Edition #5: La Canasta Saludable - a radically fresh social enterprise in Yabucoa

Farmers everywhere need to know that someone will buy their produce once it’s harvested. Agriculture is uniquely challenging because once produce is harvested, the clock is ticking to get that product to market as quickly as possible before spoilage. Not all farmers have adequate storage for their produce especially if they are dealing with fresh fruits and vegetables. In Puerto Rico, with the harsh tropical sun and high humidity all year round, farmers here have to get their produce out of the field, out of the sun, and into a cool storage area as quickly as possible. It’s a tall order especially if farmers have issues with distribution or lack enough buyers to move their produce. We found that many of the farmers in our Academy of Sustainable Agriculture and Innovation struggle with these distribution and post harvest issues when planning their farm.

Many farmers that come to Monte Azul possess a few acres and the desire to plant, but they are unsure where to begin. What has surprised me most is that the hobby or part-time farmer has been attracted most to our agricultural workforce training programs. This is a population that does not show up on an agricultural census because farming is not their primary occupation. Many of these folks are professionals or have full time jobs, and despite limited time and financial resources they are still interested in growing their own food and feeding their communities. These hobby and part time farmers participate alongside veteran farmers, sometimes multi-generational farmers who get to share their expertise and experiences alongside these newcomers. What excites me about these part-time and hobby farmers is that this is a population who is often left out of traditional farming circles, but they have an immense potential to produce local food and bring in new people to the farming community.

While a few acres of agricultural production may sound very small to tip the scales on drastically increasing local food production in Puerto Rico, many leading agricultural economists actually cite that small-scale diversified farms produce more food per acre than large scale farms. So let’s imagine for a minute that 500 part-time or hobby farmers produce on three acres of land each and these 500 farmers are spread out across the island geographically. These 500 farmers are able to produce food for 20 families each through a well-managed diversified operation perhaps with a small flock of chickens producing eggs and meat along with a wide range of fresh fruits and vegetables. This represents an opportunity to feed 10,000 families on 1,500 acres of land across the island. And if those 500 farmers employ three people (whether part time or full time) on those operations we are talking about 1,500 new jobs created mostly in rural, economically challenged areas of the island. That is what Monte Azul is aiming to do over the next few years as we expand our programs throughout the island. What will be a main challenge for these small-scale farmers will be ensuring that their production reaches the market quickly and efficiently in order to preserve optimum nutrition levels for the consumer and top dollar for the farmer.

In order to help farmers increase their distribution, Monte Azul created La Canasta Saludable, a new social enterprise and brick and mortar storefront that offers radically fresh local food products. Monte Azul started envisioning this concept in 2022 and the storefront officially opened in December 2023. La Canasta Saludable, or “the healthy basket” in Spanish is a radically transparent local food store which has a variety of fresh, local fruits, vegetables, dairy products, bread, and even locally made fresh pasta and plant-based ice creams among other items. We track how many miles the food traversed from the farm to the storefront and provide market access to those farmers in our Academy of Sustainable Agriculture and Innovation training program. Over 100 farmers comprise our supplier network for the store.

A variety of local fresh fruits and vegetables available for sale at La Canasta Saludable

Located at our 2.5 acre farm in Yabucoa, this storefront strives to bring the consumer and producer together and serve as a model for the creation of a hyper local food system. The SNAP-equivalent method of payment is accepted at our storefront and fresh produce is brought in weekly. Yabucoa is the ideal place to launch this concept because the community has so many different microclimates from a flat, fertile valley to mountainous areas to a prevalent seaside fishing community that provides the store with fresh seafood.

We have learned so much since launching this storefront, but most importantly the community has been extremely receptive to this idea. Firstly, we are located in a part of Yabucoa that lacks access to fresh fruits and vegetables. There is only one large grocery store in a town of 33,000 people, and we are located on a main road that leads to some of the most remote and isolated sections of the municipality. Improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables was a key determining factor to opening this storefront. To prepare for the store’s grand opening, the biggest challenge was converting an old house into an innovative storefront and planting out the surrounding area. We are in the midst of transforming our 2.5 acre property into a working, small-scale diversified farming operation so that the storefront is a celebration of all things agriculture. We built a concrete raised bed system with a small irrigation system that houses our fresh culinary herbs that we sell at the storefront. We are in the midst of relocating our commercial greenhouse to the site and making significant upgrades to have hydroponic lettuce 365 days a year and a small tilapia aquaponics system. We are planting specialty squash, taro, yautia, and ñame which are tuber and root crops that are both highly popular and nutritious. We are working on putting in a test plot of pineapple and passionfruit to improve the amount of fresh fruits available at the store, and we are adding a small plant nursery where we will germinate seedlings and veggie starts for sale and host workshops on home gardening. Finally, we will be adding a small chicken coop where the hens will produce eggs for sale at the site. We want our customers to be excited about supporting local agriculture and inspired to try their hand at farming.

Monte Azul Staff plant recao or long leaf culantro in our concrete raised bed system

Our learnings and insights grow every day. And the support and excitement from the farmers to the consumers make this store something special. We love highlighting our suppliers and we’ve been able to support numerous local small food-businesses like Mucho Gusto, a plant-based ice cream business in San Juan and Di Amalfi which makes fresh pasta in Mayagüez. We have a local Kombucha supplier and a raw honey supplier from a local apiary, both small businesses in the area. The list continues to expand. There are so many people that helped make the opening of the storefront a success. Thanks to those who dreamed along with us and made this possible. More updates to come as our storefront continues to grow.

Local plant-based ice cream company Mucho Gusto provides our store with their delicious products that have been a huge hit!