CONSERVATION

Gordo pays farmers better than
commodity prices for heirloom beans
of higher culinary quality. This is but
one more example of how enlightened
entrepreneurs can recover and promote
food biodiversity with as much or
more success as government agencies
and non-profits have garnered. Today,
Rancho Gordo supports more than
35 farming families who get paid well
for their excellent production and
processing of heirloom beans such as
the Santa Maria Pinquito.
“My role at farmers markets is to bring
down young people’s fear that making
great beans is difficult to do. When they
first pick up one of my packages of heirloom
beans, they look at it like it’s a bunch of
rocks. Some people don’t even try to cook
some things for fear of messing them up…
they’re in the headlights, so to speak.
They need to given enough confidence to
know that they themselves can transform
what looks like dry pebbles into something
creamy and delicious.” Steve Sando, founder,
Rancho Gordo Beans, Napa Valley, CA
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