[Pollinator] Bee Friendly Farming(R) Third-Party Verified Launches

Thu Aug 31 12:04:46 PDT 2023

                                       *It’s Official!  Pollinator
Partnership Makes Third-Party Verified Option of Bee Friendly Farming*®*
Certification **Available to All.  Check it out!*

San Francisco August 31, 2023 – *Pollinator Partnership* is pleased to
announce that the new third-party verification option for its *Bee Friendly
Farming® Certification is available for all farmers.  Bee Friendly Farming®
Certification* 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 *Where Food Comes From*. *Silk
Canada, *a brand from* Danone*, and *KIND Snacks* were the first brands to
step forward in support of this program along with two almond suppliers in
California, *Harris Woolf Almonds* and *Treehouse California Almonds*.

*Pollinator Partnership* and *Where Food Comes From* are now ready to offer
this option to all farmers, ranchers, and dairy producers everywhere.  *Bee
Friendly Farming® Certification* 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 *Bee Friendly Farming® (BFF) Certified* program is
administered by *Pollinator Partnership*, a 501(c)3 non-profit (
www.pollinator.org) dedicated to protecting pollinators and their
ecosystems. The new third-party option complements the existing
second-party *Bee Friendly Farming® Certified *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.  *Where Food Comes From* verifies the compliance in
the new third-party certification option.

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.

Through this partnership, *Silk Canada* and *KIND Snacks* 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 *Silk Canada *
and* KIND Snacks* in our third-party beta-test of the *Bee Friendly
Farming® Certified* 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."

“By launching the third-party verified option, developed by *SureHarvest*
and administered by *Where Food Comes From,* 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.”

“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 *Silk Canada’s* 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’.”

Want to see what the excitement is all about?  Send an email to
BFF at pollinator.org 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.

Laurie Davies Adams

Director of Programs
Pollinator Partnership
Transamerica Pyramid
600 Montgomery Street, Suite 440
San Francisco, CA 94111

e:  LDA at pollinator.org <lda at pollinator.org>

w:  www.pollinator.org

o: 415.362.1137

c: 415.260.8092

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<http://twitter.com/Pollinator>
<https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PollinatorOrg/about>
<http://www.youtube.com/user/PollinatorPartners>

<http://pollinator.org/index.html>
<http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm>

<http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm>
*Bee Friendly Farming* is good for farmers and for pollinators.

<http://pollinator.org//million-pollinator-garden-challenge.htm>
Find out more at www.pollinator.org/BFF  <http://www.pollinator.org/BFF>
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