I was raised in Cuba🌹
I grew up in that gorgeous island during tough times and nutrition was a major challenge for the population.
Among the many things I am grateful for is the backyard in the house where I grew up; my mom and dad had planted many edible plants and vegetables, you could even see a chicken or duck hanging about from time to time🌿🍋🐔Because of this, everyday I could see a living representation of what I learnt in natural science classes. For some strange reason, I most admired black beans; not only because of el arroz con frijoles that Estrella⭐️ would prepare for us but because it was one of the vines growing over the fence.
I was fascinated by the way that plant grew😳 holding on to the strongest base it could find💪 It also became my first business ever. I sold my black beans for $10 USD the jar🤑 one client only: My grandma, and when I say THE jar, it was literally THAT jar: she would buy it from me and put it back in the shelf where I could find “new” beans for me to sell… “damn, this business is really profitable” my 7-year-old self thought💰 Then I realized that the lack of specialized fertilizers prevents black beans (and many other grains) from growing abundantly and so, I learnt that my backyard would require loads of nitrates and what not to turn that shady 10-buck bean-scheme into a truly sustainable and profitable business📈 Among those childhood memories, I can also recall an unnaturally funny concept: soy steak (read in English)😝 It was a promising solution for the Cuban people to keep up with protein intake, however, you didn’t get to hear about it for long🤔 Is it because such an intensive crop requires vast amounts of fertilizer and land to remain scalable? Is it because that island cannot grow such extensions of soy? Maybe that question is itself the answer to the environmental tragedy of 100 acres of the Amazon that are currently lost every day to soy industry 😔 But who will we turn to when Nature can no longer keep balance?
I like smart (and even sophisticated) advertising, but sincerity can’t be the price. Environmental responsibility goes beyond combining a lot of weird Himalayan and Quechua names on top of a green box with a recycled texture that burns gallons of diesel across thousands of miles to reach factories, wholesalers and ultimately your house🏡🚛🚢✈️
Environmental responsibility means that when you address people’s feelings towards animal slaughter, you don’t sell them a product that requires extremely inefficient use (and destruction) of Earth’s most biodiverse regions🔥🌎 It is time to think outside this overburnt box 📦 and not only from a moral point of view; it is time because 1/3 of the population who turn vegan, do it for environmental reasons💡😉 Society and industry are the roots and leaves in that vine, and it will forever turn to the most solid foundation💪 Soy or no soy ? that is no longer the question.
