Most yerba maté is grown on large plantations. The forest is logged off, never to be replanted. Weeds are controlled with herbicides. Workers are paid low wages to harvest the herb from these large estates. The subtropical sun beats down on the exposed red earth. From the fertile forests of South America, a small group of farmers produce a pure-leaf, unsmoked yerba maté of exceptional quality. This small group of organic agricultural farmers in Misiones works hard to provide that one of a kind organic yerba maté (South American tradition; yerba meaning herb + maté, the hollow gourd used as a bowl or container for brewing yerba mate).

One of the many beautiful things about yerba maté - in addition to its great taste and amazing health benefits - is that it can be grown organically in the shade of a thriving forest canopy. Food crops and fruit trees can be interplanted with the yerba maté trees. Yerba maté can form the basis of a sustainable local economy.