Oregon nursery recognized for sustainability

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Food Alliance announced today the certification of Native Grounds Nursery in Brownsville, Ore., for sustainable management practices. Native Grounds Nursery is the first nursery and greenhouse operation in North America to be certified to Food Alliance's new Sustainability Standard for Nursery and Greenhouse operations. 

To achieve certification, Native Grounds Nursery underwent an independent on-site inspection to determine if the operation meets the stringent certification requirements that comprise the FA Sustainability Standard. According to the inspection results, Native Grounds Nursery scores exceptionally high in the areas of water conservation, wildlife habitat preservation, and biodiversity conservation. 

 “When I got involved with the nursery industry I thought it was a pretty green industry, but it heavily relies on chemicals and plastics," said Mike Nehls, co-owner of Native Grounds Nursery. "That was kind of a turnoff. I’ve always wanted to keep things clean around here. Our philosophy is about sustainability, we are a very wildlife-oriented nursery. When I heard about this sustainability certification for nurseries, it sounded like a good way to communicate our values to our customers." 

Native Grounds Nursery owners Mike Nehls and Keli Gunning are deeply committed to sustainable management practices. To conserve water and preserve biodiversity they use micro sprinklers for irrigation and grow native plants, drought tolerant groundcovers and a selection of hummingbird attracting plants. Over 85 percent of their plants are native to the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of Oregon State University's wildlife science program, Nehls has dedicated about half of the property to wildlife habitat, including a large woodland buffer between the production areas and the nearby Calapooia River. Native Grounds Nursery also reduces carbon pollution by transporting plants to Portland nurseries using delivery truck that runs on waste vegetable-oil.

"The fact that this is the only sustainability standard for the North American ornamental plant producers was extremely important," Nehls said. "The inclusion of Salmon-Safe certification criteria is also important for us Northwest producers. Garden centers like Portland Nursery will now sell our products with the Food Alliance Certified label. Landscapers, watershed restoration projects coordinators, and home gardeners can see the label and have confidence that plants from Native Grounds Nursery were grown in ways that benefit our local community and the environment."

Expanding upon its well-established standards for sustainable agriculture, Food Alliance developed the Sustainability Standard for Nursery & Greenhouse Production by industry request with encouragement from the Oregon Association of Nurseries (www.oan.org). Producers in the Pacific Northwest may further differentiate their operations by concurrently verifying compliance with Salmon-Safe (www.salmonsafe.org).

Food Alliance's sustainability certification program sets a high bar that recognizes innovation and continual improvement. Growers may receive credit for innovative management practices that achieve desired social, environmental, and economic outcomes. Likewise, growers participate in defining continual improvement goals and are encouraged to define their own path for achieving those goals.

For more about the FA Sustainability Standard for Nursery & Greenhouse Production and the sustainability certification program for nursery and greenhouse products visit: www.foodalliance.org/nursery.