Tradin Organic is improving the lives of farmers in Ethiopia with its regenerative organic avocado project. Learn more.
Living Maxwell
Company Stories
Talking Artisinal Tofu with Minh Tsai, Founder of Hodo Soy Beanery
At the recent 2011 Expo West trade show, I got a chance to speak with Minh Tsai, the founder of Hodo Soy Beanery. Hodo Soy Beanery is based in Oakland, CA and makes artisinal organic tofu.
The other great product that Hodo Soy Beanery makes are organic yuba strips. If you’ve never heard of yuba strips, definitely give them a try. They are phenomenal!!
In this video, Minh and I talk about his products, what it means to be an artisinal tofu maker and when Hodo Soy Beanery will be expanding its distribution to the East Coast.
A message from Tradin Organic
Why Tradin Organic is Prioritizing Regenerative Organic Farming
At Tradin Organic, we believe that regenerative organic farming is key to growing healthy and nutritious food ingredients — for now and for future generations.
And in Sierra Leone, we have grown the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified cacao.
As a result of living in NYC but having grown up in Boston, I am quite aware of the difference between the two cities, in terms of the organic food and pressed juice offerings.
NYC has a ton and Boston has very little.
But with the recent opening of Cocobeet, ironically located between a Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts, it is an understatement to say that Bostonians are thrilled to have them there.
“On our second day of business, we sold 270 bottles of juice and had to close our doors because there was nothing left to sell,” Co-Founder Onur Ozkoc told me.
How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines
For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.
The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.
When I was at EARTH University in Costa Rica, I got a chance to learn everything about sustainable banana production – from how they are grown in the fields to how they are shipped to the U.S.
In this video, I’ll take you onto the banana plantation of EARTH University and show you the issues that they have to deal with when growing bananas in such humid conditions.
What’s important to note is that it took EARTH University many, many years for its sustainable bananas to reach profitability and the school was told by consultants that the program wasn´t going to work.
EARTH University’s president refused to give up because he knew that this was the right way to do business – for the environment, for the farm workers, for consumers – even though his bananas were more expensive than conventionally-grown ones.
Whole Foods recognized the importance of what EARTH University was doing and the values that it stood for, and decided to distribute the school’s bananas throughout the U.S. Not only has this partnership been critical for the long-viability of EARTH University’s banana program, but the strong demand for the school’s bananas has proven that sustainability is good business.
Without question, EARTH University’s bananas are the best that I have ever eaten. If you have the chance to buy them, definitely do so.
You’ll be eating a fantastic product and also be supporting an incredibly important endeavor for sustainability.
Also, being such a huge fan of bananas, I can’t tell you how interesting this day was for me. Enjoy!
For quite a while, I had been hearing all about the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine and decided to finally make the trip up north last week to see what the enthusiasm was all about.
Needless to say, the event exceeded all of my expectations, and it proved to be a truly special weekend. Not only is it rare that you can go to an event of this size and be able to eat organic food all day (there are no organic meal options at Expo West or Expo East), but you are surrounded by thousands of people who are also deeply committed to this way of life.
