Did you know Patagonia, the revolutionary clothing company, is now trying to revolutionize food?

Just as Patagonia got people to think about the life cycle of clothing, and to get businesses to donate 1% of profits to the planet, Patagonia is now taking on FOOD. Because, as Yvon Chouinard shared last spring in Ventura, clothing companies are too slow in changing and the planet needs our help desperately. He argues that since food production is causing so many problems for climate, we need to change what we eat.

And not just what we eat, but what we drink too!

Patagonia’s revolutionary “Long Root Ale” is a beer that is as revolutionary as it is regenerative. As they say,

We’re on a mission to repair our food system through regenerative organic farming practices.

While it is just getting out of the brewery and into cans, you can find it at select Whole Foods Markets on the west coast. And the roll out of this new product includes FREE tastings!

And yes I’ve tasted it and yes it tastes very good!

Tonight Oxnard CA Whole Foods will offer FREE tastings of the new Patagonia Provisions “Long Root Ale” from 5-9pm Mon. Oct. 3:

HAPPY HOUR TODAY! Be one of the first to try the new Long Root Ale, a tasty product that will help us save our planet!! Come early to receive a gift from Patagonia Provisions, while supplies last.

Why is it called “Long Root Ale”?

As they explain in this blog post and in the video above, it’s made from “Kernza®, a perennial grain grown using regenerative agriculture practices.”

Stay with me here! Unlike wine, which is grown on vines that can live for over a hundred years and be dry farmed,  most grains are annuals which means each year the soil gets torn up, releasing the carbon sequestered there.

Perennials, like Kernza “are superior to annual grains because they r etain more nutrients and carbon, and can better utilize rainfall. Kernza thrives without tilling, which helps prevent erosion. Once the grain is harvested the roots remain in the soil and add carbon, since organic matter is about 50 percent carbon.”

Kernza was developed in Kansas by Wes Jackson’s The Land Institute, a nonprofit, science-based research organization “that aims to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the prairie and a grain yield comparable to more traditional annual crops.”

Hopworks Urban Brewery brews the ale using organic two-row barley, organic yeast, organic Chinook, Mosaic and Crystal hops, and Kernza.

If you’re passing through Oxnard on the 101, pull over and grab a six pack of cans! Whole Foods Market Oxnard Specialty is located at in the Collection at 650 Town Center Dr, Oxnard, California 93036.

If you’re concerned about food, how it’s produced, where it comes from, and how you buy it, AND if you like BEER, and you live in Ventura County, you should attend “A Toast to Ventura Agriculture” on Weds. Oct. 5 at MadeWest Brewery on Donlon in Ventura CA. 

Also you should definitely vote YES ON C and NO ON F.

In related news, Patagonia’s HQ will be hosting an event to help people understand how choosing Fair Trade Certified products positively impacts the lives of the people who make clothing.

On Thurs, Oct. 6, Patagonia will premiere their new Fair Trade video, and speakers will include Patagonia’s CEO, the President & CEO of Fair Trade USA, and the General Manager of Hirdaramani, a Fair Trade factory in Sri Lanka. Learn how choosing Fair Trade products can affect the world at A FREE EVENT WITH FOOD, DRINKS + MUSIC. Bring layers, this is an outside event at Great Pacific Iron Works Patagonia Ventura, 235 W Santa Clara St, Ventura, California 93001.