As consumers continue to trend toward responsible produce brands that maintain environmentally friendly operations, Bay Baby Produce of Mount Vernon, WA, continues to advance its platform of stewardship in the Skagit Valley and beyond.
“We’re currently the largest solar powered agricultural facility in western Washington state,” said Michele Youngquist, president of Bay Baby Produce Inc. The company was able to secure partial funding for the project through USDA programming. “Our 99.9 kilowatt 330/300 watt solar panels were sourced locally and made in the USA,” she continued, “and we divert excess solar power back into the grid.”
A woman-owned business for over 30 years, Bay Baby is located in one of the most fertile growing regions in North America. This enables Youngquist to lead a company producing consistently reliable, high-quality produce, including long stem ornamentals, organic squash, and its signature painted pumpkins.
The grower-shipper produced its annual stewardship plan, which includes more than just solar power, and that helps reduce other environmental impacts, including paper products, agricultural waste and petroleum use.
“As an organic company, we’re always looking for ways to do better with our environment. Strategically reducing the environmental footprint year to year,” said Youngquist. To that end, the company has taken measures to minimize plastic or paperboard waste throughout the supply chain cycle, recycling approximately 51,000 pounds of paper products each season and reducing its paper use by 43 percent. According to Youngquist, No. 1 and No. 2 recyclables are a consistent priority in its packaging.
Through continual employee training and management, the company composts approximately 1 million pounds of unusable produce and has achieved a 16 percent reduction in petroleum use. “We’ve streamlined farm travel by maximizing our trips to and from the fields as well as transporting produce.” said Youngquist who has also upgraded equipment in order to reduce their carbon footprint. “We’ve transitioned from petroleum powered to all electric powered forklifts.” The electric lifts are charged by the clean, renewable energy of their solar powered facility.
“It is as important as ever to support efforts of environmental stewardship to keep our employees, families, community and mother earth happy and healthy,” said Youngquist. “This new expansion will allow Bay Baby Produce to continue to grow well into the future.”
