Teach an island to farm, and it’ll sustain its people. We learned this first hand when we visited Nantucket, a small island off the coast of Massachusetts, and got up close and personal with this inspiring group that aims to make the island totally sustainable.

Sustainable Nantucket is a forward-thinking non-profit organization that cultivates a healthy community—quite literally—for island residents. Their goal is to create an engaged local community because they know that leads directly to a healthy island economy. If you teach people how to grow food close to home, you create an island that isn’t as dependent on the mainland. That’s an island that can support itself by using its own farms, markets, and economy to motivate its own farms, markets and economy; creating a beautiful cycle of sustainability.

Last October, we visited the island to learn more about all the incredible work Sustainable Nantucket is doing for its residents. We found ourselves shin-deep in broccoli patches, in awe of tilling tractors, aboard fishing boats for the catch of the day, and attending a “Farm to Fork” cooking class. We met farmers, scallop experts, berry growers, and the team behind Sustainable Nantucket.

From hosting weekly farmers & artisans markets, where local craftsmen and farmers can sell their goods - to helping aspiring farmers grow on their first plot of land, Sustainable Nantucket’s programs encourage a for-locals, by-locals approach.

There’s nothing quite like knowing exactly what food you’re eating and exactly where it comes from. (Obviously real ingredients from real farms especially resonated with the Spindrift team—all our fruit comes from family farms.) It’s like hometown pride every time you sit down to dinner.

And sure, sustainability and access to local fruits and vegetables is great, but you really can’t beat the taste and freshness of having locally grown produce.

If farm-to-table is how restaurants prove their commitment to fresh and local products, island-to-farm-to-table is exactly what Sustainable Nantucket is doing. We’re proud to support their efforts through 1% for the Planet.

Watch our video profile below learn more about all of the incredible work they’re doing (and meet some of their farmer friends).