Honeybear unveils TruEarth grower program
Honeybear unveils TruEarth grower program
Honeybear Brands has unveiled TruEarth, the latest step in the company’s ongoing commitment to earth-friendly and best-practices growing. Developed in conjunction with the Integrated Pest Management Institute of North America, TruEarth protocols represent a thoughtful and conscious approach to farming for the good of the land, grower communities and consumers. They’re also intended to help protect the at-risk honey bee population.
“As a family-farm grower community we have a long history of caring for both the land and our growers’ livelihoods,” Don Roper, Honeybear Brands vice president of marketing, said in a press release. “TruEarth is the next step in formalizing all of the work we’ve been doing over the years to grow premium fruit to the highest possible standards while supporting our grower communities.”
The TruEarth program is designed to help growers farm as much within nature and natural processes as possible while still employing modern technologies to solve on-farm problems and produce a commercially viable crop. Protocols assist growers in their efforts to develop balanced nutrient profile, improved soil fertility and to encourage beneficial insects by providing suitable living conditions as a natural pest control strategy.
Honeybear growers undergo a TruEarth assessment process and an annual audit by the IPM to assess compliance to program standards. The TruEarth promise includes GMO-free growing; prohibition of high-toxicity pesticides; use of clean water by reducing soil erosion; energy conservation; water conservation in its orchards and the packing facilities; ongoing recycling of all waste; and protection of biodiversity.
TruEarth protocols are currently helping protect the natural habitat of the threatened honey bee. Honeybear growers work to mitigate the use of pesticides that are toxic to the bee population before or during bloom. Growers are monitoring and surveying bee populations for abundance and diversity in an ongoing effort to create best practices for bee protection.
“The honey bee pollination process affects one in three of the foods we put in our bodies,” Roper added in the release. “They’re also incredibly important to the delicate eco-balance in our grower communities. Our TruEarth program is designed to certify each of our growers to standards and practices that look after the land, natural habitats like those of the honey bee and keep us focused on finding ways that we can all do better as an industry going forward.”
