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Nature Sprout – empowering people to grow their own food

By Lara Pickford-Gordon
Email: snrwriter.camsel@catholictt.org

Candice Caruth has always been interested in starting a business but did not want it to be dictated by the quest for profits. It had to help people and contribute to the country’s exports of locally made goods.

The holder of a bachelor’s degree in Economics from The University of the West Indies, the 28-year-old chose to use a “social enterprise” model for her business. This approach has been rising in popularity.

In an interview August 3, Caruth explained that increased food prices and rising costs of the inputs for agriculture prompted her to try and provide an alternative. “My focus is on lower income people who cannot really afford to go to the supermarket and purchase the high-priced products that are there, but they have an interest in growing their own food.”

Caruth is willing to teach members of the public how to use things around their home to get started. She is a supporter of food self-sufficiency but knows committing to this will be difficult for many people.

The young entrepreneur said more emphasis is needed on local manufacturing and agriculture because foreign exchange is already difficult to get, and a time may come when the cost of foreign goods will make it difficult for people to afford their basic needs.

“We need to change our mindset towards local goods and be self-sufficient as a country and not so dependent on oil and gas; in 50 years, we may not have the income we have now from that, we need to encourage more manufacturing, local farmers, and boost our local production so we could have more export of goods.”

Getting started

Caruth started a kitchen garden while actively trying to get a job. With time on her hands, she began exploring her interest in growing food. The small garden had lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, rosemary, mint, sage, and seasonings.

The kitchen garden made her realise she could start a business in agriculture and food processing. She supplied herbs to restaurants but halted with the pandemic and closure of restaurants last year.

Caruth was clear she did not want her business to be the “typical import, mark-up and resell”. To boost her knowledge, she enrolled in the free courses hosted by the Agriculture Ministry from 2017. The monthly courses on a variety of topics enabled her to learn a lot; Caruth did not think it made sense to return to UWI to do another degree. She invested in a small, vertical farming system.

“It consists of a pot with four sections in it and you stack one on top of the other…it allows you to grow more in one space”.

However, the economies of scale, “did not make financial sense” to do farming from her backyard. She sold the system and decided to work with farmers. Nature Sprout was started in January 2018.

In 2020, she used Facebook to invite local farmers to collaborate. “I wanted to introduce them to how I grow my seasonings using the natural inputs. I consider myself a natural farmer. I don’t use organic because we don’t have an official committee to test if your product is organic or not…I prefer to use the word natural”. Some of her “inputs” used for growing are: sargassum seaweed, compost; natural insecticides made with aloe vera, cinnamon, garlic, and peppers.  “I introduced my techniques to the farmers I work with,” she said.

Nature Sprout hosted one virtual workshop October 31, 2020, teaching participants how to make their own vermicomposting— the process by which worms (African nightcrawler) are used to convert organic materials into vermin-compost.

The business also teaches regular composting, waste management, recycling, and upcycling to assist farmers, home gardeners and communities transform waste into viable inputs to grow food. Caruth had a schedule of classes she wanted to host however, with the Covid pandemic this was shelved. She admits, she prefers face-to-face interactive classes.

Preserving the environment

Caruth has worked with The Sunbeam Foundation and is an active member of Environmental and Social Consultative Association (ESCA) which was established in 2015 “by young professionals with the over-arching goal of environmental preservation through social and environmental projects”.

ESCA has participated in beach cleanups, school science and environmental fairs, tree planting, and teaching about the environment at children’s homes.  ESCA has an ongoing mentorship programme with the Wesleyan Children’s Home since 2019.  Through teaching young persons to upcycle using the 3R’s (reducing waste, reusing, and recycling) the NGO seeks to contribute to an “environmentally conscious generation” for the benefit of the country.

Butterfly Pea

Caruth’s first healthy food product for the local market was made using butterfly pea flowers. She learned about it during a period of bouts of anxiety in 2019. She began experimenting with different herbs. A friend told her about the butterfly pea— Clitoria ternatea, also known as Asian pigeonwings. “This one worked best for me, using as a tea in the night really helped keep me calm”. The flower has a wide range of other health benefits, she quickly added.

It is versatile enough to be included in cocktails and foods. The indigo-coloured flower has been used for both agriculture and medicinal purposes. It was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a colour addictive in 2013.

Butterfly Pea powder was launched February this year and is available at select food outlets.  Caruth intends to have other lines of powdered food products on the market in coming years.