Products

Fiesta | Mild | Medium | Hot | Green These no fat, no cholesterol, very low calorie salsas are delicious with chips, bread or tortillas, and are great as sauces, marinades, and for braising vegetables or meats. Both salsas are high in Vitamin A and the red salsa is high in the antioxidant lycopene.

Organic 3-Bean Hot | Organic 3-Bean Mild | Organic Black Bean Our UN-refried beans are among the most flavorful and healthy commercially available dips in the world. Made with organically grown beans, low calorie and high protein, the flavor is best at or above room temperature. Excellent as a hot dip, a sandwich spread, or on wraps, burritos and nachos. These make quick and healthy meals kids love!

Organic Traditional | Greek Olive & Roasted Garlic | Organic Creamy Roasted Sweet Red Pepper | Organic Spinach & Feta | Organic Sun-dried Tomato

This wonderful Middle Eastern favorite comes in 5 different flavors that are great on pita bread, with falafel, or spread on your favorite sandwich as a high protein, low calorie alternative to mayonnaise. Our hummus is also a tasty dip for crackers, chips, and veggies. These hummus dips are made with organic garbanzo beans, also called chickpeas, which are a source of high quality protein, and organic sesame tahini, which is a good source of calcium.

Organic Peanut-Curry | Organic Sesame-Garlic | Szechuan

Emerald Valley Kitchen Cooking Sauces with Organic Ingredients are versatile sauces that are delicious in every season. As a dipping sauce they’re great for potstickers, spring and egg rolls, or vegetables. They can also work as a marinade and/or barbecue sauce for tofu, and meat. Some people even use them to baste the Thanksgiving Turkey! And, of course, they are superb as a Stir Fry sauce. Keep them on hand for all occasions.

History

Mel Bankoff started Emerald Valley Kitchen in 1983 in his kitchen with $125.00 in supplies. The "Kitchen" is currently a 19,000 sq. ft. production facility in Eugene OR that provides exceptional wage, and vacation, healthcare (both conventional and alternative), dental, vision, profit sharing, employee pension plan, stock equivalency program, compensated volunteer time and organizational and personal development for the 18 employees, and an annual ski trip for employees and their families. 1% of sales are donated to humanitarian and environmental projects.

With a commitment to healthy, delicious organic food and his slow growth approach, Mel's actions line up with his values and vision of sustainability, fairness and personal empowerment for Emerald Valley Kitchen as a business and for the community it serves.

Emerald Valley Kitchen has been the recipient of numerous awards for social responsibility. Some of these include the Socially Responsible Business Award presented at Natural Products Expo; the Community Applause Award presented by the Oregon Bankers Association and the Independent Community Banks of Oregon for outstanding community involvement; and the Annual Green Business of the Year Award presented by The Green Book, an annual guide to Southern Oregon and Northern California's green businesses (http://www.bizwithheart.com/).

Mel is also a founder of the Willamette Valley Business Alliance (WVBA) and the Institute for Sustainable Ethics and Economics (ISEE) (http://www.iseeinfo.net/) which work with business and the community to create a sustainable future. This includes promotion of The Natural Step (TNS) program (http://www.naturalstep.org/) and Allan Savory's Holistic Management approach (http://www.holisticmanagement.org/).

Where to Find Emerald Valley Kitchen Products

Our products are available in most natural food stores in areas where we have distribution. In some areas we are in conventional grocery stores as well. Click here for a list of the states and which chains of stores should or do carry Emerald Valley Kitchen products. I emphasize – YOU HAVE THE POWER. If a particular product you want is not in the store of your choice, I encourage you to request that the store bring it in. Frankly, the customer is king/queen. They will listen to you before they will listen to us. Most natural food stores will bring a product in, even for one customer, if it is available through their distributor.

1% of Sales to Humanitarian & Ecological Projects

We are very concerned about human and civil rights abuses and protection of dwindling natural resources. Therefore, Emerald Valley Kitchen gives 1% of sales to humanitarian and ecology projects. We try to support local regional and international groups. For more information see "Positions on Important Issues" below.

Positions on Important Issues

Food made with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's)

Over the last 18 years Emerald Valley Kitchen's mission has been to support sustainable and organic agriculture. We believe the promotion of GMO foods are an arrogant abomination of nature placing our ecosystems in extreme jeopardy. None of our present ingredients are foods that are genetically engineered. We strongly support GMO–free foods but believe labeling a product as such, is misleading to the consumer. Cross-pollination and commingling of raw ingredients make it difficult if not impossible to ensure a product is GMO–free. Given this reality the question must be asked - is the label of "GMO–free" a noble pursuit or a marketing vehicle?

We believe that labeling and testing of GMO food is essential for consumer confidence. Ideally we would support a total moratorium until the safety is irrefutable. At Emerald Valley Kitchen we are a major sponsor of The Campaign, which is working to pass laws through congress for mandatory labeling and testing of GMO foods. We also donate to the Center for Food Safety. Let's join together with our time and money to get legislation passed both locally and nationally to label and test GMO foods.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions regarding Emerald Valley Kitchen policies.

Emerald Valley Kitchen is a supporter of The Natural Step

The Natural Step (TNS) describes a framework for thinking about sustainability. Four scientifically-based principles guide businesses and communities to a sustainable 21st century. Business competitiveness and environmental protection occurs through innovation, not regulation. Within this framework, the ingenuity of people in communities and companies is unleashed to develop sustainable practices that are good for business, food for community and good for the earth.

Many companies who have followed the TNS framework have reported significant competitive advantage, diminished worries over environmental regulations, reduction in costs, greater employee and customer loyalty and other benefits. U.S. companies include Interface, a floor covering company with annual sales of $8 billion, Collins Pine, a timber harvesting and sales company, Placon Inc., a plastic packaging manufacturer with $45 million in annual sales, Norm Thompson, the outdoor clothing manufacturer, and many others.

In Sweden, where TNS originated through a consensus of many of the top scientists, over 60 major industries and communities have already adopted TNS practices.

The TNS system has four basic precepts:

The viability of communities, business, governmental and many non-governmental organizations increasingly depends on awareness of, and ability to adapt to, the system conditions put forth by The Natural Step.

"The Natural Step is an innovative approach for motivating private and governmental organizations to become leaders in the new era of sustainable practices." - Governor John Kitzhaber

Learning how we can be more effective at bringing about sustainability is an ongoing pursuit. Each year we grow into new knowledge of how the elements of sustainability are connected and stretch into new wisdom about how to work toward our new sustainable future.

To learn more about The Natural Step, visit http://www.naturalstep.org/.

P.O. Box 23236
Eugene, OR 97402
http://www.emeraldvalleykitchen.com