San Diego, CA (March 10, 2010) – For restaurants and establishments that insist on organic ingredients, GROW bananas have become an important part of their offerings. Social responsibility is a strong concern for many organic consumers, and being able to provide produce selections that reinforce the restaurant’s brand and satisfy the guest’s values is imperative.
Local restaurants in the Portland area are giving back in a big way through the use of Organics Unlimited’s GROW bananas. GROW (Giving Resources and Opportunities to Workers) is the epitome of social activism and has provided nearly a quarter of a million dollars toward educational assistance, scholarships, homework clubs, dental health and medical assistance to the banana workers and their families.
According to Chad Frazier, one of the chefs at Breitenbush Hot Springs outside of Portland, OR, “Social responsibility and sustainability are the essence of who we are. And with a staple for us like bananas, being able to offer our guests GROW bananas is a perfect fit. We feed between 50 and 250 people every day, and as a cooperative retreat center, maintaining our values in the foods we offer is not a choice, it’s a requirement. In most cases we also try to buy as much produce as possible that is locally grown, but since that’s not possible with bananas, these that come from Mexico have less far to travel than most.”
“By utilizing GROW bananas on their menus, they are being true to their brands and we are continuing our mission to provide the best organic bananas as well as better lives for the workers, their families, and future generations,” says Organics Unlimited President, Mayra Velazquez de Leon. “Not only is our GROW produce organic, fresh and delicious, but customers enjoy the fruits of these workers’ labor. Their purchase provides communities with a fund that goes solely toward programs that encourage health, education and well being in Mexico and Ecuador, the two areas where our bananas are grown,” says Velazquez de Leon.
GROW bananas can currently be found in a diverse group of Portland area establishments including Bijou Caf, Blossoming Lotus Caf, Breitenbush, Lighthouse Center, Laughing Planet, Marche Caf, New Odyssey Juice and Java, PastaWorks Hawthorne, and Off the Waffle.
“The quality of the bananas we get from Organics Unlimited is excellent, but being able to let our guests know that there is a strong program like GROW that takes care of the workers and their families is a real bonus for them,” says Sandra Grawunder from Lighthouse Center in Southern Oregon.
This growing interest in Organics Unlimited’s GROW program has assisted 28 deserving students in junior high, high school and college through Project Amigo totaling $91,400 in scholarships to pay for registration fees, supplies, uniforms, shoes, and transportation. Project Amigo, and its sister program, Casa Amiga, a residential facility offering housing for female students attending the University of Colima, supports higher education and health programs to rural, poor children and their families throughout the growing area of Mexico. Additional funding in Ecuador for micro-businesses continues the mission of the GROW program which is to give a hand up, not a hand out.
The GROW program was established in 2005 by Organics Unlimited. Through this program, buyers in the United States can help improve the lives of farm workers through a small surcharge on each box of GROW produce, available exclusively through Organics Unlimited. Managed by the International Community Foundation, the GROW Fund has been instrumental in funding programs such as Project Amigo and Casa Amiga with the sole purpose of providing vital educational and medical services for farm workers and their families.
Organics Unlimited is a San Diego-based distributor of organic tropical fruit from Mexico and South America, giving buyers the option between the Organics Unlimited label or the GROW label (organic and socially responsible). GROW bananas and other tropical fruits are available exclusively from Organics Unlimited.
Source: Organics Unlimited