Walmart

In April, 2021, Walmart released a written, publicly available pollinator health policy that requires 100% of global fresh produce and floral suppliers to Walmart U.S. to adopt ecological farming methods called integrated pest management (IPM), as verified by a vetted list of third-party certifiers, by 2025: USDA certified organic and international organic labels that meet the USDA standard for equivalency; Bee Better Certified; Equitable Food Initiative (EFI); Fair Trade International; Fair Trade USA – Year 6 and beyond; Global G.A.P – Integrated Farm Assurance V5, V6; LEAF Marque; Rainforest Alliance; Sustainable Food Group Sustainability Standard; Sustainability Grown (SCS Global Services). Some of these certifications also have restrictions on pesticides of concern. The policy includes a clear definition of IPM as “a sustainable, science-based, decision-making process that combines biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools to identify, manage and reduce risk from pests and pest management tools and strategies in a way that minimizes overall economic, health and environmental risks.” The policy also encourages fresh produce suppliers to phase out pollinator-toxic pesticides — nitroguanidine neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos — and to avoid replacing them with a list of other pesticides identified as acutely toxic to pollinators, which is provided in the policy. The policy asks suppliers to annually track and report pesticide application and biodiversity management to assess progress. Walmart’s policy also includes an encouragement to fresh produce suppliers to protect, restore, or establish pollinator habitats by 2025 on at least 3% of land they own, operate or invest in.Although Walmart’s policy recognizes organic agriculture as protective of pollinator health, it does not include a stated goal to expand organic offerings or to support the expansion of the organic sector as a key solution to the pollinator crisis. Walmart could expand its policy by setting measurable, timebound goals for reducing pesticides of concern and/or by addressing use of pollinator-toxic pesticides and use of least-toxic agriculture methods in food and beverage supply chains beyond produce.

Commitment to reduce pesticide use

6 out of 15 points

Avoiding regrettable substitutes

5 out of 5 points

Commitment to least-toxic approaches in non-organic supply chains

10 out of 10 points

Commitment to organic

0 out of 15 points

Walmart’s pollinator health policy includes a timebound commitment for 100% of global fresh produce and floral suppliers to Walmart U.S. to adopt ecological farming methods called integrated pest management (IPM), as verified by a vetted list of third-party certifiers, by 2025. Walmart worked with the IPM Institute of North America to benchmark third-party certifications that include meaningful IPM criteria: Bee Better Certified; Equitable Food Initiative (EFI); Fair Trade International; Fair Trade USA – Year 6 and beyond; Global G.A.P – Integrated Farm Assurance V5, V6; LEAF Marque; Rainforest Alliance; Sustainable Food Group Sustainability Standard; Sustainability Grown (SCS Global Services); USDA certified organic and international organic labels that meet the USDA standard for equivalency. Walmart’s policy encourages fresh produce suppliers to phase out the use of nitroguanidine neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos. The company will track progress toward these goals by asking suppliers to annually record use of nitroguanidinen neonics and chlorpyrifos and biodiversity management in The Sustainability Insight System (THESIS). Walmart is one of the largest retailers of organic in the U.S. and reported organic sales data to Friends of the Earth.

Walmart has not measurably reduced pesticide use in the past three years. The company has not demonstrated support for U.S. growers to transition to organic farming nor demonstrated advocacy for public policies aimed at reducing agricultural pesticide use, protecting pollinators and supporting the expansion of organic agriculture in the U.S.

Track pesticide use in supply chain

10 out of 10 points

Measurably reduce pesticide use

0 out of 15 points

Prioritize least-toxic approaches in non-organic supply chains

20 out of 20 points

Prioritize USDA certified organic

5 out of 25 points

Support domestic organic growers

0 out of 15 points

Support public policies

0 out of 5 points

Walmart’s pollinator health policy is publicly available on the company’s website. The policy, released in April 2021, requires that 100% of global fresh produce and floral suppliers to Walmart U.S. to adopt ecological farming methods called integrated pest management (IPM), as verified by a vetted list of third-party certifiers, by 2025. The policy also encourages produce suppliers to phase out pollinator-toxic pesticides — nitroguanidine neonicotinoids and chlorpyrifos — and to avoid replacing them with a list of other concerning chemicals, and to annually report pesticide application and biodiversity management to assess progress. Walmart’s policy recognizes organic agriculture as protective of pollinator health. Walmart has educational content online about the role of pesticides in pollinator declines and the value of organic agriculture as a solution for pollinator health. Walmart includes reduction of pollinator-toxic pesticides – neonics and chlorpyrifos — in company Key Performance Indicators.

Walmart does not have a publicly available commitment to expand organic offerings. Walmart does not include expansion of organic offerings in company Key Performance Indicators or other formal sustainability criteria.

Make policies and commitments publicly available

4 out of 6 points

Oversight

2.5 out of 5 points

Educate consumers

10 out of 10 points

Walmart has communicated with Friends of the Earth in the past year and worked together to develop a pollinator health policy.

Walmart reports that the company has eliminated neonicotinoids from approximately 80% of the garden plants it sells and has removed almost all gardening products containing neonicotinoids from its stores.

Walmart has not made a public commitment to remove glyphosate products from store shelves.

Policy for live goods

4 out of 4 points

Policy for on-shelf pesticide products

2.5 out of 5 points

Walmart’s pollinator health policy includes a clear timeline of 2025 as the target for produce suppliers to achieve third-party certification for Integrated Pest Management (IPM).