The future of food is in its roots
BETTER
FARMING,
BETTER
RESULTS
For 150+ years, agriculture in California has been designed to adapt the environment to the crops.
This design flaw leads to
Crop failures
Plants dependent upon artificial landscapes are failing with climate change.
Water shortages
Damming and draining our rivers and aquifers to irrigate non-native crops is unsustainable.
Habitat razing
California has more endangered biodiversity than any other part of the contiguous United States.
We are adapting agriculture to the environment
to reliably produce food at scale within natural systems
WHERE DO WE START?
Bringing low water, climate-adapted native foods to the mainstream, starting with acorn.
Domesticating native crops that provide both habitat and food. This work is funded by the National Science Foundation.
COMMERCIAL
AGRICULTURE IS
RECKLESSLY
CENTRALIZED
174 of 30K edible plants are grown commercially.
Three (wheat, rice, and corn) make up the majority of calories consumed by humans.
Soy is 75% of plant protein for humans and livestock.
Centralization creates unnecessary expense.
Conventional crops are failing as the climate changes.
Since 2020, USDA crop failure insurance payouts have increased by 15%+ or more year over year.
Food prices rise with increased farming expenses.
OUR SOLUTION
IS SIMPLE
WE Combine natural & designed systems for a thriving, climate-adapted food system that provides habitats, by:
Domesticating new crops, instead of making small improvements to established ones.
A mix of science, technology, and nature drives our cutting edge breeding process that allows us to rapidly improve plants, while preserving their value as habitat - all in a fraction of the time that domestication used to take and without using genetic engineering.
Working with existing landscapes, instead of clear-cutting for plants that don’t grow there in the first place.
By partnering with private landowners, we protect old-growth oak forests while providing new revenue streams for those landowners.
NATIVE FARMING BENEFITS
A climate-adapted food system yields long-term stability
No-irrigation crops are resilient, and preserve rivers and aquifers.
Western native plants are uniquely adapted to drought, which is the biggest driver of crop failures from climate change.
Deep root systems rebuild topsoil over time.
Native plants will sequester gigatons of carbon while improving future yields - unlike domesticated crops that actually destroy topsoil, releasing C02.
Keeping forests and soils intact significantly reduces emissions.
Agriculture is responsible for more than 1/3 of greenhouse emissions. We will evenutally move from safeguarding existing forests to restoring them.
Preserving California’s Oak forests protects biodiversity.
These forests are home to more than 6,000 species. By monetizing healthy forests we can reverse the century+ of clearcutting for farms, orchards, and suburbs.
COOPERATIVES OFFER
BETTER PAYOFFS
Manzanita is a California General Cooperative, and is majority owned by our workers. Learn more about Worker-owned Cooperatives.
No need for an “exit strategy”
Profit Sharing dividends are paid to Workers and Investors at profitability (Target: Q4 2025).
Less taxes, higher profits, more money
Cooperatives don’t pay taxes on funds dispersed as profit sharing, leaving more for our worker-owners and investors. Co-ops also statistically often outperform conventional businesses.
More resiliency across market conditions
Cooperatives are nearly 30% less likely to go out of business compared to traditional Corporations, particularly in times of economic upheaval.
More wealth for communities
Co-ops return significantly more wealth to their local communities through philanthropy and direct support than equivalent conventional businesses. They also build wealth for entire communities over time by returning Profits to worker-owners.
Invested staff, better adaptibility
Worker-owners who are empowered to make change are more satisfied, more engaged, and more productive. Cooperatives are more likely to recognize good ideas from all of their members - not just leadership - making them more adaptable.