Happy Earth Day, friends!
One of our core values at the Sweet Beet is promoting the health and vitality of the Earth. We do this through environmentally restorative measures of our own, and also by partnering with producers that intentionally practice sustainability in a variety of ways, from farming methods to packaging choices.
Let’s dig into some of the specific ways that Sweet Beet and our amazing partners are working to care for the Earth, one step at time!
Compostables
You may have noticed over the past several months that more and more greens from Sweet Beet Farm are coming to the market in small plastic cases. The cool thing about that, is that these are specially designed compostable plastic clamshells made by something called PLA plastic.
What is PLA plastic?
Well there’s a lot of science that goes into this explanation that might be a bit too much to fully get into here, but if you follow this link you can learn much more about them, at your leisure. To simplify, PLA plastic is bioplastic material that is sourced from plants (instead of fossil fuels like regular plastic), synthesized into usable material, and is biodegradable when its journey through useful life is complete. PLA plastics require 65% less energy than producing conventional plastics, generates 68% fewer greenhouse gasses, and contains no toxins (source). Return your clamshells to us here at the Sweet Beet and we’ll get them to the proper composting facility.
Additionally, all of our bowls, plates and utensils in Sweet Beet Café are also compostable, and we use paper bags for produce and grocery bags. Our bags are not wax coated, which means that they too are biodegradable. Though, paper products of course use trees so we always encourage folks to bring their own reusable bags.
Reusables
Our milk comes in glass bottles from Contoocook creamery, and other producers use glass bottles for things like yogurt. Recently we’ve seen producers struggling to source packing materials like glass bottles due to supply chain issues, but our vendors have stepped up to that challenge and either found other earth friendly material. Abbot Hill Creamery, for instance, has transitioned to a corn based compostable packaging for their yogurt. Some vendors are committed to sourcing glass bottles despite price hikes and an increased effort to consistently find them.
And to support our dear customers in cutting back on single use waste in the home and in life, we have a lovely selection of sustainable goods like insulated water bottles, bamboo utensil sets, stainless steel containers, and more.
Farming Practices
Beyond packaging in the market, another aspect that we highly value is farming practices that build soil and nourish local lands. Living soil is the foundation of nutritious foods. On Sweet Beet Farm, for example, we aim to disturb the soil as little as possible to support its own aliveness and vitality. So, let it be! And when we need to work with the soil, we use minimum tillage practices and employ tools that have as little impact as possible.
We use a permanent raised bed system on Sweet Beet Farm, and emulate the natural systems of the forest to create the conditions for a thriving ecosystem. That means covering the soil with mulch, cover crops, and dense planting of a diverse range of crops. This provides a canopy of protection to the soil, which prevents erosion, nutrient depletion, runoff, and so much more. We’re bringing in local, organic materials to feed the soil, which in turn feeds the crops that feed our community, and always letting it rest as part of our farming strategy.
A sea of green cover crops nourishing the soil!
The aliveness of our soils all around the planet provide the irreplaceable foundation from which healthy, happy plants and nutritious foods can grow. But unfortunately, soil health hangs in the balance due largely to the extractive methods of the industrial food system. Some estimates suggest that we have just 60 harvests left worth of topsoil around the globe.
Beyond that, soil holds carbon, which is a critical function in helping to reverse the effects of a warming climate and imbalanced carbon system.
All of this adds up to mean that supporting farms that support healthy soils is more important than ever before and has a huge impact. In addition to our own farm, many of our farm partners at the Sweet Beet are also prioritizing soil health as part of their farming strategy.
Sweet Beet was founded on the idea that food is a powerful lever for effecting the change that our Earth and all of its inhabitants need most right now. We are grateful for local agriculture, the local food community, and the enterprises that center sustainability and empower us to make choices that demonstrate love and care for Earth in our every day lives.
It is, after all, home to all of us and utterly irreplaceable.
#earthdayiseveryday