Page Two	E-mail PagePrint Version

LOS ANGELES - 12/12/03 - Whole Foods Markets has been named the exclusive seller in Southern California for bananas grown on the campus of Costa Rica's EARTH University. 

Beginning this month, bananas from the sustainable plantations of the international agribusiness school will be available at the grocery chain's 19 stores in Southern California, including 17 stores in the greater Los Angeles area.

The school currently ships 20 tons of sustainable bananas each week to the US and the European Union with 100% of US imports going to Whole Foods Markets.
 
Founded in 1989 in Costa Rica's Limon province, EARTH University is involved in research into "sustainable" agricultural practices.
 
The university's curriculum focuses on viable uses for the natural resources found in the tropics. Students are recruited from towns and villages in 19 countries across Latin America. Each university student is required to develop and run his or her own private enterprise in order to graduate.
 
The banana production program uses minimal amounts of chemical fungicides and agricultural oil additives; rotates crops to allow the soil to recover and renovate naturally; controls the packing process to keep fruit free of chemical and biological contaminants; recycles banana stalks to produce value-added banana paper products and 45% of the water used at its packing plant; treats waste water to remove any organic contaminants; and has been responsible for the planting of more than 300 hectares of native trees along rivers to reduce erosion.

Go back, or read the latest Page Two stories:

MEXICO LIFTS CALIFORNIA LETTUCE BAN

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – 10/20/06 – The weeks-old ban on California lettuce shipments to Mexico has been lifted after US Department of Agriculture tests for the E. coli bacteria proved negative; California is the country’s leading producer of lettuce with an estimated 70-75% of the total US production of iceberg lettuce and between 80-85% of the leaf lettuce.