Arthur DeVitalis, Peak to Peak. Founder Stephen Cowan started Beyond Microgreens as an effort to learn more about farming. He says that vegetable farming has been an experiment in mass-production. According to Cowan, soils are depleted of nutrients, and plants grown today aren’t the same as those our grandparents ate.
“You’d have to eat about four times as many vegetables today to match the nutrients found in vegetables in the 1940s. Through innovation, we can reverse that,” said Cowan. “One teaspoon of our microgreens has about the equivalent benefit to a whole head of broccoli. This is pretty groundbreaking stuff.”
Today, his product is the only shelf-stable microgreens produced in the United States. “Two years ago, I was at the height of my ten-year career in enterprise software sales. I was hungry to make an impact on the world. This company really is one that is focused on helping people and the planet,” Cowan said. “We do this by creating a truly delicious and nutritious product by using organic, whole-food, plant-based ingredients and eco-friendly packaging. We started this as a microgreens farm out in Dillon, Colorado. At that time, in 2018, we were the only hydroponic farm out in the mountains.”
They were servicing the resorts and restaurants and the farmers’ markets. Cowan began experimenting with the dehydration process. Now, the microgreens are freeze-dried. Mixing microgreens into different products was the next step. He calls it “MicroTea.”
In November, 2018, he moved to Boulder, which he calls the Silicon Valley of the natural products industry, starting this new venture as Beyond Microgreens. Teas, seasonings, and other drinks are available. Other Colorado farmers also provide microgreens.
“We’re rooted in nature and backed by science in third-party lab testing. All of our products are lab-tested for vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and unique antioxidants. He talked about antioxidants as the solution to combating free radicals, aka agents of disease, dysfunction, or ill health. They’ve experimented with different types of microgreens, determining broccoli to be the most potent. “We use broccoli microgreens 100% today because of a unique antioxidant they have, called ‘Sulforaphane. That antioxidant is the most potent [one] we’re aware of.”
“It takes one-tenth the amount of resources to grow [microgreens],”he said. Aside from using less resources, the microgreens grow in about 14 days. “We have played with a variety, and will be releasing more flavors and types in the future. Today, it is 100% broccoli,” he said, moving on to popular varieties suggested by farmer friends. “If you’re looking to grow them at home, the most popular are pea shoots, radish, broccoli, kale, and sunflower. Those are the most popular microgreens that we were selling fresh.”
Everything is handmade in Boulder, and he frequents the Nederland Farmers Market.
“Our big vision is to be the all-things microgreens company,” he said. He’s proud of the sustainability of what Beyond Microgreens achieves from start to finish.
For more information, visit beyondmicrogreens.com. The company is on Amazon Prime, though Cowan recommends ordering through the site as it is less expensive. You can also check them out at the Nederland Farmer’s Market!
(Originally published in the June 3, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
