By Iván Ulchur-Rota “Was there enough for everyone?”, I asked Estefy Baldeón, chef and Canopy Bridge consultant, about the fish just grilled in a forest clearing on the banks of the Aguarico River in the Amazon. “Everyone ate,” she answered. “And they loved it.” After eating dinner around the fire, four chefs, the Canopy […]
Jacob Olander First it was hamburgers, then chocolate and now guacamole. Tropical forests are being relentlessly sacrificed for our far-away indulgences. Avocado growers are trashing native pine and oak forests in Mexico. A boom in cocoa planting comes at the expense of tropical forests in West Africa and Peru. And beef is responsible […]
Read More… from Consuming deforestation: Where are your standards?
Iván Ulchur Rota El açaí (Euterpe oleracea) es un pequeño fruto negro que cuelga de los topes de palmeras en las zonas bajas e inundables en la Amazonía. En el archipiélago amazónico de Bailique, en el noreste de la Amazonía brasileña, sus cultivadores trepan las largas y delgadas palmeras atando sus pies con una […]
Read More… from Bailique: el protocolo comunitario que dio frutos
Por David Berón Imagina lo siguiente: acabas de empezar una empresa para conectar directamente a pequeños agricultores del campo colombiano con miles de consumidores en las grandes ciudades del país. Tu modelo de negocios puede duplicar los ingresos de los agricultores, mejorar la calidad de la comida en los centros urbanos y demostrar […]
Read More… from Propulsando los negocios sociales: ¿Qué son las aceleradoras?
Agustin Nervi “Before they came, nothing happened here. There was no market, nothing…” Claudio whispered as he skillfully drove his trusty F-100 through sandy roads across the wild dry thorny bush that characterizes the Chaco-Santiagueño plains in South America. As we approached his village it was clear I was in for an interesting […]
Read More… from Getting Fair Trade right; honey and poverty in rural Argentina
We sat down to talk to Eliot Logan-Hines, Executive Director of the Runa Foundation. The Runa Foundation is a not-for-profit entity that works closely with its commercial partner, Runa LLC, to support communities and ecosystems in the Amazon by commercializing its one-of-a-kind products in a manner that adds value to and conserves the forest, as well […]
Read More… from After introducing Guayusa to the world, what’s next for Runa?
By Karina Bautista Queremos compartir emocionantes buenas noticias: Una gama de inspiración desde diversas iniciativas sostenibles de México, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Brasil, Ecuador, Colombia y Perú, llegó a Canopy Bridge en respuesta a nuestro llamado a encontrar iniciativas innovadoras de sostenibilidad en la región. Desde nuez Maya y nuez de Castaña, a hostales […]
By Karina Bautista We want to share exciting good news: An inspiring palette of diverse sustainable initiatives in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, reached out to Canopy Bridge in response to our call to find innovative approaches to sustainability in the region. From Maya and Brazil Nuts, to jungle […]
Read More… from Sustainability innovation in all Latin America: Our contest winners
Cutting out the middlemen and increasing local processing are commonly seen as the key to helping small producers capture more value and improve their incomes. Extracting oil instead of selling Brazil nuts, processing frozen fruit pulp instead of fresh fruit, making chocolate bars instead of cocoa beans – the finished product is clearly more […]
Comúnmente se cree que evitar los intermediarios y aumentar el procesamiento local son claves para que pequeños productores puedan mejorar sus ingresos. Extraer el aceite en vez de vender la nuez de donde proviene, procesar fruta en pulpa congelada en vez de vender fruta fresca, elaborar barras de chocolate en vez de granos de […]
