You can lead an American to a nutritious breakfast, but you can鈥檛 make them听eat it, especially when it isn鈥檛 filled with sugar.
That鈥檚 one thing the folks at have learned in the five years since launching听a sustainable food business. The company听started off with salmon听and has been slowly introducing other products, including organic breakfast cereals, which contain听no sweeteners beyond dried fruit. 鈥淲e believe it鈥檚 not OK听to put eight teaspoons of sugar into breakfast cereal,鈥 says Birgit Cameron, managing director for the brand. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a harder sell because the market is set up for that expectation. We want people to decide how much sugar they want and be able to add it themselves.鈥
But the company鈥檚 steepest climb is how to reshape a food system that incentivizes traditional commodity large-scale crops over smaller-scale, more sustainable farming methods. While an American consumer may buy two pairs of pants a year, they eat three (or more) times a day, every single day. 鈥淭he food industry is one of the biggest on earth and a massive contributor to global warming,鈥 says听Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia鈥檚 founder. 鈥淢ost of the world鈥檚 food is produced using methods that reduce biodiversity, decimate soil, and contribute to climate change.鈥
Environmental experts estimate that food production is responsible for over 30 percent of global greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, large-scale farming uses about 70 percent of our water, not to mention the fertilizer that runs off into and pollutes rivers.听鈥淲e need a revolution to save our home planet, and the only one we are likely to have will be through agriculture,鈥 Chouinard says. 鈥淭hrough Patagonia Provisions, I want to start that revolution.鈥
While the company won鈥檛 reveal Provisions鈥櫶齭ales numbers, it isn鈥檛听exactly taking over your grocery store yet. But the company听continues to introduce new small-batch specialty foods and work with sustainable producers.听For example, take the company鈥檚 beer, . It鈥檚 brewed using Kernza, a native grain that helps fight erosion and regenerates the soil. Another example is its new Savory Seeds, which are grown as cover crops, a technique in organic agriculture where you add nutrients to the soil while staving off erosion via planting specific grains and seeds in the off-season.
鈥淲e need a revolution to save our home planet, and the only one we are likely to have will be through agriculture,鈥 says Patagonia founder Yvon听Chouinard.
Patagonia Provisions is further improving听its standards by听unveiling a new criteria for its products called (ROC).听This standard must meet all the traditional organic criteria, but any product that bears its label must also restore soil health and possibly help sequester carbon. 鈥淓ating organically just causes less harm,听but it doesn鈥檛 do much good other than that,鈥 says Chouinard. 鈥淗owever, if you grow something regeneratively, and combine that with organic practices, you are now making more nutritious food that tastes better while growing topsoil and capturing carbon. This way of farming is a win-win-win.鈥 The certification is a collaboration with the . Its tagline? Farm like the world depends on it.
Some of Provisions鈥櫶齪roducts are more expensive than what you might find at your local grocery store. (The look on my husband鈥檚 face when he realized that the mussels he gulped in one bite cost eight dollars听was priceless.) But think about it another way: It鈥檚 not because these products are actually expensive. It鈥檚 because most large-scale, commercial agricultural products (like corn and soybeans, grown in massive monocultures) are too cheap. 鈥淭he real cost-of-food dialogue has to come into play here,鈥 Cameron says. 鈥,听颈蝉听subsidizing the wrong things, so corn and soy get subsidies but they鈥檙e not the best for the land or our bodies.鈥
Transitioning to sustainable farming practices can be expensive. I know firsthand. In June, my husband and I purchased a 45-acre farm in Tennessee. The land had hosted a traditional cattle operation for the past two generations. Cows would graze听for a few months here听and then were shipped to feedlots, where they were pumped full of grain and readied for slaughter. We signed our closing papers with bright ideas on how to switch to something more sustainable, like raising goats for meat. Then we found out that it would cost $20,000 to install goat-friendly fencing. Oh, and there isn鈥檛 a processor that touches goats for miles. Not to mention that听few Americans are stocking up on goat steaks.

