B Corporations: Mixing Business and Positive Social Impact

For the last few weeks I've been following the media coverage of B-corporations.  Benefit Corporations, or B-Corps, are hailed as the new darlings of the social business sector, an entity that blurs the line between nonprofits and businesses.  They tout themselves as "triple bottom line" defenders, guaranteeing in their corporate blueprint to maximize not only profit, but also social good through caring for the environment as well as employees and other shareholders.  I'm rooting hard for this movement to take off because it could create (through laws and standards) a fantastic method to direct businesses at solving the entire gamut of social problems.  

What could those solutions look like?  It could be a company serving healthy food to school kids that doesn't contain an ounce of artificial ingredients or fried anything.  Revolution Foods has already delivered 33 million of these real, dirt grown, non-processed, super lunches.  Or maybe it could be a specialty coffee company that is committed to helping its coffee growers (small-scale farmers in Peru, Bolivia, and other countries) get through the "meses flacos", thin months when the savings dry up from the previous year's harvest and food prices exceed families' budgets.  Sustainable Harvest has applied its "Relationship Coffee" model to invest in farmer training and community development, to share the fruits of the labor with its farmers.  Buy a book, and one gets donated to kids in developing countries.  Buy a new tent to camp out in the Himalayas, and a portion of that sale will go towards grassroot environmental groups.  There's hundreds of B Corporations selling thousands of products, and through these purchases a consumer could be contributing to far-flung or local causes.

Why is the concept of a B Corporation so attractive at this moment in time?  Well, here's a romantic comedy metaphor.  It's like when a guy/girl walks into the cafe at the instant that you raise your eyes, and the sun is shining behind them and the wind stirs their hair sexily around their glowing faces, and in their hand they're carrying your favorite book/cd/movie/insert hobby.  It's destiny, you think.

All jokes aside, I think that actually the key reason boils down to the economic crisis that has left the so-called 99% extremely annoyed at the 1%.  Having been vilified by the media and well, by themselves (Goldman Sachs), corporations have really taken a public relations beating.  At the perfect moment, this distaste for the traditional business model combined with the booming social business revolution (this is where I lump social entrepreneurship, social venture, impact investing, etc.).  BOOM.  That's chemistry.  The end is that these two goodlooking people start flirting at the cafe, and made a goodlooking baby together.  This is the love story behind B Corporations.

In the future, anything you buy (fuzzy Xmas socks, gummi bears, oversized piñatas) could be from a B Corporation.  7 states in the US (you go, hipster Californians!)  have adopted laws to legally recognize B Corporation status, and 7 more are working to push bills through.  They're scaling their reach to South America, and I'm predicting other regions will be quick to join the party.  

However, like the Fair Trade and Organic label, it will take time for B Corps to raise consumer awareness on what separates them from the traditional corporation.  For the time being, most companies who want to promote their positive social contributions will do so through corporate social responsibility campaigns, which require less commitment.  Once you've declared B Corp, this status requires re-certification and continuous commitment to uphold the label's standards.

In short, corporations now have a way to create positive impact, visibly market themselves as being part of the solution and not the problem, and grow as a business while maintaining their social mission.

To me, this proves that B Corps can be a game changer.  Your thoughts?

Guide to Chinese food #1： Dimsum
Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, food was always one scoop from the buffet table away.  Naturally, my taste buds are now addicts of soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce, you name it, if it's Chinese, I would be happy eating it.

Over the years, my friends have asked me some hilarious questions about Chinese diet and Chinese food.  The most common is always, "Do Chinese people eat dog?  Se comen perros en China, no?"  And I explain that dog is not a common meat in China, and it's only served as a dish in certain places.  This is usually followed by a puzzled look and then nodding, "so yes, they do eat dog there".  Well... si.

In Colombia a student told me he had read in a well-known book on Chinese culture that Chinese people "comen todo que vienen con cuatro patas, menos las mesas" = "eat everything that has four legs, except for tables".   As a general rule, it's true that we eat a huge variety of things.  Turtles and snakes?  Sure.  Bugs on sticks?  Yep.  Shark fin soup?  Delicious.  Yet it's important to realize that these dishes are considered "exotic" for us as well, and the average Chinese person probably sticks more to pork and chicken, animals that are easier to raise than sharks.

Food varies a lot in different regions within China, and dimsum is a Cantonese tradition.  It's popular in Guangdong province (previously called Canton) and Hong Kong, but most Chinatowns around the world will probably have a dimsum house.

Dimsum is similar to brunch, Chinese style, and usually people go in a big group and drink tea while they munch on little plates.  Last Sunday Jack and I went to Chinatown (Barrio Chino) with a couple of friends, located on Calle Capon here in Lima.  They had never tried dimsum before, so we ordered an entire round table full of bocaditos.  

Here are some of my top picks:

 

虾肠粉 xia chang fen = shrimp rice rolls (my favorite, shrimp with soft rice roll)

烧卖 shao mai = pork dumpings (steamed with pork meat inside)

叉烧包 cha shao bao = pork buns (soft dough with roasted pork meat inside)

凤爪 feng zhua = chicken feet (sounds weird, but very flavorful)

小笼包 xiao long bao = pork dumplings (steamed, and juicy)

皮蛋瘦肉粥 pi dan shou rou zhou = congee with preserved egg and pork (salty Chinese porridge)

And for dessert...

金银馒头 jin yin man tou = steamed buns with condensed milk (ask for extra condensed milk)

蛋挞 dan ta = egg pastries (flaky on the outside, sweet and custard-like inside)

豆腐花 dou fu hua = sweet tofu dessert (very soft tofu lathered in sweet syrup)

Eating has to be one of my favorite pastimes, so hopefully these tempt my dear friends into dining with me!

Fuimos, un grupo de 10, para las cataratas de Palacala. 

 La caminata era una de las más difíciles que yo he hecho. En Colombia normalmente fuimos a caminatas cortas, en el día, y solo para caminar hasta unos destinos lindos. Pero esta vez fue duro! Subimos por 4 horas hacia la cima de las montañas, encontramos con perros bravos y barro, y cada persona cargada de su maletas con carpa y saco de dormir. Estos pesaban un montón y no podíamos descansar mucho porque queríamos llegar lo más pronto posible. 

Pero estuvo chévere porque nunca he visto la silueta de una montaña, era como un momento cuando el mundo estaba durmiendo, y nosotros tratamos de no despertarla.

Teníamos nuestras linternas, pero solo penetraban unos metros de frente de nosotros, y eso me recordaba (como muchas veces antes), que los seres humanos dependen mucho en sus tecnologías.  

Nunca tengo palabras para describir la naturaleza.  

La belleza me capta, pero no solo es una experiencia estética.  Cada encuentro con la naturaleza es un momento cuando me siento que el mundo está en equilibrio.  El tiempo se detiene y con tranquilidad observo los animales, las plantas, y las montañas.  Me emociono imaginando la vida que lleva dentro de todos los elementos.  Respiro profundamente y es una sensación de completa tranquilidad.

Claro que también fue un encuentro con buena gente.