Whole Foods sustainability chief: Why protecting bees and butterflies is so important

A plan by Whole Foods Markets to protect bees, butterflies and other native pollinators from harmful pesticides is essential for reducing the organic grocer’s carbon footprint, according to its sustainability chief.

The policy, which takes effect in 2025 across Whole Foods’ more than 530 stores, requires floral and produce growers to phase out neonicotinoids and embrace “integrated pest management” strategies such as planting wildflowers alongside crops or introducing beneficial insects such as ladybugs, soldier beetles or praying mantises to fields. 

These measures improve yields for growers, such as Rainier Fruit, which maintains 325 acres certified to the Bee Better Standard. At the same time, protecting pollinators helps soil absorb more carbon dioxide, said Caitlin Leibert, vice president of sustainability at Whole Foods.  

“Biodiversity is such a complex thing,” said Leibert during the Sept. 11 episode of Climate Pioneers. “Pollinator health is one metric of biodiversity, is one metric within ecosystems services, which is one metric within climate and nature health.” The stat she often cites: About 35 percent of the world’s food crop relies on pollinators to reproduce.

Leibert, who joined Whole Foods in July 2021 after 15 years with Chipotle Mexican Grill, said “there is really no more important lever than retail” to drive positive change in the food system, pointing to how grocers choose what to place or ban from their shelves. According to the Whole Foods 2023 impact report, published in July: 

• It carries more than 41,000 organic products, including 57 percent of its fresh produce. 
• 322 products were produced using validated regenerative agriculture practices.
• 100 percent of its beef comes from regions with low-deforestation risk.
• As of the end of 2023, the grocer had banned more than 550 ingredients from its food, supplements, personal care and household cleaning merchandise mix.

Link between emissions reductions and ‘ecosystem services’

Whole Foods’ pollinator policy fits within its “climate-smart agriculture” approach, which includes regenerative farming and grazing practices to improve soil health and carbon capture, and the field of biodynamics, which requires growers to compost and produce their own crop nutrients. 

Roughly 20 percent of emissions attributed to the “average global person” are related to agriculture and land use. “Nature ecosystems have the potential to store and sequester carbon,” said Carter Ingram, managing director at consulting firm Pollination. What’s more, restoring nature and ecosystems can be an important way to adapt to the impacts of climate change. “I don’t think that as many companies are addressing that as they could,” Ingram said.

By focusing too narrowly on abating greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability professionals run the risk of developing “carbon tunnel vision,” Leibert said. 

“We must abate carbon, I want to be super clear on that,” she said. “We need to measure and know, but it’s not our only responsibility. We also must measure and improve the impact we are having on ecosystem services. There is no realm more capable of that than agriculture, which touches all of those things directly.”

Ongoing projects that merge these goals include:

• Manure management with dairy farmers
• Planting native grasses with grain and legume suppliers
• Process electrification and efficiency investments with seafood suppliers

“These things aren’t improved in a vacuum,” Leibert said.

Key allies for the Whole Foods strategy: The quality standards team

While pollinator policy was officially announced in December, it was socialized with Whole Foods growers and suppliers for many months ahead of that. The grocer’s quality standard steam, which includes 20 subject matter experts on issues such as animal welfare and agricultural practices, was involved in shaping the strategy, as were the growers themselves. 

“We get out there, I mean on the land, not just on conference calls, talking with academics and industry experts and really understanding, ‘Is this the right policy?’” Leibert said.

The metrics that matter: Ecosystem services

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is “very strong and clear” about ways to account for nonbiogenic approaches but it takes additional metrics centered on ecosystem services — the benefits that nature provides to humans — to understand the impact of nature-centric policies. Whole Foods is measuring the following, although its strategy is still evolving.

• Pollinator health, including colony and population.
• Soil health, through microbe and mineral measurement.
• Air quality, including the presence of ozone and particulate matter.
• Water quality, including its acidity, oxygen content, and presence of dissolved solids

“We’re really on the frontier of ensuring rigor there,” Leibert said. Whole Foods is studying “what moves the needle, how much and in what way.”

Whole Foods takes a cue from Amazon, and vice versa

Because Whole Foods is a subsidiary of Amazon, its impact report is scant on details about its annual greenhouse gas emissions. The grocer’s goals are dictated by Amazon’s aim to become net zero by 2040 and, notably, by a pledge to cut food waste by 50 percent by 2030 in the U.S. and Europe. Whole Foods diverted more than 87,000 tons of unsold food and food scraps from landfills last year, but it doesn’t disclose how that compares with the total.

Whole Foods works closely with Amazon Fresh, the e-commerce company’s grocery division, and a large part of Leibert’s role is ensuring that the divisions are in alignment. 

“Amazon is a two-way door on this,” Leibert said. “Whole Foods Market represents, really, a unique opportunity to enhance the climate and nature health through Amazon business units. So, as such, we’re really seen as the expert, and we help guide and create policy with Amazon on this space.”