We know Earth Day isn't until tomorrow, but every day is a great day to highlight our commitment to environmental, social, and fiscal sustainability, which is one of our core values. A major component of our sustainability efforts is an ongoing zero-waste goal, which is centered around the conservation of all resources. We pursue that goal through responsible production, minimal consumption, and reuse, as well as through the recovery of products, packaging, and materials without negative environmental impact. Our work toward zero waste takes many forms, but perhaps the closest to our hearts is our Community Blend program.
Here’s how it works:
At the beginning and end of each nut butter batch we make, there’s a small amount of excess nut butter. Rather than write it off as food waste, we jar that excess nut butter strategically, combining recipes that pair well together into delicious nut butters we call Community Blends. Some examples of Community Blend pairings include Coconut Chia Wag Butter + Hot Mamba Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Sea Salt Almond Butter + Peanut Pecan Butter (pictured). Since each jar’s combination of recipes is one-of-a-kind, our Community Blend jars cannot be sold. They can, however, be donated to those in need. That’s where our amazing community partners come in!
Our March Community Blend partner is FEED Durham, a scrappy, determined mutual aid collective that came together in answer to mounting hunger in the Durham area due to COVID. Since April 2020, the folks at FEED Durham have hosted 12 cookouts – each one feeding 500 people – and multiple grocery giveaways. Recently, they have also organized events like their Repair Clinic at the Scrap Exchange as an extension of their commitment to connect local community members to free resources.
We are always looking for more community partners to support, so please let us know if there’s an organization with whom you’d like to see us partner in the future. And be sure to give @FEEDDurhamNC a follow! You can learn more about their ongoing initiatives and different ways to get involved by clicking here.