The end of the year is a time to both reflect on the past and look forward to the new year ahead. For Nature’s Path Organic Foods, that means being grateful for the food they were able to provide to those in need, the organic community gardens they helped to plant and the scholarships they were able to give to future organic farmers in 2012, as well as thinking about how they can create positive change and leave the Earth better then they found it in 2013.

“At Nature’s Path we operate on the triple bottom line, where social responsibility and environmental sustainability are equally as important as financial viability,” said Arran Stephens, Nature’s Path Founder and CEO. “We believe that everyone has the right to fresh, organic, chemical-free food, and strive to support that belief through initiatives such as Bite4Bite, Gardens for Good grants and the EnviroKidz fund. We look for a way to give back in everything we do.”

Through the Bite4Bite initiative, Nature’s Path bundles the goodwill of consumers to help ease hunger for those who need it most. Inspired by the true-life love story of the son of Nature’s Path founder and his wife, Arjan and Rimjhim Stephens, and as a philanthropic endeavor to celebrate their wedding, for each bag of Love Crunch granola sold, Nature’s Path donates the equivalent in cereal or cash to food banks. This year, more than $1.5 million in food and cash was donated to food banks across North America.

Each year, Nature’s Path provides Gardens for Good Grants to deserving organizations to help put organic community gardens where they will serve those who need them most. In 2012, Nature’s Path helped fund three organic gardens, and since the program’s inception, has helped fund nine organic gardens while helping to cultivate socially responsible community leaders. More than $150,000 has been “planted forward” since the program began in 2010.

To help educate and invest in future generations of organic farmers, Nature’s Path made a donation to The Rodale Institute to establish the Ratana and Arran Stephens Scholarship Fund as part of its Your 2 Cents program. The fund awards scholarships to students of organic agriculture to help new organic farmers increase agriculture.

Nature’s Path feels passionately that the potential danger from Genetically Modified Organisms are too great to ignore, and strongly believes in mandatory labeling so that people know what’s in their food. To support the cause, Nature’s Path donated $660,000 towards Prop 37 in California, which would have made labeling mandatory in the state, and is the title sponsor of an upcoming educational documentary called GMO OMG.

The mission of Nature’s Path’s EnviroKidz Giving Back Program is two pronged: to empower the children of today to change their present and future world and to protect endangered species and environments. The EnviroKidz line – Nature’s Path’s product line of cereals and bars for kids – donates one percent of sales each year through the EnviroKidz Giving Back Program and 1% for the Planet. More than $200,000 will be donated in 2012, with more than $1.6 million donated since the first grant more than a decade ago.

Nature’s Path also empowers its team members in the communities where they live and work to give back and support the hungry. By hosting Compassion Into Action food bank fundraisers, Nature’s Path team members have raised more than $500,000 worth of food for local food banks in Vancouver BC, Whatcom County, WA, and Milwaukee, WI.

Most recently, the victims of Hurricane Sandy needed our nation’s help. Nature’s Path was proud to join the thousands of others who made an effort to help those affected by the storm recover by contributing some 2,000 cases – about 11,000 pounds – of their products.

For more information on Nature’s Path’s sustainability efforts, visit us online at www.naturespath.com/about/sustainable.

About Nature’s Path
Founded in 1985, Nature’s Path Organic Foods is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia and employs 490 people at its four facilities in Canada and the United States.  The privately held, family-owned company produces breakfast foods and snacks sold in specialty foods stores and retailers in 40 countries around the world.  The company’s innovative brands include Nature’s Path^®, Love Crunch, Qi’a, Que Pasa, Flax Plus, EnviroKidz^®, and Optimum^®.  Visit Nature’s Path online at www.naturespath.com and www.facebook.com/naturespath. For the latest news and updates, follow us on Twitter: @naturespath and @envirokidz. 

Did you know?: Nature’s Path recently purchased 2,240 acres of fertile Saskatchewan farmland while partnering with local organic farmers on a cooperative crop-share basis. This represents our latest initiative to increase organic cropland and support family farms.

Editors’ note: Nature’s Path believes that sustainability is where our future lies as a people, a society and a company and we endeavor to minimize our ecological footprint while striving to maintain social, environmental and financial integrity. This means that as a company, we do our best to create systems that reduce the unnecessary use of resources. Thus, most of the communication you receive from us will be electronic, but we are happy to send anything you request in hard copy form as well.  

Nature’s Path Organic Foods

Nature’s Path Organic Foods

Founded in 1985, Nature's Path Organic Foods is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia and employs over 300 people at its four facilities in Canada and the United States. The privately held, family-owned company produces breakfast foods and snacks sold in specialty foods stores and retailers in 40 countries around the world. The company's innovative brands include Nature's Path®, Flax Plus, EnviroKidz®, Weil by Nature's Path TM, and Optimum®.

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