As Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year is on it’s way, it’s a wonderful time to reflect on ourselves. It’s also a special time to reflect on our families, our interactions with the ones we love, with the Creator of the Universe, and with the world that was created. This time of year, is a perfect time to make a little more effort on our environmental sustainability and our health. It is a time to think about not only those who share our food at our table, but also a time of year to think about those who grow and produce our food. All this is a way of being grateful, and beginning the year in a whole and holistic way.
EarthKosher is thrilled to provide kosher certification to Big Tree Farms.
Big Tree Farms produces many delightful, natural, fair-trade products. One that will surely become a favourite on your table, during this SWEET and holy month of Elul, is EarthKosher certified Coconut Nectar. Big Tree Farms Coconut Nectar makes a delicious, vegan, and interesting alternative to honey. Big Tree Farms’ certified Kosher Coconut Nectar is: *Organic, Certified Fair Trade, GMO-Free, Gluten-free, vegan *Liquid coconut palm nectar *Low-glycemic verified *High nutrient and unrefined *100% pure flower-blossom nectar *Not mixed with cane sugar or corn syrup
We had to borrow some impressive and inspiring information about Big Tree Farms~
The Founders
Ben Ripple and Frederick Schilling are the dynamic duo responsible for the vision of Big Tree Farms. Ben, an expert in sustainable and ethical supply chains and Frederick, a passionate and innovative chocolate expert navigate the tricky waters of sustainable, ethical, and organic tropical food stuffs with an elegance that belies the true effort and determination it takes to do things right. Yet, after extensive trial and error, Big Tree Farms became the first company in the world to produce a truly raw cold processed organic cacao powder and butter. Despite the success of pioneering the world’s first truly raw and cold pressed cacao products, Ben and Frederick were determined to set their sights even higher. The sum of their strengths, once applied to the passion of raw cacao products exceeded the passions of these two as individuals. Frederick founded and built Dagoba Chocolate based on breaking the boundaries of the chocolate industry and innovating what people didn’t know they wanted. Ben is a master at working and building supply chains for multiple commodities. What emerged was a company that not only worked with artisan groups, but is able to take these traditional ingredients and transform them to finished products that once again would push the industry into categories and products that consumers didn’t yet know they wanted. Today, Big Tree Farms helps set the stage globally for demand of nutritious foods, being the first to offer on-demand coconut water, a more sustainable option than bottled; to pioneer cold-processed cacao products; Dr. Oz remarked of Big Tree Farms coconut sugar that it is “the best alternative to cane sugar”; Thanks to the passion and drive of its founders Ben and Frederick, Big Tree Farms continues to innovate and lead in emerging categories.
Farmers
Big Tree Farms operates what we call sustainable supply chains on more than 10 islands across Indonesia’s archipelago of 17,000 islands and atolls. These sustainable supply chains are actually deeply involved social relationships with individual farmers and community farmer groups. The producers involved become part of our tight-knit community and their needs, hopes and dreams become integral to our corporate vision. When Big Tree Farms first began growing bio-intensively in the central highlands of Bali, the vision was to create a sustainable model of small-scale agriculture for growers in the humid tropics. An immaculate cultural heritage of sustainable farming had been nearly wiped out years before by transnational campaign extolling the market-oriented virtues of the new commercial farm culture. High input use and overly intensive production systems were established and quickly zapped the strength of the fragile tropical soils. The beautiful system of old simply didn’t work economically, and the precepts of “new” farming simply didn’t work ecologically. Small farmers were becoming disenfranchised and anything began to look better than the choice to farm. The key to the model developed by Big Tree Farms was creating the power of choice. By creating a model that worked both economically and ecologically, small farmers were able to celebrate the unique attributes of their agricultural heritage while still succeeding in the marketplace. The farms are finally “working” for the farmers. Balance.
Community
Big Tree Farms is surrounded with like-minded individuals, all seeking to inspire and make the world a better place. By preparing food with the ingredients we make, pushing the limits of physical strength through sport and yoga, practicing and preserving the sustainable teachings of old or preserving and restoring the environment, our community is a collective that shines with vitality that we are grateful to take part in. “No man is an island” and “It takes a village” are core beliefs at Big Tree Farms. Through daily conscious actions founded on these beliefs; the Big Tree Community is helping make the world a better place one kind act at a time.
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Baba Sarah’s Honey Cake/ Coconut Nectar Cake Recipe
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup natural cane/palm sugar
4 organic eggs (or try egg substitute for vegan recipe)
1 cup Honey or Coconut Nectar
3 cups organic flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup of freshly squeezed organic orange juice & the grated orange rind
Cream together oil and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed- beat in eggs one at a time until mixture for a few minutes. Add honey or coconut Nectar gradually as mixer is in motion. Add flour flour and orange juice alternately – add baking powder and baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Continue to beat on medium speed until creamy.
Pour into well greased large round flute pan, or two small pans.
bake at 350 for 45-1 hour (less time for small pans) until slightly brown, cake springs back to touch and toothpick comes out dry.
EarthKosher would like to wish you, your family, friends and community a year of health, peace and sweetness.
Shanah Tovah U’metukah!
