In 2001, Protected Harvest was formally established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Soquel, California. Protected Harvest grew out of a collaboration among World Wildlife Fund, the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, and the University of Wisconsin. Over the course of five years, the collaboration resulted in the development of a fresh-market potato standard that was validated and certified by Protected Harvest. The standard incorporated a unique, metrics-based approach to measuring environmental and worker risks associated with pesticide active ingredients, known as the Pesticide Environmental Assessment System (PEAS).

Protected Harvest soon expanded its work into other agricultural commodities, including the California wine industry. Following an initial standards-development phase, Protected Harvest worked in 2005 with Cliff Ohmart, a current member of the organization’s Board of Directors and, at the time, the first Sustainable Winegrowing Director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission, to launch the LODI RULES for Sustainable Winegrowing certification program. In its first year, six growers representing a combined 1,455 acres of winegrapes were certified. LODI RULES established a benchmark for sustainable winegrape production and has grown to encompass more than 55,000 acres of certified vineyards in California and Israel.

Building on the success of LODI RULES, Protected Harvest launched a citrus certification standard in 2007 to address the need for a science-based approach to assessing sustainable citrus production. In 2019, the program was revised and relaunched as the Sustainable Citrus Standard. The updated standard reflects current best practices in agricultural production and Integrated Pest Management and includes criteria addressing social responsibility and energy management. The Sustainable Citrus Standard remains available to citrus growers seeking a comprehensive and credible framework for evaluating and demonstrating sustainable production practices.

A mushroom production standard was also launched in 2007 in partnership with Modern Farms Mushrooms.

In partnership with the California Cut Flower Commission, Protected Harvest began certifying cut flower farms under the BloomCheck® standard in 2015. BloomCheck® was California’s first sustainable cut flower certification program. Its certification standard was subsequently revised to apply to cut flower farms and potted plant horticultural operations throughout the United States.

Protected Harvest continues to work with its partners to strengthen existing certification programs and develop credible, science-based approaches to evaluating sustainable agricultural production. Its standards combine measurable performance criteria, Integrated Pest Management principles, responsible pesticide-use evaluation, and independent certification to help agricultural producers demonstrate continuous improvement and environmental and social responsibility.