Tag Archives: sustainable farming

Happy Cows and Healthy Soil

Ever since my father began growing his own crops for his food supplements in the 1930s, Nutrilite has been farming organically. He didn’t call it organic farming then because the term didn’t yet exist.

It was J.I. Rodale who coined the term in the 1940s and he was heavily influenced by the ideas of Sir Albert Howard, a British scientist who spent years observing traditional farming in India. Howard envisioned agricultural systems that were reliant upon returning crop residues, green manures and wastes to soil. He promoted the idea of working with nature by using deep-rooted crops to draw nutrients from the soil.

My father Carl F. Rehnborg in a field of alfalfa at the Lakeview Farm, California; circa 1958. The Lakeview farm is now retired, but historically it was considered the “workhorse” farm where we grew many of the long-term crops destined for Nutrilite products. The farm sat on a prehistoric lake bed, which accumulated nutrient-rich sediment that helped contribute to the fertile top soil.
My father Carl F. Rehnborg in a field of alfalfa at the Lakeview Farm, California; circa 1958. The Lakeview farm is now retired, but historically it was considered the “workhorse” farm where we grew many of the long-term crops destined for Nutrilite products. The farm sat on a prehistoric lake bed, which accumulated nutrient-rich sediment that helped contribute to the fertile top soil.

My father was also a keen observer of the world around him. Early in his career when he was working as a milk salesman for Carnation Milk, he was able to study Carnation’s research showing that cows consuming nothing more than alfalfa and water produced the most milk and gained the most weight.

While visiting the company’s research facility and condensory near Madison, Wisconsin in the early 20th century, a chemist held up an alfalfa plant and said to him, “This is as complicated as the universe!” It was undoubtedly an “a-ha” moment that further seeded the idea for Nutrilite and inspired him to continue exploring the power of plants.

The farming he first undertook on the original Nutrilite farm in Reseda, California was done using a specially designed scythe with a basket attached so that he could keep all the alfalfa he was harvesting from ever touching the ground. Initially, it was the alfalfa that he processed in his own lab that provided the nutrients for his food supplements. The same plant he watched contented cows consume 20 years earlier.

Of course, he didn’t use synthetic chemicals or fertilizers to grow his crops back then. Today, our farming operations span nearly 6,000 acres across three countries where the same ethos is operating on a much larger scale.

But organic isn’t the only mindset that is driving the farming industry.

Field technician tests the soil. Trout Lake Farm East, Washington, USA; 2014.
Field technician tests the soil. Trout Lake Farm East, Washington, USA; 2014.

It has truly become about the soil – protecting it long-term so that future generations can benefit from the healthy mix of nutrients and life-giving substances that exist right below our feet.

The biggest challenge for organic farms is weed control. How you keep weeds from proliferating is where the industry is ripe for innovation. And there are ways to do it without damaging the soil. Even by using lasers!

Regenerative agriculture is also gaining momentum as an effective way to preserve soil and the environment while also creating carbon sinks to recapture carbon dioxide that has been expelled into the atmosphere. It is one way to promote circular economies through farming.

On a farm that uses regenerative practices near the Trout Lake East farm in Ephrata, Washington, “happy” cows rotate in controlled grazes on the land. Cattle munching and trimming the grass helps stimulate the plants to double the root growth and keep the soil healthy. Ephrata, Washington, USA; 2021. Photo: Darwin Hintz
On a farm that uses regenerative practices near the Trout Lake East farm in Ephrata, Washington, “happy” cows rotate in controlled grazes on the land. Cattle munching and trimming the grass helps stimulate the plants to double the root growth and keep the soil healthy. Ephrata, Washington, USA; 2021. Photo: Darwin Hintz

And about those cows. Happy cows that graze on healthy soil have a magical way of improving the soil biology through their saliva and organic waste. It’s how nature meant it to be. Circular, returning what we use in a virtuous cycle that helps balance our existence on this planet.  

