In celebration of National Pollinator Week, the Giant Company recently announced it has completed a 7-acre pollinator-friendly solar field at its corporate headquarters at 1149 Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle. This initiative aims to create a synergistic environment, which contributes both to clean energy and support for bee and pollinator populations needed within the agriculture industry.
Honey bees pollinate $15 billion worth of food crops in the United States each year, yet populations have been experiencing a decline for more than three decades, the Giant Company reported. Beekeepers across the United States lost an estimated 40.7% of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, according to the latest annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Maryland-led nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership.
A pollinator field provides Giant with an opportunity to educate team members, customers and the community about the role bees play in getting food onto their family's table, noted Nicholas Bertram, president of the Giant Company.
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture deputy secretary Cheryl Cook added that nearly one-third of the nation's food supply depends on pollinators, making bees an essential part of the food supply chain and ecosystem.
The Giant Company has also been selected as the first grocery retailer and first Pennsylvania participant to take part in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's InSPIRE study, where scientists measure and track the performance of the pollinator-friendly ground cover for applications to future solar energy projects. In addition to the benefits of the plants, the new solar array coupled with the one currently installed on the roof of the Giant Company headquarters will reduce 4.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide in the environment and generate enough power for the entire building.
Native seed mixes provided by Ernst Conservation Seeds will act as a vegetative solution to beautify the site and provide valuable ecological functions. The Giant Company hopes the native meadow established will create a habitat for pollinators, birds and other small wildlife while improving the quality of the soil beneath it, reducing runoff and creating an attractive backdrop to the site. The field includes more than 20 varieties of wildflowers native to the northeast and central Pennsylvania like butterfly milkweed, mountain mint, blue mistflower and golden Alexander.
Robin Ernst, president of Ernst Pollinator Service, explained that as the field matures over the next few years, more than one million pollinator-attracting plants will provide pollen and nectar sources for honey bees and other pollinators, which will in turn pollinate local farm fields.
The Giant Company also announced a new strategic partnership with Planet Bee Foundation. Based in San Francisco, Planet Bee is a nonprofit organization focused on driving awareness for pollinators while creating environmental stewards of all ages, in turn contributing to the well-being of bees. In celebration of the new partnership and National Pollinator Week, the Giant Company announced a $50,000 donation to Planet Bee Foundation.
Planet Bee Foundation has constructed the beehives for the pollinator-friendly solar field and will tend to the health of the colonies as the bees provide their essential pollinator services to the local ecosystem. The foundation is also helping the Giant Company develop educational signs that will be installed along the on-campus walking path to drive awareness about the importance of bees to the grocery and agricultural supply chains.
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