Back to the Roots — an innovative natural foods company — started when two young college students learned that mushrooms could grow needing no more than spent coffee grounds for nourishment. Armed with that knowledge Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora came up with the idea to “Undo Food” — a trademarked phrase that aims to get food out of the laboratories and back into the dirt and the kitchen. They started with a grow-your-own-mushroom kit — which was a smashing success. It’s the Chia Pet for the Vegan set. Even Oprah gave a nod. They added more grow your own kits and they make cereal also — all in one of two categories: ready to grow or ready to eat.
Now Back to the Roots has been selected as part of Amazon’s Launchpad group — a selection of companies from tech to fashion to food that bring new and different choices to market for consumers. The Mushroom Farm from Back to the Roots allows anybody to grow organic, edible, gourmet oyster mushrooms in ten days. It’s a terrific kit for everyone from kids to chefs. Back to the Roots wants everything to be seen — believing farm to table makes you able and puts you in control. Transparency is the new clever, they like to say. The Back to the Roots Garden Toolkit is now being used to grow food in more than 2300 classrooms nationwide.
