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The Giant Company creates pollinator-friendly solar field at HQ

Project supports clean energy and bee population key to agriculture

Russell Redman

June 23, 2020

4 Min Read
Giant Carlisle beehive-pollinator field
Giant said the solar poillinator field provides clean energy while supporting bee and pollinator populations needed by the agriculture industry.The Giant Company

Contributing to a more synergistic environment, The Giant Company has established a seven-acre, pollinator-friendly solar field at its corporate headquarters in Carlisle, Pa.

Giant said the project is the first of its kind for a grocery retailer. Announced yesterday in celebration of National Pollinator Week, the field provides clean energy while supporting bee and pollinator populations needed by the agriculture industry.

The Ahold Delhaize USA supermarket chain said it also has been selected as the first grocery retailer and first Pennsylvania participant for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s InSPIRE study, in which scientists monitor the performance of the pollinator-friendly ground cover for applications to future solar energy projects.

“From almonds to zucchini and countless fruits, vegetables and nuts in between, nearly one-third of our food supply depends on pollinators, making bees an essential part of our food supply chain and ecosystem,” Giant President Nicholas Bertram said in a statement. “A pollinator field provides us with a unique opportunity to educate our team members, customers and the community about the crucial role bees play in getting food onto their family’s table. For The Giant Company, healing the planet starts at home, so creating a pollinator habitat at our headquarters is a natural first step as we work to address the declining bee population.”

Related:The Giant Company targets food waste with Flashfood app pilot

Nick Bertram-Giant-pollinator solar field.jpgGiant President Nick Bertram at the solar pollinator field on the company's Carlisle, Pa., campus. (Photo courtesy of Giant)

Beekeepers nationwide lost an estimated 40.7% of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, Giant reported, citing the latest annual survey conducted by the University of Maryland-led nonprofit Bee Informed Partnership. In the United States, honey bees pollinate $15 billion of food crops each year, but populations have been declining for over three decades.

“The Giant Company has always been an incredible partner to Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry, so it’s no surprise that they’ve extended that partnership from farmers to bees,” commented Cheryl Cook, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. “One out of every third bite we eat is thanks to pollinators. It’s important that we all take steps to protect our vital workforce of pollinators. Their value to agriculture is nearly impossible to estimate, but we see it in the grocery store and on our plate every day.”

Along with the benefits of the plants, the new solar array — plus the one currently in place on the roof of Giant’s headquarters at 1149 Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle — will reduce 4.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide in the environment and generate enough power for the entire building, the company said.

Related:Publix, Giant step up aid to farms, food producers

“Forward-looking partners, like The Giant Company, see the promise in solar development that can simultaneously provide important benefits to agriculture,” stated Jordan Macknick, principal investigator of the InSPIRE study at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “The robust data we collect from InSPIRE partner sites across more than 20 states will help inform state and national activities and energy development approaches, improving the compatibility of solar with ecosystems and agriculture."

Giant Carlisle-Nick Bertram-solar pollinator field group

Giant's Nick Bertram (second from right) with the company's partners for the new solar pollinator field.

Ernst Conservation Seeds also has provided native seed mixes as a vegetative solution to beautify the site and provide key ecological functions. Giant said the native meadow established will create a habitat for pollinators, birds and other small wildlife while improving the quality of the soil beneath it, as well as reducing runoff and creating an attractive backdrop. The field has more than 20 varieties of wildflowers native to the Northeast and central Pennsylvania like butterfly milkweed, mountain mint, blue mistflower and golden alexander.

“As the field matures over the next few years, more than 1 million pollinator-attracting plants will provide pollen and nectar sources for honey bees and other pollinators, which will in turn pollinate local farm fields,” according to Robin Ernst, president of Ernst Pollinator Service.

Giant added that it also is partnering with the Planet Bee Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit group that fosters public awareness of pollinators and supports the well-being of bees. To mark the new partnership, and in observance of National Pollinator Week, Giant has announced a $50,000 donation to Planet Bee Foundation. The organization constructed the beehives for the pollinator-friendly solar field and takes care of the bee colonies. It also will help develop educational signs to be installed along the on-campus walking path to spur awareness about the importance of bees to the grocery and agricultural supply chains.

“Our world needs collaboration, partnership and synergy more than ever if we’re going to make a difference in creating sustainable food systems,” stated Debra Tomaszewski, executive director and co-founder, Planet Bee Foundation. "Planet Bee Foundation is thrilled to partner with The Giant Company to support its Healing the Planet Initiative as we work together to promote sustainable systems and greener communities.”

Overall, Giant operates about 190 stores under the Giant and Martin’s banners in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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