Some History
Deep in the rainforest of Costa Rica, living on our off-the-grid farm and sustainability center, we discovered the most incredibly and luscious food, grown by indigenous farmers in harmony with the ecosystems that support all life. We founded Kopali to invite you, through delighting in this pure goodness, to join us in creating a more sustainable and compassionate world for all. Today with every bag of Kopali, together we are supporting thousands of farmers, and communities in countries all over the world.
Some of us were entrepreneurs and investors. Some of us were farmers. One of us was a retired dentist.
In 2004, we were living on Punta Mona, our off-the-grid permaculture farm and educational sustainability center, beachfront in the rainforest of Costa Rica. Most of the food we eat there grows there. Houses are built from fallen trees, and even though we are in the middle of the jungle we have solar powered satellite wireless internet connecting us to the world. And as if that were not enough, some of the most amazing people from all over the world come to visit, share, live, teach and learn about sustainable farming and living. It is one of the most magical places on the planet, and life there is beyond good...
But is it enough to live such a good life, while the rainforest and entire ecosystems around us are being destroyed? As entire communities of people are treated unfairly, and are directly and repeatedly sprayed and harmed by toxic herbicides, fungicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers? As food is produced with these harmful chemicals, which will directly enter the bodies of unknowing consumers, including children, who are especially vulnerable?
We witnessed this first hand with our farming neighbors in Costa Rica. Large-scale industrial chemical banana production has caused unimaginable harm in the region. When we started Kopali, and still now right this very minute, thousands of acres of previously virgin rainforests are being destroyed; people living on and near the land are getting sick, sometimes dying, from the chemicals; and downstream ecosystems all the way to the coral reefs of the Caribbean sea are being destroyed. All so that "cheap" perfectly yellow bananas can be sold in the United States for pennies less than the alternative could be sold for.
In the middle of all this, there are still small farmers, thousands of them, many indigenous to the region, who are holding out and still growing bananas and other food organically. They take care of the land as if it was an extension of their own bodies, because it is a part of them and they always expect to live there. Wise and knowledgeable in ways that are valuable to all of humanity, these small farmers are the unsung heroes of our time, contributing to our well-being. The food they grow is not only free of the poisons of chemical agriculture, it is filled with more of the nutrients and healthful compounds that purely grown food contains. And these farmers not only avoid destroying the land like chemical agriculture, they regenerate it. They are the stewards of remaining unpolluted land, air and water, so desperately needed for our global balance.
But these farmers are a dying breed. They are under tremendous price pressure and pressure to sell off their land and their communities, and they cannot and will not survive unless they can compete in the global market. Which they can only do, if those of us in the United States understand the choice we are making, each and every time we buy a "cheap" banana.
This is why we first started Kopali. To connect these heroic organic banana farmers, our neighbors at Punta Mona, with the growing market of shoppers who care where their food comes from. We believe this to be a viable business model. We believe that if properly informed and with provided with viable alternatives, shoppers will make righteous choices. Nobody wants to destroy other people's lives, nor the ecosystems that support all life, only to save a few pennies on food, especially that which is unhealthy to eat.
And our mission has expanded, to bring to the U.S. market not just bananas, and not just food from Costa Rica, but many products from all over the world that are nourishing, healthful, and healing in deep ways to all involved, to the planet as well as to current and future generations. We stand to prove that business can and must move beyond being harmful, and even beyond becoming responsible, to serving as a healing force in our world.
