| Green Farming Visionaries |
Nearly 9 years ago, Blair and Ben Ripple dug deep into dark volcanic soil in the highlands of central Bali and pulled out a handful of potatoes. It was the first harvest for Big Tree Farms. Since then, the Ripples have become the premier producer of sustainably grown (organic) produce in Indonesia, with more than 80 different crops. This young couple from the US Northwest had the idea not only of farming themselves, but also of introducing small-scale sustainable farming practices to traditional Balinese villages. And thus they have also become marketers of Balinese artisan products like handcrafted sea salt, heritage palm sugar, wild cacao and spices.
Along the way, they spawned some unwanted competitors—unscrupulous packagers who labeled conventionally grown vegetables as organic. “It all became unhinged; something had to change,” Ben Ripple told an interviewer recently.
To achieve the scale of social change they envisioned, the Ripples realized they had to become more than an “insular organic produce company.” Racheting up their efforts, they sought help from outside investors and earlier this year launched PT Bali Organic Alami (Island Organics). Now they’re dedicated to developing high-volume production of sustainably grown organic produce by providing technical assistance and more sophisticated distribution and marketing to local farm cooperatives. A total of 8 co-ops (some 160 farmers) have signed on for the initial phase of the effort.
These vegetable farmers will become the first anywhere in Indonesia to be certified organic to international standards. (Indonesia is in the process of establishing its own organic certification standards.)
“Bali could become a model for the world,” Ben Ripple says. “I truly believe that Bali can become the world’s first organic island.”
