Giving back to our community and supporting other small farms & artisans has always been a part of our mission. We are proud to have the opportunity to work with producers who also embody similar missions. Here are a few companies we partner with that are making a difference both locally, and globally.
Once Upon A Farm
Once Upon A Farm is committed to increasing access to fresh, nutritious food so that babies and children are better prepared for lives filled with health and happiness. One of the ways they do this is by ensuring that their baby foods are WIC-approved, making them the first line of organic, refrigerated baby foods eligible for WIC program participants to purchase.
Once Upon A Farm has recently partnered with Wholesome Wave, a non-profit that works to make fruits and vegetables affordable to all, to create a new program called “A Fresh Start”. A Fresh Start supports Los Angeles, CA families enrolled in Save The Children’s Early Steps To School Success program. This program works with parents to develop their children’s social and emotional, language, literacy and numeracy skills. A Fresh Start will provide participating families with pre-loaded cards that are restricted to purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables. A Fresh Start will also offer nutrition education, providing families with the tools they need to make small, health-driven changes and increase the use of fruits and vegetables in their family’s diet. Through these initiatives, Once Upon A Farm aims to provide families with fresh produce that otherwise may not have access.
Bee’s Wrap
Bee’s Wrap is committed to giving both locally and globally, with special emphasis on programs that are centered around conservation, research, exploration, and education. They accomplish this by focusing their efforts on three philanthropic causes. First, they partner with The Bee Cause Project to place observation beehives in schools. They then work with teachers to teach students about the natural environment while developing STEAM skills. To date, the Bee Cause has placed hives in over 300 schools in 50 states and 4 countries.
Bee’s Wrap also to reduce waste by supporting ocean conservancy, beach cleanups and water stewardship. By working with organizations such as 1% For The Planet, National Geographic and 5 Gyres, they are able to raise awareness of the global plastic trash crisis. Bee’s Wraps even donates a percentage of their sales to 5 Gyres, an organization that leads research expeditions to study plastic pollution globally.
Lastly, Bee’s Wrap works to strengthen and enrich their local community. Because they are based in Vermont, they set aside financial contributions each year for local causes such as the Addison County Food Shelp, VPIRG and 350.org. In addition, all employees receive extra paid time off for volunteer work in the community. This is just another way that Bee’s Wrap supports and spreads the spirit of giving.
Nature’s Path
Over 10 years ago, the founder of Nature’s Path Foods heard the Dalai Lama speak about compassion. He was inspired to put his own compassion into action and implemented multiple community programs for his company, the first of which would benefit his own local community of Vancouver, BC. The Eat Well Do Good program sponsors local community fundraisers benefitting food banks and elementary schools and has raised over two million dollars worth of food to date. Nature’s Path will match every dollar that you donate with five dollars worth of food.
In addition, Nature’s Path supports three community gardens each year that are increasing community access to fresh organic food via their Gardens for Good grant. The grant money goes towards three gardens chosen from a pool of applicants, all of which are nourishing communities in a unique way.
Finally, Nature’s Path contributes a portion of its sales to support endangered species, habitat conservation and environmental education for kids. To date, they have raised over three million dollars.
Sol-ti
In this day of unsustainable consumerism, Sol-ti has chosen to take a different path in order to preserve the environment and save our oceans. Yes, they choose to use glass bottles for their healthful beverages, packaging that can be recycled, reused, or repurposed. But they are doing even more than that.
Sol-ti is in San Diego, California where they intentionally placed their production facility in close proximity to many local, sustainable farms where their source from. Sourcing locally not only ensures the freshest, most flavorful product but also supports the environment (fewer miles traveled) and their neighboring communities.
As a way to give back to the land, 1% of Sol-ti’s sales are donated to Permaculture Planet, a mission-driven company that focuses on developing land, primarily in Costa Rica, using permaculture principals. Sol-ti is using its business model to move beyond organic with regenerative agriculture through reforesting with fruit trees. Permaculture Planet plants thousands of exotic fruit trees annually through food forest implementations and native species reforestation. So the next time you choose to drink Sol-ti, know that you are helping your good health and the planet.
Theo Chocolate
Theo Chocolate approaches chocolate with the core value that chocolate can allow everyone in the bean-to-bar process to thrive. They believe that all persons within the chocolate community are interconnected, from the cocoa farmer in the Congo, to the truck driver in Seattle, and the chocolate lover in California. The choices Theo makes must positively affect and support lives across the planet in real and lasting ways.
Theo opted out of the global commodity cocoa market because this structure leaves farmers uncertain about their livelihood year to year and does not provide farmers with producing quality cocoa. Instead, Theo provides a reliable base price, annually negotiated directly with the farmers, based on the farmers meeting base quality specifications. They also pay an additional premium for better quality, which motivates their partners to produce high-quality beans. Through this direct trade partnership, everyone comes out ahead in the end.
Most farmers who grow cocoa are so disconnected from the process, they don’t know who ultimately makes chocolate from their beans or what it tastes like. Theo is committed to having a transparent relationship with their farms, suppliers, and everyone in-between. They visit all their cocoa farms each year to make sure they are understanding each farm’s circumstances and challenges. And of course, Theo tastes their chocolates with the farmers, so the farmers know just how awesome their chocolate is.
REBBL
In 2011, Dave Batstone set out to find a creative solution to the human trafficking problem in Peru. Through his non-profit, Not For Sale, he already had accumulated nearly 11 years of experience in raising money through anti-trafficking awareness campaigns. However, through his organization’s efforts, he learned that nearly everything that consumers buy contributes to forced labor and exploitation.
What was missing from the market was reliable, sustainable and safe products that contribute to the solution rather than the problem. Batstone brought together investors, agronomists and other global thought-leaders to come up with a business idea that would uplift at-risk communities around the world. He partnered with Palo Hawken, who had experience in the natural products industry, and together they started REBBL.
From the beginning, REBBL has committed to donating 2.5% of net sales of every bottle sold to Not For Sale, Batstone’s non-profit organization. This money goes towards preventing exploitation, generating awareness, and supporting individuals. Since partnering with REBBL, Not For Sale has gone on to partner with other entrepreneurs to create more products that feed revenue back into communities. This model allows for job creation and a stable income for at-risk populations. Since 2007, Not For Sale has supported 20,000 survivors and at-risk individuals from over 40 countries worldwide. Their services have expanded to offer long-term housing, education, medical care, legal services, counseling, and job training programs.
How To Add Farm Stand Products to Your Delivery:
CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. Market is open from noon on Thursday until 6 pm, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery.
Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood. You can even get your whole office in on the fun with our office snack packs. Find more information about our office deliveries here.
