About Patagonia Provisions

How is a clothing company aiming to fix the broken food chain? 

The tradition and culture of food have always been important at Patagonia. They believe what we eat does more than just fill our stomachs and nourish our bodies; good food lifts our spirits and helps us understand the world a little better. So it only makes sense that they’d want to share some of their favorite food with their customers. Patagonia Provisions also believe there is great opportunity—and an urgent need—for positive change in the food industry. 

With Patagonia Provisions, their goals are the same as with everything they do: They aim to make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and perhaps most important, inspire solutions to the environmental crisis.

Today, modern technology, chemistry and transportation combine to put more distance between people and their food than ever before. People harvest salmon indiscriminately or farm them in open-water feedlots, putting wild salmon in peril. Chemicals reign supreme to maximize production, and the unknown impact of genetically modified organisms hovers over the entire industry. In short, the food chain is broken.

Patagonia Provisions is about finding solutions to repair the chain. They started, as they always do, by rolling up sleeves and learning everything they can about the sourcing of each product. In some cases, they’re adopting the best practices already in existence; in others, they’re finding new ways of doing things, which frequently end up being the old ways.

In the coming years, they’ll continue to offer a growing selection of foods that address environmental issues, and continue to encourage support of local food producers. They’ll keep working with the favorite chefs to create the kind of healthy, nutritious food they like to eat on the trail and share with friends at home.

If Patagonia Provisions successfully does their job, their success can help establish a model for a new kind of food chain, one where people “turn around and take a step forward.”

Photo credit: Amy Kumler, Carla Malloy, and Andrew Burr