I, for one, am grateful to the farmers, innovators, and champions of sustainable farming that are following in the steps of the pioneers before them.

To me, one thing is certain: Save the soil, save the future. I hope you think so too.

Cheers,

Trusting Nutrilite Organic Farming Practices

A key reason why consumers trust the Nutrilite™ brand is because of the continual innovation occurring on our certified organic farms. Our farms represent an advanced ecosystem that combines thousands of acres of fertile farmland with sustainable organic farming practices.

The research field at Trout Lake West. Research and innovation happen on all of our certified organic farms.

Our commitment to vertical integration allows us to control the entire production process from the seed planted in the soil to the supplement you eat every day. In practical terms, this means we can maintain a steady supply of the nutritious botanicals used to make ingredients for your favorite Amway products, including Nutrilite™ supplements and Artistry beauty products.

Early Inspiration

The inspiration for our farming practices began quite humbly when my father, Nutrilite founder Carl Rehnborg, started growing alfalfa on a small farm in California’s San Fernando Valley in the 1940s. He simply wanted the purest, most nutritious botanicals for his supplements, and he intuitively knew that they needed to be grown sustainably and naturally, without chemical pesticides or fertilizers. This was before we even knew to call it organic farming.

Farmer using a scythe in field.

I remember helping him harvest alfalfa when I was a young boy. He included me in his daily work on the farm, even when I might have been creating more trouble for him than being helpful. As I reflect on those early days, I can see that his thinking at the time created the foundation our farming practices are built on.

Practicing Our Sustainable Organic Philosophy

Our farms represent the pinnacle of our sustainable organic philosophy put into practice, and we do it on an impressive scale. Even so, the farms are not large enough, or diverse enough, to provide the steady supply of botanical ingredients that go into all our products.

Our flagship supplement alone, Nutrilite™ Double X™, contains as many as 22 different plant nutrients. And if you count all the different plant ingredients in the full complement of Nutrilite products, the number exceeds 190 botanicals.

That’s why we can’t source every plant ingredient found in our products from our own farms. Not to mention that many of our ingredients come from unique geographic locales around the world.

Our NutriCert™ Program

So how do we do it? It all happens because of our NutriCert™ program, an incredible supply-chain system that has been in place since 2004. We just wouldn’t be able to provide the breadth of plant-based products for you without it.

Through NutriCert™ we partner with farmers around the world who have values like ours. In this way we can grow plants with newly discovered phytonutrients that wouldn’t flourish on our own farms. NutriCert™ certification requires partner farms to be traceable, ecologically sustainable, and socially responsible.

On our own farms and partner farms, we can monitor every step from seed to finished product. We can even trace a plant back to the farm and field where it was planted and grown.

Here are some examples of our NutriCert™ program practices:

  • Maintenance of a natural and balanced farm site environment
  • Ecologically vital operations that enhance biodiversity
  • Good agricultural practices that promote food safety
  • Worker safety and development
  • Community outreach and involvement
  • Documentation of farm management plans and production activities
  • Traceability of final ingredient to the agricultural field location

The great thing is that the partnerships we’ve created benefit everyone involved. Farmers benefit financially by learning to grow crops using the high NutriCert™ program standards. This, in turn, helps invigorate the local communities. We benefit by expanding our supply chain in a controlled way without compromising quality. Finally, consumers benefit as we can meet the ever-increasing demand for Nutrilite™ products.

It creates a natural success cycle that continues to improve the products we produce and the world we live in. What could be better than that?

Cheers!

Harvesting Protein from the Sea

My father, Nutrilite founder Carl Rehnborg, was ahead of his time, he was able to foresee outcomes before they happened. And he was always looking for ways to improve the health of the planet and our prospects as individuals – even in unconventional ways.

If you’ve read The Nutrilite Story, you might know the story of the Acania a ship he purchased to harvest plankton from the sea off the coast of Alaska. If you want to know more about Nutrilite history, understanding the story of the Acania is a good place to start because it embodies my father’s forward thinking-nature, the type of thinking that translates into the foundation of the Nutrilite brand.

