Food Stories
When Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, began writing about GMOs in the early 2000s, he started by asking a reasonable question: “What does a clothing company know about genetic engineering?” The answer, he said: “Not enough.” And neither does anyone else. In the proliferation of GMOs, Yvon saw a serious threat to wildness and biodiversity.…
Indigenous people once shared a deep bond with the Plains bison. To revive that connection, a Cheyenne River Sioux community leader is leading by example and teaching his knowledge to others.
In Southeast Alaska, tribal leaders and local entrepreneurs are helping shape a kelp industry that prioritizes Indigenous values, regenerative practices and a commitment to Alaska Native shareholders.
Francisco “Pacho” Gangotena and his wife opted to challenge the way farming was done in their region and are instead going back to the roots of ancient agriculture.
Harmonizing with invisible organisms, and other Japanese brewing wisdom.
In Western Apacheria, a tradition of cooking in the ground endures.
Finding ways to grow food and sow hope in a small apartment in Chicago.
One young couple’s unexpected career path of farming sea vegetables drew them back to their roots and brought a promising climate-change solution to their coastal hometown.
Melinda Daniels is huddled under the shelter of her purple tent waiting for the rain to start, which only seems odd when you consider the context: she’s in the middle of a farm on a blindingly sunny day.
As seen in the November 2019 Journal. For the recipe behind Carston’s Spicy Magic Sauce, scroll to the end of the story. Although my tongue felt as if it might melt, Carston Oliver assured me I was not, in fact, going to die. “That’s just the capsaicin,” he told me, as he calmly ordered some…
In the last 20 years, the expansion of salmon farming in open-net pens has led to the loss of half the wild salmon population in Norway. On average, 200,000 farmed fish escape from open-net pens and many of them swim up rivers in Norway and breed with wild stocks, contributing to species decline. According to…
Standing Up Against Industrial Fish Farming That Would Forever Alter A Unique Australian Beachbreak The day we arrived on King Island we drove out to Martha Lavinia Beach, where we stood in the dunes and watched waves running down the beach—long left-handers breaking so fast they were almost impossible to surf. However, Martha Lavinia wasn’t…
The promise of regenerative organic agriculture. “The problem is that we’re all taught to farm up,” David Oien says, leading me into a field of low-growing plants that I will later learn to recognize as lentils. I try to think of what alternative there might be to farming upward. Outward? As I puzzle over this,…
A conversation with regenerative agriculture pioneer Charles Massy
If the present status-quo of soil loss, carbon pollution and planetary warming continue, we’re looking at just 60 more harvests before we can no longer grow 95 percent of the food we humans rely upon to live. At the same time, the way to prevent this calamity is at hand: regenerative organic agriculture. This is…
When you sit down to write an eye-catching essay about seafood, your first instinct is to go with one of the sleek and sexy creatures that have historically captured the human imagination. Salmon battling 20-knot currents to reach their spawning grounds at the headwaters of the world’s mightiest rivers. Bluefin tuna charging faster than thoroughbred…
When I was a kid, the Connecticut River was my Yukon. I spent many days working alongside the river or canoeing its islands and backwaters in search of crabs, snapper, blues, ducks and alewives—amazing silvery fish that brave the depths of the Atlantic to feed and grow and then return to these meandering brooks to…
On Saturday, at Natural Products Expo West, the Regenerative Organic Alliance unveiled our new certification. Here is an excerpt from my speech and make sure to watch our video. In 2012, we started Patagonia Provisions, a food company focused on products sourced in innovative ways that benefit and regenerate the planet. And the more we learn about food,…
As the seventh generation of her family to farm the same land, working from sunup to sundown comes naturally to Heather Darby. The fourth profile in our Workwear series takes a look at the perpetual motion required to be both a research agronomist at the University of Vermont and the backbone of a 200-year-old, certified…
Looking back on the USDA meeting in Jacksonville, I am left with anger, grief and a sense of urgency that we keep moving forward. The meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) was an historical turning point for the National Organic Program (NOP). It was a watershed moment. “All of the organic philosophy is…
“For us, the tide is the boss,” says Adam James of Hama Hama Oysters, a fifth-generation, family-run shellfish farm on Washington’s Puget Sound. “In late August and September, we’ll be out there on the beach harvesting at 3 or 4 a.m., and when the sun finally comes up you can’t help but pause. It reminds…
For almost 20 years since the “organic” certification first passed, there has been a debate surrounding growing methods. Some foods are grown in soil, and others are grown hydroponically in large buildings and under lights. There is a reason for both growing methods, but it is important that they be labeled differently. Since the 1920s…
Si el presente status-quo de erosión de suelos, contaminación por carbono y calentamiento planetario continúa, estamos ante tan solo 60 cosechas más antes que podamos dejar de cultivar el 95% de los alimentos de los que dependemos los humanos para vivir. Al mismo tiempo, la manera de prevenir esta calamidad está al alcance de la…
Working closely with Rodale Institute, Dr. Bronner’s and other key allies, we created Regenerative Organic Certification to establish a new, high bar for regenerative organic agriculture. The certification is the result of a lively and cooperative effort among a coalition of change-makers, brands, farmers, ranchers, nonprofits and scientists, all with a clear goal: to pave…
We’re happy to welcome Stonyfield to the B Corp community. When Patagonia was young we felt kinship mostly with companies in the outdoor industry and our friends who worked there. Two companies we admired in the then unfamiliar territory of food included Ben & Jerry’s and Stonyfield, which grew out of an organic farming school…
In recent years, we’ve seen a boom in production and sales of organic foods worldwide. The global organic food market is expected to grow by 16 percent between 2015 and 2020, a faster rate than conventionally-grown foods. This seems like good news—but in truth, organic farming makes up just a tiny fraction of the global agriculture…
I’d like to introduce Patagonia’s friends and customers to the work of GreenWave, if you don’t already know it. GreenWave and its 3D ocean farming program have received much attention lately from the national press, including The New Yorker, CNN and NPR. Bren Smith, founder and executive director of GreenWave, gave a TED talk that…
Today, we’re pleased to share our latest short film, Unbroken Ground, directed by Chris Malloy (180° South) and presented by Patagonia Provisions. It stems from the belief that our food can and should be a part of the solution to the environmental crisis—grown, harvested and produced in ways that restore our land, water and wildlife.…
Here’s a recipe that every dirtbag should learn to make; it’s exotic sounding, yet relatively simple to make from basic, easy-to-find ingredients. Also, since it requires nothing much more than a fry pan, spatula, bowl, and plate, this one can be made in your van or campsite. I first became familiar with the ubiquitous Spanish…