We met Sripathi Ramai Hedge when we went to India to talk with the small vanilla farmers who produce Indian Select Vanilla. Sripathi has been a farmer all his life, raising betel nuts on his less-than-an-acre farm since his youth. He told us how for most of his life he had sadly watched the slow erosion of the land and decline of the small farms in the area.
Three years ago he learned about biodynamic farming and decided to give it a try. Sripathi insisted we see his fields, and we hurried to get to them before it got dark. He was proud of his healthy, lush vanilla vines intertwined with the betel nut trees. He took us to a bank cut away to expose the layers of dirt and showed us how the biodynamic materials were working their way down through the layers to energize the soil and nurture his vanilla.
Sripathi told us he was teaching his sons about this new method and would only turn over the land to them after they had the commitment and knowledge to keep the practice going. Sripathi and other farmers like him produce Indian Select Vanilla. Frontier is providing this group of farmers with fair prices and the support they need to produce and sell top quality organic products so there will be more farmers like Sripathi.
Frontier adds a premium to what we pay for Indian Select Vanilla that’s earmarked for projects to help the community and environment where the vanilla is grown. This premium:
• Strengthens the two- to five-acre sustainable family farms where extended families live together and support each other—preventing corporate farmers from buying up the land and driving farm families into large cities and poor-paying jobs
• Supports the conversion of land to organic, ethically harvested, biodynamic agriculture
• Provides additional pay to the sorters and other workers for the farmers group (these workers are predominantly female—almost unheard of in India, where women are seldom given good employment)
• Finances community services like food programs
• Supports projects to expand the range of sustainable products the group produces
The farmers group that produces Indian Select is part of a larger non-profit Indian organization that does charitable work with the nation’s poor—including helping feed 100,000 needy children every day. Frontier is making a donation—in addition to the premium paid the farmers group—of 1% of the sales of Indian Select Vanilla directly to this life-sustaining program.
Frontier™ Organic Indian Select™ Vanilla Extract is more than great quality. It’s also a chance to help change the world. Buy Organic Indian Select Vanilla now.
We're proud to support these small, sustainable family farms that provide an inspiring agricultural alternative, through our Well Earth program.
Well Earth is a supplier program that aligns Frontier’s buying practices with our mission— to convert the world to natural and organic products– by establishing guidelines for vendors to ensure ethical business conduct and sustainable farming practices, and aiding in their development to guarantee high quality products.
Read more about how the Well Earth program helps us source top quality organic products while supporting social values.