Patagonia Provisions has helped guarantee听a market for thoughtfully grown crops. Teaming up with the company听on bison jerky has allowed , a South Dakota-based, grass-fed, free-range bison operation, to grow significantly. 鈥淲ith their partnership, we鈥檝e been able to expand our land base,鈥 says Jill O鈥橞rien, who runs the ranch alongside her husband. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 increase your herd size without increasing your land base. And from a marketing perspective, it helps us put our name out there.鈥
The company's听standards are stringent. Provisions employees spent time on Wild Idea鈥檚 ranch examining animal welfare, interviewing staff, and watching听the start-to-finish harvest and processing of a bison.
听I tried every one of the 23听Patagonia Provisions products. Below听are my favorites.听
So how much can Provisions听really do to change the way we eat?听More than you think, it听says.
鈥淔ive years ago even, the food听landscape was very different,鈥 says Cameron, adding that it felt like an insurmountable task to find people to grow things like Kernza. 鈥淭he momentum that has taken place with companies moving this direction and more people being educated around this and having this aha moment, it鈥檚 been phenomenal.鈥
Provisions plans to launch听several new products in the next few months, including another beer.听I tried every one of their 23听current products. These are my favorites.
Long Root Ale ($8.99 for a four-pack)

What, you thought I wasn鈥檛 going to rank a beer in the highest spot?听A collaboration with 听in Portland, Oregon, the beer鈥檚 name refers to Kernza, a grain that grows extremely long root systems. This helps keep soil in place, minimizing erosion and leaving fields healthier than they were before planting. is just a touch sweet, a bit nutty, and has a super clean finish.
Mussels听($8 per tin)

A little-known fact: Chouinard is a tinned-fish fanatic. In fact, he鈥檚 even tried to get Patagonia Provisions to tin other ocean critters听like sea snails. So far听the company is sticking with mussels, which, as filter feeders, clean the ocean water they鈥檙e living in.听 (lemon herb, smoked, and savory sofrito) are a delight.
Salmon: Wild Pink ($14 for a two-pack) and Wild Sockeye听($14 for a single pack)

One of the company鈥檚 first products is still one of its best. 鈥淭his was about making sure we have wild salmon in the future,鈥 Cameron says. The company only works with anglers who fish along specific, well-stocked migration routes. Fishing migration routes ensure that other threatened fish don鈥檛 accidentally get hauled in alongside the salmon. I鈥檓 partial to the black-pepper flavor, which is perfectly salty, smoky, and just fishy enough, but wouldn鈥檛 refuse any of the company鈥檚 three salmon offerings.
听
Organic听Barbecue Savory Seeds听($30 for a 12-pack)

These are the in the entire line, and accordingly, I听wiped out a whole bag in two big gulps. But unlike most snack food, I had zero regrets afterward. Roasted lentils, sunflower, and hemp seeds, plus toasted buckwheat, are tossed with sweet-salty barbecue spices and finished with tangy lime. This is what your office needs in its vending machine for your 4 p.m. munchies.
Buffalo Jerky from Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch听($10)

I think of jerky like I think of celery: by the time I鈥檓 done chewing it, I must have burned every calorie it contains. Not so with . Tender and cured with a pleasant amount of salt, this is the ideal trail snack for when you cannot face one more handful of gorp.听
Organic Mango + Almond Bars ($27 for a 12-pack)

Just sweet enough to feel like a treat but not so sweet that you feel like you ate candy, 鈥攎ade from almonds, mangos, chia seeds, and not much else鈥攁re precisely what you want to find at听the bottom of your purse when you鈥檙e tottering on hangry. The apricot and Inca berry flavors are good, too, but the mango was the one I kept reaching for.
Organic Black Bean Soup and Organic Red Bean Chili听($7)

My husband eats instant ramen every day for lunch. I鈥檝e been trying to get him to eat something, anything听else, for fear he鈥檒l pickle himself from the inside out. These just-add-water are a contender. They鈥檙e better with a dash of salt and hot sauce, and maybe a squirt of lime, but they鈥檙e filling, , and a healthier choice than instant ramen.
Organic Creamy Banana Hot Cereal Mix听($7)

In just ten minutes you can make yourself a steaming bowl of 听with a serious upgrade, thanks to a听mix of grains that includes听toasted buckwheat kasha and cracked whole barley. However,听even after being primed not to expect a mouthful of glucose, when听I took a bite of Patagonia Provisions鈥櫶齩rganic breakfast grains, I听thought, Oh geez, this needs sugar. Yes, I have been conditioned to expect听a sweet cereal.听But you can make this as sweet as you鈥檇 like. I swirled a tablespoon of peanut butter and a drizzle of honey into my bowl听and felt completely satisfied. The banana and apple were my two favorite flavors, but the raspberry was a close third place.