2025 Natural Grocers Sustainability Report

PLANET

HEALTH

QUALITY

COMMUNITY

NUTRITION EDUCATION

CREW

ALWAYS AFFORDABLE SM PRICING

ANIMAL WELFARE

PEOPLE

Supporting Biodiversity

Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life on Earth, from genes to the vast range of plants, animals, and microorganisms. It sustains life on our planet, is foundational to healthy and nutritious diets, and is critical to safeguarding food security. Natural Grocers supports biodiversity by being a marketplace that prioritizes organic and regeneratively produced products because promoting biodiversity is a key principle of these food production systems. We also seek relationships with vendors that prioritize biodiversity-supportive practices. We educate customers on the importance of biodiversity and the product choices that help protect it by communicating our high standards in our stores, through educational articles in our Health Hotline ® Magazine and on our website, and classes taught by our Nutritional Health Coaches. By integrating biodiversity-promoting practices into our offering, we support a healthier planet and a food system that yields nutritious options and long-term food security. REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE SUPPORTS BIODIVERSITY ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND Regenerative systems promote biodiversity through interdependent practices. In return, diverse species provide essential ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, erosion control, carbon sequestration, water infiltration, and pest and disease regulation. For more information about regenerative agriculture’s support of biodiversity, including biodiversity-cultivating practices, please see Earth Watch: Biodiversity Loss— It’s an Agricultural Issue and Earth Watch: Fighting Erosion & Building Biodiversity, One Prairie Strip at a Time

ORGANIC FARMING SUPPORTS POLLINATORS

More than 75 percent of the world’s major food crops rely, at least in part, on pollination by insects. Due to the industrialization of farming practices during the mid-20th century, pollinator populations have been declining in recent decades. Monoculture farming has had a detrimental impact on biodiversity, including habitat loss for pollinators. Industrialization of farming practices led to the widespread use of insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Neonicotinoids, the most widely used class of insecticides globally, pose numerous threats to bees by impairing their development and foraging abilities and increasing their vulnerability to disease. Fortunately, by eating organic foods, we can support the health and stability of pollinator populations and biodiversity. Organic farms prohibit the use of synthetic pesticides and instead utilize integrative pest management to control harmful pests and promote healthy crop growth. By supporting pollinators with organically managed land, they can exist in more stable populations with greater biodiversity, thereby promoting the long-term health of our planet and improving the security of our food supply. For more information about pollinators and organic practices, please see For the Love of Organics: Pollinators