Organics Unlimited Introduces Ecuadorian Bananas to Japan

Organics Unlimited has recently announced its first shipment of Ecuadorian bananas to Japan. These low chemical, transitional bananas, sold under the Fruti Fresh label, are the first of many shipments intended to meet the growing demand for bananas internationally. Our partners in Japan continue to see an increase in the need for high-quality produce, and we are proud to be able to assist them in meeting this demand. Organics Unlimited has been providing organic bananas to Japan through our farms in Mexico for the last three years and now we are pleased to be able to provide additional supply from Ecuador.

Organics Unlimited distributes organic bananas throughout the western United States, Canada and Japan. Currently, Organics Unlimited is providing transitional bananas as the Ecuadorian farms move from conventional to organic growing practices. This three-year process provides low chemical bananas which once completed, will ultimately be USDA certified “organic”, ensuring quality organic processes are used in all growing and handling of the produce in Ecuador.

Cezar's Story

With the help of dedicated volunteers, donations and GROW funds, a young boy's life in Queseria, Mexico will be forever changed.

GROW funds are dedicated to helping improve the lives of farm workers and their families. Here is the story of Cezar, a young disabled boy, the son of migrant field workers, who has been given the gift of mobility.

Cezar has always been disabled; never knowing what it was like to move about on his own. Antonio and Isabel Velasco, volunteers with Project Amigo, first met Cezar a couple of years ago when they got the opportunity to deliver his first wheel chair. For the first time in his life, he could move about freely; allowing him the independence that every young child deserves.

On a more recent visit Cezar not only received a warm welcome from old friends, but new clothes, a play mat, toy cars and his own guitar! "Cezar's eyes grew bigger and bigger as I pulled out the cars," recalls Isabel.

Not only did Cezar and his family benefit, but six of his classmates were also reciepients of much needed clothing and toys. When you purchase GROW bananas, you are helping people like Cezar and his friends gain a better life. It is stories like Cezar's that keep Organics Unlimited dedicated to the success and efforts of the GROW fund.

Buy a Banana, Help a Child

Following the recent tour that Project Amigo founders Ted Rose and Susan Hill made through the Northwest, this story ran in The Enterprise newspaper in Washington. Project Amigo is the recipient of GROW funds for programs to help children in the areas of Mexico where our bananas are grown, and they have changed the future for many poor families. Thanks to The Enterprise for telling our story so well. Read more.

Wright Sits Astride GROW

US Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary Ann Wright recently visited Portland, Oregon to support regional food systems. GROW organic bananas from Organics Unlimited are as close as you can come to a regional bananas in Oregon, arriving daily from Mexico.

And for every GROW banana that is sold, funding goes to help with educational and medical programs for the workers and their families in the areas where these bananas are grown.

Monumental report from the President’s Cancer Panel

Here is a recent email we received from the Organic Trade Association. There are huge new developments in the organic foods industry that we think you'll find interesting and informative.

This is a monumental news day for the organic industry. The President’s Cancer Panel Report released today exhorts consumers to choose food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, and growth hormones to help decrease their exposure to environmental chemicals that can increase their risk of contracting cancer!

“Exposure to pesticides can be decreased by choosing, to the extent possible, food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers…Similarly, exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones, and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat raised without these medications,” according to the report, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now,” submitted to President Obama by Dr. LaSalle Leffall, Jr., an oncologist and professor of surgery at Howard University, and Dr. Margaret L. Kripke, an immunologist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

In a letter to President Obama, the panel stated “The American people—even before they are born—are bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures. The Panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our Nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

This landmark report by the prestigious scientific panel recognizes, at the highest level, what your products provide -- essentially endorsing our industry. OTA has issued a press release to tout the panel report and is exposing the organic connection through all media channels.

As always, feel free to refer any media calls to OTA or reach out for me directly.

The full report is available online.

The press release is available on OTA's homepage.