Natural Touch® and Wild Oats Help Support American Forests' Local Reforestation Efforts

American Forests
Friday, 11 October 2002

Joint Donation to Fund the Planting of 60,000 Trees in Denver

Today during a tree-planting ceremony at Carlos M. Cole Middle School, Natural Touch® Veggie Foods and Wild Oats Markets announced a joint donation to American Forests to assist with local reforestation efforts. The donation will help fund the planting of 60,000 trees around Denver and Boulder during the next two years. Proceeds raised from consumer purchases of Natural Touch® products at participating Wild Oats Markets during the period of September 6-12 helped to fund the donation to American Forests, a national nonprofit organization that works closely with the USDA Forest Service and local officials on ecological restoration of fire-damaged forests.

"This year's wildfires in the western United States were the largest and most destructive in modern history, destroying nearly seven million trees by October 1," said Linda Freybler, director of marketing for Natural Touch®. "We strongly stand behind initiatives that support the health of our consumers and restore our nation's natural resources. We're honored to have partnered with Wild Oats Markets to make this donation possible."

American Forests' Wildfire ReLeaf campaign is an ecosystem restoration and tree planting initiative designed to plant millions of trees in environmentally sensitive areas scorched by recent wildfires. American Forests will plant native trees in areas that might otherwise take years to regenerate, such as along stream banks that provide critical fish and wildlife habitat and slopes threatened by erosion. Previous contributions by Natural Touch® helped American Forests plant 20,000 trees during the past two years.

"Part of our mission at Wild Oats is to support health and well-being among our customers, employees and in our surrounding communities. This includes doing what we can to help protect the environment," said Terry Maloy, chief marketing officer at Wild Oats Markets, Inc. "Our support of American Forests in partnership with Natural Touch® is an important part of that mission."

Jim Hubbard, Colorado State Forester, was the special guest at the tree-planting ceremony at Carlos M. Cole Middle School, where he talked with the students about wildfires and the importance of forest restoration. After the presentation, the students planted ten historic trees on their school grounds. The event was part of American Forests' Living Classrooms, which provides schools with historic trees that are direct descendants of Famous American Trees. More than just tree-planting projects, Living Classrooms is a unique way to teach children lessons in history, environmental education, science, geography mathematics and the arts.

Wild Oats and Natural Touch® donate 60,000 to American Forests' Wildfire ReLeaf.

"Working together with all of our Wildfire ReLeaf partners, we have a positive impact on forests from Florida to Washington State, and even overseas," said Rick Crouse, senior vice president with AMERICAN FOREST. "Locally, Wildfire ReLeaf is putting dollars and people-power into sound restoration projects that benefit everyone in the participating Colorado communities."

American Forests (www.americanforests.org), founded in 1875, is the nation's oldest nonprofit conservation organization and a world leader in tree planting for environmental restoration. Wildfire ReLeaf builds on American Forests' extensive experience to develop and implement forest restoration projects in rural and urban areas. Every dollar donated to American Forests Wildfire ReLeaf plants two trees thanks to a tree-for-tree match from the USDA Forest Service.

USDA Forest Service (www.fs.fed.us), established in 1905, manages public lands in national forests and grasslands. Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the Forest Service, summed up the mission of the Forest Service – "to provide the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people in the long run."

Wild Oats Market, Inc. is a nationwide chain of natural and organic food markets in the U.S. and Canada, with annual sales of nearly $900 million. The Company currently operates 101 stores in 23 states and British Columbia. The Company's natural food stores include Wild Oats Markets, Henry's Marketplace, Nature's – a Wild Oats Market, Sun Harvest and Capers Community Markets. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.wildoats.com.

From its humble beginnings in a two-story frame house more than 60 years ago, Worthington Foods has grown to be the world leader in the manufacturing and marketing of a broad range of healthy, great tasting vegetarian products under the Morningstar Farms®, Natural Touch®, Worthington and Loma Linda® brands. The Natural Touch® family of products offers consumers great taste made with only natural vegetables, grains, spices and other all-natural ingredients. These products contain no preservatives, artificial colors or flavors. For more information, visit the Natural Touch® web site at www.naturaltouch.com.

For more information, or to contact American Forests, see their website at: www.americanforests.org