The Acania designed by John H. Wells and built by Consolidated Shipbuilding Company in 1930. Seen here as Research vessel in Juneau, Alaska (1987)- Southeast Alaska. By Gillfoto – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75

An Eventful World Tour

In the early 1950s my father was entering the retirement phase of his life, having turned 65 in 1952. But he wasn’t slowing down by any means.

A year later, his insatiable curiosity led him to embark on a world tour with his wife Edith that took them to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. During his travels, he was analyzing the character and culture of ancient places that were brand new to him. And in doing so he couldn’t help but view things through his own particular lens – nutrition. 

He visited Europe when it was still recovering from the devastation of World War II. He theorized that proper supplementation could help bridge nutritional gaps in people still recovering from the traumas of war. And throughout his travels across three different continents he saw stark reminders of poverty and malnutrition.

He returned home inspired to find ways to make the world a better place and to do what he could to help eliminate poverty and starvation. He saw that people were not only suffering from a lack of vitamins, but also from an inadequate intake of protein.

Observations while Sailing to and from China

Decades earlier he had sailed to and from China across the North Pacific, where he saw plankton blooms glowing in the dark seas at night. Memories of those passages across the ocean gave him an idea for a solution. In the fall of 1954, he decided to find a way to harvest plankton straight from the sea and use it to make a protein supplement.

Why plankton? More bang for the buck, he figured, or more protein by the pound, to be more accurate. Sure, one pound of plankton might be roughly equivalent to a pound of fish, but a lot of food value was lost between the plankton and the big fish that humans ate.

He purchased a 126 foot luxury yacht called the Acania and he refitted it for harvesting plankton. By the summer of 1956, the Acania set sail, bound for the waters off Alaska. I was able to join the crew during my summer break from Stanford University, where I had just completed my sophomore year studying chemical engineering.

How it Worked

From the Acania’s deck, we would send these big coned-shaped nets down 100 feet in water to scoop up the protein-rich plankton. We would follow the plankton on sonar. We could see the fluorescent plankton rise at night with the dwindling sun when we could get close enough to harvest it. We would bring it onboard via big pumps that sucked it out of the water and into the bowels of the boat, where it was spray-dried with relatively little treatment. Every night, we would catch 100 pounds. It produced a very high-quality material that was 85 percent protein.

The trip was a success, proving that plankton could indeed be harvested, and a healthful protein supplement easily made from it.

Unfortunately, the operation wasn’t economically viable. Harvesting plankton was simply too costly at the time to produce a supplement whose primary market would be the world’s most poverty-stricken areas.

The Acania Today

The current owners of the Acania reached out to me earlier this year to compile historical details about the vessel. The ship was built in 1929 and it’s had a storied history with multiple owners. Nutrilite owned it from 1955 to 1960 after which the boat was sold to the Stanford Research Institute.

The ship is being restored after it sank at the dock in Everett, Washington in August of 2017.

I hope to be able to visit the current owners sometime in the near future to share personal stories about my time on the Acania and to relive some of the wonderful memories I experienced as a young man helping to build the future of the Nutrilite brand.

A Friend of the Sea

Friend of the Sea Logo

Today, Nutrilite ingredients harvested from the ocean are Friend of the Sea® certified. That includes the entire supply chain — the fisheries, the fish oil producer, and our products. Specifically, it relates to our new Omega and Advanced Omega products that have begun rolling out this year. It’s another step toward sustainability and care for the planet we call home.

Friend of the Sea® sustainable fisheries and Omega-3 certification ensures certified products minimally impact the environment. Following Friend of the Sea® requirements ensures healthy fish, supports endangered species, and encourages an abundant supply for the future.

My Father’s Legacy

My father was focused on sustainability, social responsibility, and other innovative methods to help alleviate global challenges like poverty, malnutrition, and climate change. He was doing this even before the modern environmental movement was born.

