| SPENCER - Tofu made in Spencer is not just good for you, it's
good for the planet.
Spring Creek Natural Foods has received this year's Green
Entrepreneur Award from the West Virginia Environmental Council.
The
award is presented annually to a company that works not just to
advance its profits, but also to advance environmentally sustainable
business practices.
"Spring Creek is honored that E-Council has chosen us as this year's
Green Entrepreneur award winner," said Bob Hamburg, chair of Spring
Creek's Board of Directors. "I'm accepting this award on behalf of
all the founders and employees who have taken part over the past 25
years.
"We have been using organic ingredients to make some of the finest
tofu in the United States. In making all our products, we strive to
be friendly to both our community and our environment." Tofu, made
from soybeans, is a vegetarian source of high quality protein that
has been eaten for over 2000 years in China.
The award will be presented today at E-Council's 15th
Annual E-Day! proceedings. Since 1990, the statewide non-profit
organization has held E-Day! to focus attention on environmental
issues and citizen lobbying on current legislation.
This year, about 30 environmental groups and eco-friendly businesses
will gather at the State Capitol to showcase their work. The
official awards ceremony will be held during an evening reception and
benefit for the E-Council at the Perfater Law Office, 1311 Virginia
St. E., Charleston.
Spring Creek's tofu is known nationwide.
Jean Marc, the chef with the
Dean Ornish Lifestyle Advantage Program, has said that where he lives
in California he cannot get any tofu as good as the product made in
the Spencer soy dairy.
When a Columbus, Ohio whole foods wholesale
distributor that carried Spring Creek's tofu was bought up by another
business and closed down, many people panicked. The soy dairy's
bulletin board is full of e-mails from people upset that they could
no longer get what many termed the very best tofu available.
Fortunately, other distributors were located. Through their own
deliveries and through the new health food distributors, Spring Creek
products reach most states east of the Mississippi.
Today, with 15
employees, Spring Creek converts about 6,000 pounds of organic
soybeans into 12,000 pounds of tofu and tofu-based products each
week. Yearly sales are about $500,000, a figure which is
attributable to Spring Creek's reputation for quality products, and
increased public awareness of the many health benefits of eating
soybean-based products.
Another E-Council award winner this year is Janet Fout, co-director
of the Huntington-based Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition. Fout won
E-Council's highest award, the Mother Jones Award. She, too, can
attest for the fine quality of products available from Spring Creek
Natural Foods.
"I recently was in Spencer to get my computer repaired," Fout said.
"I made certain to stop by Spring Creek and buy a whole case of
soysage patties and many packages of tofu. It's simply the best
around, and it sure helps me keep my energy up as I work to
coordinate the West Virginia Clean Elections Coalition. I guess you
could say that work is tofu-powered."
Spring Creek Natural Foods began in 1978 as a worker-owned
cooperative based in southern Calhoun County kitchens. In 1979, the
soy dairy moved into a storefront in Spencer, then moved to its
current location on East Main St. in 1989.
During this period, over
200 local people have worked at the soy dairy. Gradually, the worker
owned aspect of the business changed. Today Spring Creek is a
closely-held stock corporation, with many employees owning stock.
From the beginning, the soy dairy's aim was to keep the business'
impacts on Earth's resources minimal. Soybean-based vegetarian foods
deliver far more protein per acre of land, at much less negative
impact than animal-derived foods.
Little is wasted at Spring Creek.
Local farmers pick up okara-soy fiber created during tofu production-
to feed their livestock.
"We have the best tofu products on the market, made right here in
central West Virginia. Who would have thought it? And now we have the
E-Council's Green Entrepreneur Award to show that not only are our
products tasty, they are good for the environment, too," Hamburg
said.
Spring Creek's products can be purchased at the shop in Spencer, as
well as Healthy Life Markets in Charleston, Kanawha City and Cross
Lanes; Krogers in Kanawha City and Ashton Place in Charleston; the
Purple Onion in Charleston's Farmer's Market; and Mountain Peoples'
Coop in Morgantown. Charleston's Delish Restaurant, the Charleston
Area Medical Center and Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown all
serve Spring Creek products.
For more information see
springcreeknaturalfoods.com
and
wvecouncil.org
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