La Paz, Bolivia: Play Now | Download (35)

In this installment of Dispatches from the Field, Steve and Philip brave oxygen deprivation and “Death Road” (renowned as the most dangerous road in the world) to reach folks in the rural communities of Bolivia with not only financial services, but also health and education.

 Whole Planet Travels to Peru: Play Now | Download (273)

Steve Wanta and Phillip Sansone of the Whole Planet Foundation meet with women entrepreneurs of Peru who have benefited from microloans from the Whole Planet Foundation. In less than one year, working with Pro Mujer, The Whole Planet Foundation has provided loans to over 1200 woman. This capital has allowed these entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, provide for their families and plan for the future in ways that were previously unavailable.

 Facatativa, Colombia: Play Now | Download (346)

Steve Wanta sends us this video from Facatativa, Colombia where the Whole Planet Foundation team is doing a feasibility study to determine whether the foundation can support and sustain a microcredit loan program.

 Whole Planet Travels: Play Now | Download (444)

Join Steve Wanta as he travels South America visiting current Whole Planet Foundation microcredit projects and seeking out new opportunities where the Foundation can provide assistance.

Here’s a huge shout out to the amazing team members at Whole Foods Market. It has been two years since we started the Whole Planet Foundation Team Member Giving program. This is where team members can choose to have money donated from each paycheck to empower the poorest of the poor with a chance to lift themselves out of poverty. As you probably know by now, Whole Planet Foundation was created by Whole Foods Market with the mission of alleviating poverty through microcredit in global communities that supply our stores with product. This mission resonates with over 12,000 team members who make a difference every two weeks.

Over 12,000 team members have given

$745,000 through their paychecks to empower

19,000 impoverished people with access to microcredit

to change their lives.

Here’s what some of those team members had to say about why they donate. Read the rest of this entry »

I love my job at Whole Planet Foundation. Every day is an opportunity to help empower the poor through microcredit in communities around the globe where Whole Foods Market sources product. Whole Planet Foundation funds microlending projects in communities where Whole Foods Market sources coffee from communities in East Timor, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya and Nicaragua; bananas from communities in Costa Rica and Honduras; tea from India and Nepal; rice from Thailand; and produce and dairy from the New York City area. Microcredit is small loans - around $200 - provided to impoverished individuals who use the funds to start their own home-based businesses to lift themselves out of poverty, like these women. Read the rest of this entry »

Whole Planet Foundation empowers impoverished individuals in our global communities through microcredit. The inspiring stories of these microcredit clients are told by Foundation Team Members through words and photos. When Hallie Easley on the Whole Planet Foundation team came up with the idea of telling some of these stories through recipes, I was excited by the possibility of exploring different foodways while highlighting the work of the Foundation.

We’ve been working together on this project for a few months now. In 2008 Hallie and Ha Lam, national projects photographer, traveled to different countries where the Foundation has microlending projects. During their travels, they met dozens of microcredit clients in different regions and gathered stories and photos. I spoke with Hallie and Ha to find out more about some of the food they sampled during their travels. From those conversations, we decided to feature these recipes: Read the rest of this entry »

I am so proud to be one of over 9,200 Whole Foods Market team members who donate through payroll deduction to help support the work of our Whole Planet Foundation. The Foundation has various funding sources, and our team members are giving over $20,000 each payday to fund microlending in Whole Foods Market communities around the world.

Whole Foods Market Tanasbourne store is # 1 in Team Member Giving participation at 76%

That’s an amazing outpouring of care and concern and it doesn’t stop there. Since there is 97-99% repayment of the microloans, the money raised revolves, giving more and more people access to capital so that they can fund small businesses that lift them out of poverty and they pay the loan back, which gives even more people the opportunity to do the same.

Read the rest of this entry »

 Garifuna: Play Now | Download (650)
 Podcast Video: Play Now | Download (1718)

I was so excited when Whole Planet Foundation asked me to edit videos that were shot in Nicaragua and Honduras. I spent two years in Nicaragua as a Peace Corps volunteer, so as I watched the raw footage, I immediately thought of people and places that will always be near and dear to me. I could tell so many stories about people I met and places I’ve seen, but the tone of those stories would not be one of sadness or hardship. The stories, much like those of the Whole Planet Foundation borrowers, would be about people who are gregarious, generous and proud. The stories that we are sharing with you are stories that are all too common in Central America. It’s a wonder that many of these countries still exist given that they have faced so much adversity in the recent past, between civil wars and natural disasters. Maybe even more incredible is the resiliency of the people and their determination to achieve a better future through hard work and perseverance.

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My name is Ha Lam and I am the National Projects Photographer for Whole Foods Market. Over the last two years, I’ve had the opportunity — and privilege — to meet several recipients of Whole Planet Foundation micro-loans. Those trips, which spanned South and Central America, have been nothing short of amazing. Though our time was short with each borrower, I felt a connection with each woman. At times I wondered: How much can you really learn about people after being in their homes for just a few hours? The relics of our lives, the ones we live with every day, the ones we quit paying attention to years ago — those are the things that often say the most about us.

Read the rest of this entry »