It’s the type of thinking we need more of today as we slowly realize that the future is now. And we can’t pass our problems to the next generation anymore.

Cheers!

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The Right People & Processes Help Us Pivot Fast

Luis Garcia, GPS Tractor Operator, gives the thumbs up. Luis has already started his day as the sun begins to rise. It’s business as usual to ensure a steady supply of crops destined for Nutrilite® brand products. Trout Lake Farm East, Ephrata, Wash, July 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz
Luis Garcia, GPS Tractor Operator, gives the thumbs up. Luis has already started his day as the sun begins to rise. It’s business as usual to ensure a steady supply of crops destined for Nutrilite® brand products. Trout Lake Farm East, Ephrata, Wash, July 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz

When people visit Trout Lake Farm, they are often surprised at all the behind-the-scene action that takes place to ensure a steady supply of plant material for Nutrilite® products. They’re also intrigued by all the attention the team gives to research and innovation to stay on the leading edge.

It’s a complex, coordinated effort that brings together the right people and the right processes at the right time. And when you see it up-close and in-person, you can’t help but be impressed.

How does the team make it look so easy?

It’s a dedication to teamwork that should be the benchmark for every successful farming business.

The managers and leaders have worked together productively over the years to overcome more than their fair share of adversity and challenges. Farming, after all, can be a fickle business. You’re at the mercy of Mother Nature, and you need to pivot fast to prevent things from going wrong. Add long days in the fields, often from sunrise to dusk, and you have a challenge that demands everything the team can provide. They persevere, because they are powered by incredible teamwork, mutual respect and fierce loyalty that shows up in all that they do.

I am thrilled that this team is part of the Amway family. I especially love talking with Darwin Hintz as he shares stories of the field workers who make such a big difference for the Nutrilite brand. Darwin is the Technology Manager for Trout Lake Farm and Nutrilite/Amway Global Agribusiness. He’s never far from a camera so he can document the innovations and advancements that take place in the field to share with us.

You can see some of Darwin’s photos here.

I’ve written about Darwin and his brother Farm Manager Phil Hintz in a previous post. They grew up in the farming business. Farming is in their blood, and they know how to do things right.  

Here are just a few of Darwin’s stories that spotlight field workers who give their best every day.

Learning something new every day
Salvador (Chava) Ramirez gives the thumbs up from the cab of his truck. Chava is lead irrigator and operator for sophisticated tillage and harvest equipment at Trout Lake Farm East. Ephrata, Wash, March 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz.
Salvador (Chava) Ramirez gives the thumbs up from the cab of his truck. Chava is lead irrigator and operator for sophisticated tillage and harvest equipment at Trout Lake Farm East. Ephrata, Wash, March 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz.

Salvador (“Chava”) Ramirez came to the United States when he was a teenager. He has an impressive farming skill set, all learned from the ground up.

Farming isn’t much different than other skills: If you want to get ahead, there’s no substitute for putting in the work. Chava did just that.

His days of loading plant materials into dryers using only a pitchfork are long gone. Today technology is the watchword, and Chava spends his time running sophisticated tillage and harvest equipment and using state-of-the art irrigation technology to keep the crops irrigated without water waste.

It’s not uncommon for Chava to work long hours and go to bed late, yet consistently wake up about 3:30 a.m.

Ask him what drives him and he’ll tell you: “I told the BIG GUY that I am so thankful to be able to wake up early, and be alive. I don’t want to waste the day and I can’t wait to come out to the farm, check the irrigation and see the sun come up.”

Chava’s positive outlook and work ethic is inspiring, but what really sets him apart is his perseverance and willingness to learn new skills.

The benefits of a close-knit bond

Jose Aguinaga working in a field at Trout Lake Farm East. Ephrata, Wash, June 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz
Jose Aguinaga working in a field at Trout Lake Farm East. Ephrata, Wash, June 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz

Darwin often tells me that the crew members are a close-knit team, and the Aguinaga family is a great example.

