2024 Natural Grocers Sustainability Report

PLANET

QUALITY

NUTRITION EDUCATION

COMMUNITY

CREW

ALWAYS AFFORDABLE SM PRICING

PEOPLE

ANIMAL WELFARE

HEALTH

Natural Grocers ® does not support industrial farming that uses concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Instead, we seek to work with producers who are changing the industry by raising animals in more humane and natural ways, and protecting their workers and communities through mindful and ethical farming practices. When customers buy from Natural Grocers, they are supporting these farmers and better practices. For more information: Say No To CAFOs SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVES TO CAFO PRODUCTION Our rigorous Meat Standards provide consumers with options that support the health and welfare of animals, people, and the environment. See the profile one of our top pork producers, Beeler’s, for how it can be done better.

The industrialized model of raising animals using concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to produce meat, eggs, and dairy is harmful to the animals, the people who work there, the communities in which they are located, the water and air, and the climate.

CAFOs

THE ISSUES ARE MULTIFACETED AND INTERCONNECTED: Conditions: A CAFO is a large facility in which animals are kept and raised in confined environments, usually indoors, where movement is restricted. Feed, usually grain and soy based, is brought to the animals rather than allowing them to roam and feed in pastures, fields, or on rangelands. For more info: Say No To CAFOs Farmers: The majority of production has been consolidated to just four corporations, and they created a model of vertical integration in which they own every aspect of the production chain. The farmers who contract with the corporations have little to no choice in how they raise their animals. For more info: Say No To CAFOs Antibiotics that are considered important for human medicine are widely used in CAFOs, and could result in antibiotic resistance. A 2017 FDA ban of antibiotics as growth promoters has been circumvented. For more info: Earth Watch: Bacon Cheeseburger With a Side of Drug-Resistant Superbugs? No Thanks! Waste includes animal feces, nitrates, pharmaceuticals, industrial nitrogen products and other pollutants. Waste often accumulates, and is regularly released due to flooding or organized spreading onto farm fields. The waste enters waterways, killing fish and causing algae blooms, impacts the food chain when pharmaceutical laden manure is spread on farm fields, and eventually absorbs into the water table impacting water quality and viability. For more info: Earth Watch: The Stinky Truth About CAFO Waste Workers are at increased risk for injuries resulting from confined animal interactions, and are often not encouraged to use personal protective equipment resulting in exposure to poisonous gases and endotoxins. For more info: Earth Watch: CAFO Farmworkers Lack Basic Job Safety Protections Community health is impacted by pollution generated by CAFOs. Studies of communities with high CAFO concentration have higher mortality rates in general, including higher infant mortality rates, and increases in anemia and kidney disease-related deaths. For more info: Earth Watch: Living Near CAFOs Reduces Life Expectancy, Especially in Young People and Infants

An example of CAFO conditions

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NATURAL GROCERS ® | SUSTAINABILITY REPORT