Channel Pura Vida

September 2, 2007 at 10:59 am (news)

3 Comments

  1. samzinho said,

    September 11, 2007 at 3:02 pm

    Choco Nuts about Brazil

    How far out would you push the boat to make your dream a reality?

    For one captain and his merry crew, the answer is Brazil. But what exactly is the dream and will the middle-class misfits and economically savvy eco-warriors still be merry after a six-week voyage across the Atlantic? That remains to be seen.

    The start of this journey goes back to 2006 when a group of liked-minded people set up the Feel Foundation in Brighton. Their aims were clear and simple: to communally facilitate sustainable, eco-conscious living. And, in IT whiz kid Craig, with his hard cash and friendly business plans, they found a way forward.

    Craig – an affable, eccentric, down-to-earth, cheeky geeky – fixed it so that 4 of his mates and he could invest in a mansion just outside of Brighton, and a community was born. Simultaneously another mate – French globe-trotter, sailor, tinker, pirate – Bruno, was cooking up other plans.

    He was dreaming of cooking up chocolate; organic, fair-trade, sourced at self-sustainable farms from foreign lands; exotic, carbon-free cacao. Yes, carbon free. Even if it meant sailing it back to England himself. Which it does.

    A few hiccups and months of searching later, Bruno stumbled on a stunning farm in the province of Bahia, Brazil. With Craig’s business head, an element of fatalism and a large spoonful of trust, the members of the Feel Foundation community in the UK put their hard-earned money where their idealistic mouths were and invested in shares to buy the farm.

    The Puravida Project was born

    Elin – young, beautiful, Swedish, multi-lingual, multi-talented and optimistic – began the daunting process of dealing with lawyers and shysters, Brazilian bureaucracy and Brazilian inefficiency. This was not going to be plain sailing but things looked up when one of their lawyers liked the idea so much, he invested as well.

    Bruno and Elin began the process of turning paradise lost into paradise shared. After a year of blood, sweat and tears, the Feel Foundation’s farm is a reality. Puravida is taking its first tentative steps.

    This summer they came back to the UK scouting for fresh talent and up popped Sam, another young devotee to the Green throne. Armed with gadgets, laser research and eco-entrepreneurial inventiveness, he jumped on board, adding charm and know-how to the outfit.

    This October, our crew of intrepid explorers are embarking on the next step of the adventure: in line with their green ideals, 8 people are sailing to Brazil on a boat Bruno has to deliver there. The six week journey is just the beginning…

    Once there, they have to take the next steps to producing their dream product : installing a solar-powered water pump, making the farm buildings winter-proof and, most important of all, sowing the seeds for their organic, carbon-free, organic chocolate.

    Will our crew find green-living bliss on their cacao plantation?

    Or will their dream flounder on a sea of unsustainability?

    Join us on this truly groundbreaking ride.

    xx

    Copyright Puravida Project 2007

  2. samzinho said,

    September 11, 2007 at 3:20 pm

    The link to the Google document:

    http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhj55bhf_5cjzvs4&invite=fktxcrn

  3. elinzinha said,

    September 12, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    I am unsure about calling it the Feel Foundation Farm, I am pretty sure Bruno agrees with me. Any body??.


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