During the peak of the season, Jose “PePe” Aguinaga leads a field crew of up to 80 people. When PePe is out in the field, the productivity of the crew shifts into overdrive. He is that effective at executing the plans for the day. PePe excels at maintaining momentum, and has the ability to quickly change fields and adjust techniques based on changing weather and field conditions.

PePe’s wife Isabel works alongside him in the field when she’s not assisting the root washer and dryer teams. She has done so for many years. Isabel had an administrative job, but gave it up to work with her husband in the fields, believing it was better for their family and their health.

Junior Aguinaga stands in a field of Echinacea and gives two thumbs up. Junior is a second generation employee at Trout Lake Farm. Ephrata, Wash, July 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz
Junior Aguinaga stands in a field of Echinacea and gives two thumbs up. Junior is a second generation employee at Trout Lake Farm. Ephrata, Wash, July 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz

Their son Jose (“Junior”) Aguinaga, Jr. has been at Trout Lake Farm East since he was 16 years old, working in all field crew departments.

Junior’s versatility is vital to operations with his focus on keeping track of labor and working in our Amway GAP and safety programs. All this while he stays up-to-date on equipment utilization requirements.

Darwin explains that this type of multi-generational commitment helps create continuity and depth of knowledge so vital to long-term sustainability.

Say no to status quo

Having the right people in place, as well as the right processes, helps us pivot quickly to meet challenges head on.

The team is continually fine-tuning their ways, even in their sleep. “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night inspired to solve a problem,” says Darwin. “I often write down concepts that become the framework for a new piece of equipment or a new process that can advance our capabilities.”

“One process that we’re fanatical about is meticulous record keeping,” says Darwin. In this way, the team can easily go back and trace the entire journey from seed to plant to ingredient and finally to the end consumer.

Consumers deserve products they can trust, so this attention to detail is a big deal.

It’s all part of a bigger strategy that moves us closer to a better system for soil and plant health. We don’t accept the status quo. Darwin says it best, “If we are just duplicating our performance year after year, we would not have the drive or passion to tell the story.”

Darwin continues to keep an eye out for highlights to share whether it’s during a good day in the field or not. Actually, it’s the bad days when the temperature plummets, the wind howls and the soil scatters that truly showcase the dedication and passion of the team.

Doctor/surgeon field crew in one of our new Innovation & Science Research Crops, CBD Hemp of which we have 6 specialty selected varieties. Ephrata, Wash, June 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz
All masked and ready to go, workers in the field show their safe and strategic approach to weeding during this unusual time. Trout Lake Farm East, Ephrata, WA. June 2020. Photo: Darwin Hintz

The next time you reach your favorite Nutrilite supplement (or recommend one to a friend), I encourage you to think of the people behind the brand, people like Darwin, Phil, Chava, PePe, Isabella, Junior and so many others at Trout Lake Farm. They are a big reason why millions of health-conscious people in over 50 countries around the world trust their health to the Nutrilite brand.

Let’s give a big shout out to the team!

Dr. Sam Signature

 

 

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Continue reading The Right People & Processes Help Us Pivot Fast

Sustainable Farming Across Generations

Darwin and Phil Hintz pose in a field of alfalfa on harvest day. On the same day, the plant material is sent directly to the Nutrilite Botanical Concentrate Manufacturing facility in Quincy, Washington for fresh juicing and post-harvest processing for use in Nutrilite™ brand products. Using high-tech farming innovation, these experts ensure the organic plants grown for Nutrilite products are consistently high quality, yet cost competitive. Trout Lake Farm East, Ephrata, Wash, 2019.

When the corporate office called, Darwin Hintz and his bride of three days were preparing for their honeymoon. Darwin is the Technology Manager for Trout Lake Farm and Nutrilite Global Agribusiness Operations. There was a need in Wuxi, China, for him to share and implement his expertise to bring the soil back to life. Could he go?

Continue reading Sustainable Farming Across Generations