to all
aspects of agriculture) a program to build and enhance critical pollinator
habitats across North America and promote sustainable agriculture practices
that benefit both farmers and pollinators."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">“By launching the third-party verified
option, developed by <b>SureHarvest</b> and
administered by <b>Where Food Comes From,</b>
suppliers will be able to join sustainability initiatives from leading retailers
and brands,” said Miles Dakin, Director of Bee Friendly Farming for Pollinator
Partnership. “This evolution of the program will continue to support and
recognize the efforts being made by all of our certified producers.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">“The Bee Friendly Farming program
continues to grow and evolve to address the needs of pollinators and farmers,”
said Laurie Davies Adams, Director of Programs of Pollinator Partnership. “By
adding the third-party verification option to the program, we are working to
bring certified products to market and to increase the impact of Bee Friendly
Farming Certification. We are especially
thrilled by <b>Silk Canada’s</b> campaign to promote the importance
of pollinators in multi-media outreach efforts within Canada that introduced
its Bee Friendly Farming Certified almonds and helped bring visibility to native
bee ‘houses’.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt 0in;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span lang="EN">Want to see what the excitement is all
about? Send an email to <a href="mailto:BFF@pollinator.org" style="color:blue">BFF@pollinator.org</a> to be added to our
third-party priority certification list, and we will schedule a conversation to
answer all of your questions and share
the particulars. This is your chance to
build an exciting pollinator element in your operation’s sustainability
portfolio and to have the potential to reap the benefits of superior ecosystem
services. We’ll also give you a heads up
on exciting funding opportunities becoming available for growers to help offset
the expenses of pollinator programs on working lands in California.</span></p></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:right;margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;text-align:right;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></p></div><div dir="ltr">Laurie Davies Adams</div><div dir="ltr"><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">Director of Programs</font></span></p><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Pollinator Partnership</span><br></div><div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Transamerica Pyramid<br>600 Montgomery Street, Suite 440<br>San Francisco, CA 94111</div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">e: </span><font color="#0b5394"><a href="mailto:lda@pollinator.org" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Arial;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">LDA@pollinator.org</span></a></font></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent">w: </span><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://www.pollinator.org" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">o: 415.362.1137</p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><font size="2">c: 415.260.8092</font></span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ThePollinatorPartnership" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/qFvFCWMd7ZB9TM_LTVdhWsdArNsUDMW59Vi8rJ7gNA7RNb-K0KMroCYBtke2Nf3mZeKPh264BhJoFbuEYxeDTfQmTCyzm7-ATcBBjGE0AAE3qKIMwouoSpETJTbAz_HciMqBu3o" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border:none" alt="facebook.jpg"></span></a><a href="http://twitter.com/Pollinator" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/3tI8vtmJi_iMnB5jrgaZzGfcca46bGXziB3Ds7h9Gogn_oGHv3GSRVAnCocajGHqQgwzZpC7mouiUMBLaeQTdmfbns9AWNaLUnOKTJFD503VaRu_e-MFi6knsT91HYyC_TLtGQY" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border:none"></span></a><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PollinatorOrg/about" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/a2oQfAJ0Z9-1MGD-mrRp3X-81YwVDnKLQQAYc4R9svRUZT5hPJBX1r1DbcOliQ8VRpQTDBB8Xy7qLynmgCqL2LiXte8UIbc1I_f-f6SbUWY4HheeFvReSlhbGH9YC_yTZ5IxuiI" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border:none"></span></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/PollinatorPartners" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14.6667px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cVPc0lFK0KKdsuSZEfOJCuWAqfijIdHXSs5_VL3kk6cKodRs9hPbtTZUfLjNZ2bMSSW4YRimaAGzDSwNT9xLJEAlpdcptobYJbd3hZJ-RFCfoJeRoa3CjCgJF72LwjvcTuLUlsk" width="40px;" height="40px;" style="border:none"></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://pollinator.org/index.html" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/zZyBlTpFQjYniFpnMQmc-RrBI2Rpe9U5uKaWfoKoMYek1ugA57_o8RKohSjfJo2JvAfqHKzkZ_Yo_Sqviy3IItch11tROejbCPxaLZ6GmWOfTP9NRiqw41r0FXUzkioCYDi40tA" width="117px;" height="52px;" style="border:none"></span></a><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xvJTiXlf4_2FrLoy25N8mA58EWUhf0bq_7y0O_Mpgry4fDA03xNJOoSBdIKNJlElTT7wBuaZlah8bDxdn3I-PqkLByXUHbAwatAt3NTGd32GxNkPlq7pSsUjHQ0XsTNGajnAGV8" width="60px;" height="60px;" style="border:none"><br></a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><br></a></span></p><div dir="ltr"><img src="https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalImages/ProjectWingspan_Logo.2019.FINAL.jpg" width="85" height="96"><font size="2"><img width="95" height="96" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xop3joKFJHXOX3zAN_k1d-LZVOFcJlI5aZDUgFOnX5NuFcBKnI-56nybBMIsab0TBwzgsz02k"></font></div></span><span><div dir="ltr"><b>Bee Friendly Farming</b> is good for farmers and for pollinators. <br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:13.3333px;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent"><a href="http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm" target="_blank"></a></span></p><div><font size="2">Find out more at <a href="http://www.pollinator.org/BFF" target="_blank">www.pollinator.org/BFF </a></font></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>