NATURE’S PATH ANNOUNCES $100K ANNUAL PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN ORGANIC GROWERS TO DRIVE CLIMATE FRIENDLY FARMING - Nature's Path

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Launching on Earth Day 2022, the Regenerative Organic Oats program will allocate $100,000 annually to support a network of organic farmers through the process of achieving Regenerative Organic Certification® (ROC). Through this initiative, Nature’s Pathaims toamplify regenerative organic practices through education and advocacy,advance the developmentof soil carbon sequestration methods and help build an agricultural system that empowers farmers and consumers while mitigating climate change. 

”We are excited about this partnership as it gives us an opportunity to measure the carbon impacts of Regenerative Organic farming practices, while supporting farmers who are on the front line of helping address climate change through their practices”, says Jyoti Stephens, VP of Mission and Strategy. “By looking at soil carbon changes over time, we can effectively track the rate at how Regenerative Organic Farming can heal the planet.” 

Regenerative organic farming builds on the strength of organic farming practices and abides by the highest standard of land management for soil health, animal welfare, and farmworker fairness. These practices play a critical role in addressing the climate crisis as they heal and enrich the soil, ultimately allowing it to capture more carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the ground.  

Nature’s Path believes that what you eat can help the planet and this starts with their always organic commitment. In March 2020, Legend Organic Farm, owned by the Nature’s Path founding family, became one of the first to earn the Regenerative Organic Certification from the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA). Fighting climate change one spoon at a time, on Earth Day of the same year Nature’s Path debuted the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified Oatmeal, made with oats grown on Legend Organic Farm.  

On a mission to encourage others to join this movement, the Regenerative Organic Oats Program will support four farms annually in this process offering a series of cutting-edge programs, testing and community building initiatives.  

The Program: Receiving Regenerative Organic Certification starts with a farm already having organic certification, a three-year in-depth process, and takes roughly one growing season where practices are audited and measured. Each participating farm will receive $5,000 to cover program-related costs, and the remaining $80,000 will be designated to support Regenerative Organic Oats training. 

Enrolled farmers will be provided with regenerative organic training courses, individualized farm management coaching and will have an opportunity to test out evolving soil carbon sequestering measurement tools. Additionally, each participant will enter a network of like-minded farmers to continue collaborating on the growth of regenerative organic farming. At the end of the project, Canadian Organic Growers will produce an open-source manual available for any dry-land oat farm that may be interested in obtaining Regenerative Organic certification or implementing regenerative organic farming practices themselves. 

“The regenerative organic movement in North America has been led by US farmers and soil advocates, many of whom operate in climates less harsh than Canada’s. The ROO program is creating the Canadian content for this movement to better help growers in our conditions”, says COG Senior Science Advisor, Dr. Kris Nichols. 

In the short term, this program will enhance the supply of domestically grown ROC oats, improve water and air quality, enhance biodiversity, improve flood/drought resiliency and help to further mitigate climate change.  

To learn more about Nature’s Path, please visitwww.naturespath.com.  

To learn more about Canadian Organic Growers, please visithttps://www.cog.ca/.  

Nature’s Path Organic Foods is North America’s largest organic breakfast and snack food company and produces USDA and Canadian Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified breakfast and snack foods sold in grocery and natural food stores in over 50 countries around the world. Committed to the triple bottom line— socially responsible, environmentally sustainable and financially viable, Nature’s Path works diligently to support communities and champion the cause of people and planet. Brands include Nature’s Path®, Love Crunch®, Qi’a®, Que Pasa®, Flax Plus®, and EnviroKidz®. Founded in 1985, Nature’s Path is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia and employs hundreds of valued team members at its four facilities in Canada and the United States. 

To learn more about Nature’s Path, visit their website atwww.naturespath.comor follow them on social media: 

For more information, please contact: Omar Al-Sallal 

Canadian Organic Growers (COG) – a registered charity established in 1978 – is Canada’s leading national, organic and regenerative member-driven organization dedicated to supporting farmers in their path to certification and adoption of more climate friendly practices. COG provides training, educational resources, networking opportunities, and leadership to help build an agricultural system that empowers farmers, enhances human health, builds community and mitigates climate change while increasing Canadian food security. COG also engages in advocacy, in collaboration with its many partners, to advance the policy priorities of the organic sector. We work to ensure that Canada’s organic and regenerative growers, urban gardeners, and the organic consumers’ voices are heard in our pursuit to advance innovative and important issues.