Earth and Pollen

For the next couple of months, at 99Knives our primary focus is going to be on the things that we can do over the winter, the crops that we can grow and harvest, and the ways that we can prepare for the coming spring.  Yes, we will be singing Christmas carols and offering all kinds of holiday cheer, but rest assured that we are going to be thinking about the things that brought us here and how we arrive at these moments, surrounded by friends and family, and eating things that were lovingly brought to us and prepared by skilled hands.

While we eat turkey and pumpkin pie somewhere in the back of our minds is how we are going to
recreate this scene next year and, being human, how we are going to make it better.

We have said it before and we will say it again, the work does not end in winter and in fact we are joining nature in the amazing loop that will bring us back to where we are now.

Investments in our future...
To date, we have designated approximately $120,000 to be put into our various projects over the year in a rather diverse engagement in several projects, each that engages with many people, and each that builds on our core ideology...the best food for the most people.

Compost SC
...was started as a method for reclaiming waste from restaurants and coffee shops.  We invested in this program to create a way for us to get low cost soil amendment for crops in the coming year.  We realized that we would soon have too much to utilize and have devised ways to donate it or sell it off.  What started off with a desire to help the planet, to the tune of 100 tons saved from landfill, turned into a profit center.

Worm Works... 
...was devised as a way to take this a step further.  We were able to create a network of worm farmers who were willing to sell their worm based fertilizer at a profit for them and a means of further closing this loop.  Better soil, better plants, better food.


Bee-kind...
...is working with honey producers as well.  Bees are a keystone to our environmental well being.  There are many producers out there and we feel that as chefs, we should encourage people to make
more and to develop many more ways to help bees thrive.  More bees, more plants, more food.

Bee-kind is working to promote these ideas and develop networks for growers so that they can sell their products locally at a nominal profit.  We need more bees in the world.

All of this means better and more crops for us in the spring.  It means more people to buy from and more people to sell to.  It means stronger networks, stronger people, a stronger economy, and a stronger planet.

These are all ideas worth looking at and investing in.  We have a vested interest in creating sustainable, afforable/profitable food systems.  These are things that everyone can agree on and watch as we grow together.  We can put a little more money in our pockets.  We can grow a few more plants.  We can get to know our growers.  In the coming weeks and months we are going to be working along every link in the chain and making a huge impact on the world we live in.  All we need to do is start where nature starts...with earth and pollen.