Santa Barbara Independent Features Mikuna: Chocho for the People

Santa Barbara Independent Features Mikuna: How Chocho Nourishes the Body and Revitalizes the Soil

When the Santa Barbara Independent published its feature on Chocho and Mikuna, it spotlighted a story deeply connected to Santa Barbara’s values: clean nutrition, environmental stewardship, and regenerative agriculture. The article, titled “Chocho for the People: Nourishing the Body and Revitalizing the Soil” (March 8, 2024), explored Chocho’s remarkable nutritional profile, its impact on Andean farming communities, and how Mikuna is bringing this ancient food into the modern wellness world.

Below is a Mikuna-approved, SEO-optimized recap and expansion of that feature — crafted to educate readers, boost search traffic, and deepen understanding of why Chocho matters for people and planet.

🌄 A Santa Barbara Story With Andean Roots

The Independent highlighted how Chocho (Lupinus mutabilis) — a legume cultivated for thousands of years in the Andes — is now gaining recognition in North America thanks to Mikuna’s mission.

The feature shared how Mikuna’s founder, Ricky Echanique, grew up between Ecuador and Santa Barbara. With a background rooted in agriculture and athletics, Ricky rediscovered Chocho while searching for clean, nourishing protein that supported performance without digestive issues or unnecessary processing.

Seeing both the nutritional potential of the crop and the economic opportunity for smallholder farmers, Mikuna formed partnerships directly with Indigenous and rural communities in Ecuador — creating a supply chain rooted in fair pricing, soil regeneration, and cultural respect.

🌱 What Makes Chocho Special?

The Santa Barbara Independent emphasized several attributes that set Chocho apart:

A Naturally Nutrient-Dense Food

Chocho is rich in:

• Plant protein

• Dietary fiber

• Iron, calcium, magnesium

• Healthy fats

• Essential micronutrients

This makes it uniquely supportive of steady energy, digestive comfort, and balanced nutrition.

Grown Without Irrigation or Synthetic Chemicals

Chocho thrives in:

• High altitude

• Poor, rocky soils

• Low rainfall environments

This resilience means the crop requires no additional irrigation, no synthetic pesticides, and minimal intervention — making its footprint significantly lower than many plant proteins.

Nitrogen-Fixing for Soil Regeneration

As a legume, Chocho naturally fixes nitrogen back into the soil. This helps:

• Restore soil fertility

• Reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers

• Support land recovery and biodiversity

The Independent underscored how Chocho fits into regenerative agriculture, a farming philosophy gaining traction across California.

🌍 Supporting Andean Farming Communities

A major focus of the Independent’s feature was Mikuna’s commitment to working directly with smallholder farmers — paying fair prices and supporting long-term agricultural resilience.

By reviving demand for Chocho, Mikuna helps:

• Increase farmer income

• Strengthen local economies

• Preserve ancestral farming traditions

• Encourage regenerative crop rotations

This creates a positive cycle: healthy soil → healthy crops → healthy communities.

🥣 Bringing Chocho to the U.S. Wellness World

The article highlighted how Mikuna transforms Chocho into a clean, easy-to-use plant protein powder with no isolates, no concentrates, and no artificial additives. The goal is simple:

Make a whole-food, minimally processed, nutrient-dense protein accessible to everyone.

Santa Barbara Independent readers were especially drawn to:

• The clean ingredient list

• The focus on soil health

• The connection to Santa Barbara

• The cultural and ecological respect built into Mikuna’s sourcing

🔗 Internal Links to Strengthen SEO

Add these links inside the article on your site:

• → /blogs/journal/chocho-regenerative-farming-benefits

• → /blogs/journal/mikuna-cleanest-protein

• → /blogs/journal/what-does-chocho-taste-like

• → /blogs/journal/why-chocho-is-complete

• → /blogs/recipes