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Enjoy a cup of coffee, knowing it is sourced exclusively from women-led
co-ops in Ethiopia, Colombia, and
Indonesia.
Most of us begin our day with a steaming cup of hot java, be it expresso or drip; we love our cool beans. Their rich, dark flavor gives us the daily courage to go out and do good work.
But how many of us think about where those beans came from and who planted, harvested, and packed them? How did this delicious brew get to our morning mug?
The history of coffee has a dark side steeped in human exploitation.
You don’t have to climb these steps to get involved in Food Policy
I just returned from The Organic Produce Summit in Monterey, Calif., where 2100 of my favorite friends gathered to celebrate. Finally connected in person—after a year like no other—growers, buyers, friends, sometimes rivals—we celebrated the part we played in 2020.
As the world changed, organic food sales went wild. OTA reports that organic food sales soared to $62 billion, growing twice as fast as the year before. Yet organic food huddles still at around 4% of all food sales.
There’s clearly work to be done beyond growing, selling, and buying organic food—it’s policy and political work.
Last year was unprecedented with far-reaching consequences for humans and our health, the environment, and the economy. Those concerns continue today—our lives remade by the global pandemic and unprecedented climate behavior.
Organic food sales and home delivery businesses are thriving as a result.
According to the Organic Trade Association’s Industry Survey, organic food sales surpassed $56 billion in 2020. It grew 12.8% percent—the highest rates recorded in organic in well over a decade.
The global online food delivery market is expected to grow from $115.07 billion in 2020 to $126.91 billion in 2021.
Since both organic food and delivery services are booming right now – it may just be a good time to activate your inner entrepreneur and start an organic food delivery service.
When I tell people I make my career in organic agriculture, they assume I am a farmer. They ask me what I grow with a curious tilt of the head. Since I am in my sixth decade, they cannot imagine me tilling, hoeing, or harvesting anything but sweet peas.The truth is I know next to nothing about farming except that it takes a multitude of diverse skills, a strong constitution, and an affinity for working alone with the soil. At heart, you must be a gambler, tending the earth with no financial guarantees. The crop is either good or bad, and the market strikes just right or not.
I have spent many a dusty hour bumping along fields and orchards with organic farmers across the rural globe. So, I do possess a few insights.
It’s with a certain foreboding that I witness the stream of climate events ravage the planet. My German friend whose river community has washed away. The Turkish hamlet where I once bought olives now torched to Aegean shores. The farmers who lost their cherries in the Oregon heatwave.
And the COVID-19 virus isn’t done with us yet, as the Delta variant comes marching through.
Our health and vitality depend on the food we eat. As fires, floods, and heat decimate the land and the food we grow upon it, I take pause to reflect.
How can we maintain vibrant health amid climate chaos?
