Bená Burda puts an organic spin on cotton

[nosmokes]

naturalfoodmerchandiser

Bená Burda puts an organic spin on cotton

Hilary Oliver

An organic fabric forerunner weaves fairness into the industry


Bená Burda laughingly recalls the president of golf-clothing manufacturer Cutter & Buck saying he wanted to shake her hand. He was amazed that Burda—unaware of what a convoluted, difficult sector the apparel industry is—dived right in to create one of the first organic cotton clothing companies in the United States.

When Burda began her organics industry career in the early 1990s, she didn't envision cotton socks and camisoles—she was working for Little Bear Snack Foods, producing organic corn chips. But 15 years later, she has helped formulate industry standards for organic textiles, created a new business model with a worker-owned textiles cooperative in Nicaragua and continues to raise awareness for organic textiles through her line of cotton garments, Maggie's Organics. It started with talking to an organic farmer about corn chip color.

Burda noticed that the color in Little Bear's blue-corn chips tended to fade, instead of staying a rich hue. Trying to find a natural solution for the problem rather than adding a colorant, Burda talked to the farmer, who said he might have an answer. His solution was to add cotton to his crop rotation, which helped fortify the soil, producing more richly colored corn. The only problem was what to do with this unexpected cotton crop.

Instead of leaving the farmer to find a market himself, Burda took on the challenge of putting the crop to good use. "It was the early '90s, and it was a much smaller industry back then," she says. "But you had a loyal, devoted relationship with your farmers, supporting their agricultural practices, whatever they were growing." So Burda started making socks, and eventually camisoles, T-shirts and tights from the organic cotton.

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complete article here

[Saturday]

1. Very Interesting. n/t

[vireo]

2. I love Maggie's

I wasn't aware of the Little Bear connection.

They don't offer the range of fashions that, say, Patagonia does, but I respect their business practices.

http://www.organicclothes.com/index.asp

[MadHound]

3. We really need to get rid of a lot of the cotton industry, even if it is organic

Cotton is a crop that is extremely hard on the soil, leaving vast swathes where it is grown sterile and unable to grow anything without the massive application of chemicals.

One more reason to legalize hemp cultivation, it is a fiber than can replace cotton and is much better for our soil.

[nosmokes]

6. Cotton is pretty water intensive but it doesn't leave soil sterile when it's

planted in rotation any more than any other crop. That said, There are other plants that can produce fibers much more efficiently than cotton, hemp definitely being one. Few textiles can match the absorbency of cotton though. I think organic cotton can have it's place if it's grown in a water rich environment. Growing it in southern California and Arizona doesn't make a lick of sense.

[greenman3610]

4. Bena is a very tough, savvy and smart lady

[KT2000]

5. Great story!

A better world is possible - with smart, creative thinking like this.

Thanks for posting this.