It started out as an organic restaurant in the heart of Mexico, San Miguel de Allende. Today, Vía Orgánica has grown into a restaurant, grocery store, farmers market and teaching farm.

Best of all, Vía Orgánica represents a viable economic model for supporting organic regenerative farmers in central Mexico.

In this interview with Marjory Wildcraft of The GROW Network, OCA International Director Ronnie Cummins explains how Vía Orgánica, a project of OCA, came into being and how it has inspired a new generation of farmers to relearn indigenous and traditional ways of farming that are suited to Mexico’s high desert region.

Today, Vía Orgánica has 70 employees, including those at the restaurant, farm and market, and purchased products from about 250 small producers.

What’s next for Vía Orgánica?

“We’re happy now that we’ve created a model, but the next step is to see this duplicated all over the country,” Cummins said. “We can do this. It takes awhile, but even in a developing country, you can create an enterprise that will last and will be successful.”

Watch ‘Vía Orgánica: Business Models that Support Regenerative Agriculture’