The Future of Apple Sauce is Made Brighter by Solar

PEACH GLEN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Knouse Foods, the maker of delicious Musselman?s Apple Sauce and Lucky Leaf Pie Filling, is cranking up the energy at its Peach Glen manufacturing facility. The grower-owned cooperative announces the activation of more than 14,000 solar panels installed for a 19-acre project owned and operated by the company.
   

The solar panels are expected to displace more than four million kilowatt-hours of purchased electricity every year ? enough to support the needs of nearly 400 homes. Solar or clean energy does not emit sulfur, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

?Solar power and cost-effective green energy production are very important to us,? says Charles Bennett, Manager of Environmental Affairs at Knouse Foods. ?Our cooperative cares about continuing to reduce our impact on the world around us, and hosting the Peach Glen solar project demonstrates our commitment to sustainability.?

With more than 60 years of sustainable practices, Knouse Foods is dedicated to creating a brighter future. Its growers, who own the company, have spent their entire lives nurturing their orchards to provide the highest quality fruit, and rely on the environment for their livelihood. As a result, they are dedicated to its well being.

?Without a healthy environment, our growers would not be able to produce such high quality fruit for our products,? explains Ken Guise, President of Knouse Foods. ?We owe a lot of who we are as a company to the land and we strive every day to find new and innovative ways to protect it.?

Knouse Foods growers currently harvest fruit from nearly 3.3 million trees.

As part of its ?Five Rs? philosophy ? Recycle, Repair, Reuse, Reduce and Rethink, Knouse Foods also protects natural resources, recycles and consistently evaluates packaging to reduce materials used. An added benefit of the conversion to lighter weight packaging is the use of less fuel to transport its products to retail stores. Wherever appropriate, Knouse Foods is using recycled materials in its packaging.

Water conservation and quality are also important parts of the program. One particular plant has been able to save a remarkable 60,000 gallons of water per day. Knouse Foods proudly owns and supports a trout nursery on company property in partnership with the Adams County Fish and Game Association, where the fish can be reared and then released into local streams.

Impressively, the cooperative has reduced trash volume by 80 to 90 percent annually from its potential size. And, none of its delicious fruit goes to waste. Small apple pieces are sent to cider mills for juice pressing or are used as cattle feed. These and other measures enhance the company?s ability to offer high-quality products for America?s families.

Knouse Foods has been presented with a number of awards for its responsible business practices, including a PA DEP Commercial Recycling Award, PA Governor?s Waste Minimization Award, WV DEP Environmental Stewardship Award, PA House of Representatives Citation, an Adams County (PA) Environmental Stewardship Award, and a PA Fish Commission Award.

?Our goal is simple,? Guise added. ?We promise to continue offering a variety of the highest-quality, most delicious products for our customers while furthering our sustainability efforts. We want people purchasing our products to feel good knowing they?re supporting a company with a commitment to bettering the future of the world around us.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/NrBn/~3/78CAZ8dpn_4/future-of-apple-sauce-is-made-brighte.html

Charles Dickens Ludwig van Beethoven Mark Twain Harrison Ford Thomas Edison Vincent Van Gogh Pablo Piccaso Bob Dylan Bill Gates Mohammad Ali