Shifting the Market

Home and garden retailers

When Friends of the Earth and allies launched a campaign to get pollinator-toxic pesticides out of plants labeled as “bee-friendly” at home and garden stores, more than 140 companies responded by eliminating neonicotinoid pesticides in their supply chains. That includes the two largest garden stores in the world, Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Now, we are calling on Home Depot and Lowe’s to reject Roundup. Roundup weedkiller is linked to cancer, the decimation of monarch butterfly populations, and harm to bees. Learn more.

Growing retailer momentum to back the bees

We need grocery stores to take action. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of Friends of the Earth members, we’re already seeing stores take steps to back the bees. Our efforts have put pesticides on the sustainability agenda of the largest U.S. grocery stores. Since we started in 2017, over half the companies on our Bee-Friendly Retailer Scorecard have established pollinator health policies. Kroger, Walmart, Giant Eagle, Whole Foods, and Meijer have leading policies that require all of their fresh produce suppliers to get third-party certifications that verify their implementation of Integrated Pest Management. And other retailers have policies that encourage food and beverage suppliers to reduce use of toxic pesticides that harm pollinators, people and the planet.  

These are significant first steps, but given the scale of the biodiversity, climate and health impacts of pesticides, we need companies to build on their initial commitments and act with urgency to phase out toxic pesticides and support the shift to organic and other ecological farming approaches in their food supply chains.  

Learn more about our ongoing efforts to push Target to adopt a leading policy aimed at reducing the use of toxic pesticides in its supply chain.  

Friends of the Earth, along with our millions of members and over 100 ally organizations representing beekeepers, farmers, farmworkers and environmentalists, will continue to push grocery stores to change their practices and hold those that fail to do so accountable. 

With your help, we can protect bees and butterflies from toxic pesticides and ourselves along with them. Join us! 

Independent grocery stores lead on bee-friendly organic

Friends of the Earth surveyed independent grocery stores across the country to see how they measure up on bee-friendly organic food. Ninety four percent of these retailers (34 of 36) reported exceeding the benchmark that Friends of the Earth has challenged the largest U.S. grocery stores to meet: increasing certified organic offerings to 15% of total sales or products. Sixty-four percent (23 of 26) report that over 50% of their total sales are organic. These stores are leading the way on offering consumers bee-friendly food and are helping to reduce the use of toxic pesticides on farms in the U.S. and beyond.

Grocery retailers will feel the sting of pollinator loss

Bees and other pollinators are a cornerstone to a dependable food supply. They contribute up to $577 billion to the global economy annually.  Because pesticides are a threat to pollinators, they’re a threat to retailers’ bottom lines. A recent Friends of the Earth report found that the U.S. food retail sector’s use of pesticides on just four crops could result in $219 billion in financial, climate, and biodiversity risks between now and 2050.  

Without pollinators, grocery stores would run short of a wide assortment of fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and delicious favorites like chocolate and coffee. And because bees pollinate alfalfa and other crops eaten by cows, even the dairy and meat shelves would look bare.