Support - Samuel Adams® Brewing The American Dream Samuel Adams is offering loans up to $25,000 and mentoring support for business owners in the food, beverage and hospitality business. Register for the August seminar via the link to learn more.
Growing Food Locally: Integrating Agriculture Into the Built Environment - EBN: 18:2 Farming, food and gardens are coming back to the cities. High energy prices, rising food prices, economic development for those living in urban cores, increasing demand for tasty locally grown food and a renewed interest in natural spaces are driving this trend. In Cleveland, several restaurants have their own gardens nearby or are planning to incorporate gardens onto their properties. Urban planners recognize that to attract and retain a younger demographic, green spaces in the built environment are essential. Check out these books to rediscover the pleasures of locally grown food.
I was reading my new uncookbook and discovered there was a black owned raw food restaurant in Harlem (Raw Soul owned by Lillian Butler). This made me curious about other black owned uncookery's across the nation. Tonight I bring to you, courtesy of Pear Magazine, Black Raw Food History. It includes activists like Dick Gregory, Oprah consultants, fine grandma's, spa owners, bodybuilders and a host of other interesting folk. Be sure to read about Karyn Calabrese, proprietor of the Karyn's in Chicago. The article is dated 2007, so I'm sure there are many great new african american owned raw food establishments in play. I will keep searching and posting my findings.
Doesn't it just annoy you to get a big ole Styrofoam box to hold your takeout? I have gotten to the point of often eating in, just to avoid the stuff or asking for my food to be wrapped in paper or foil. Apparently restaurants want to do better, but costs are an obstacle. A chef at a high end restaurant recently complained to me about the high cost of going green. His biggest complaint seemed to be around the costs of takeout supplies. I gave his wife my card and the web address to a local sustainability network for entrepreneurs, E4S. I hope they are reading this blog, because I just discovered a new business focused entirely on providing eco-friendly and budget friendly food service supplies. Foodbizsupply.com, operated by Green Choice Vendors Distribution LLC provides over 300 biodegradable and compostable products made from renewable resources. The company's goal is to provide earth friendly food products at price points that are digestible to business owners. Green Choice Vendors provides products to any merchant that provides food or drink products.
So next time you are handed one of those bulky 200 year decomposing Styrofoam boxes or jumbo foam cups that some people like to chew on (you know who you are), hand over the web address of FoodBizSupply.com to the owner/manager. Styrofoam has got to go!
In your travels this summer, try out a few green or vegetarian based restaurants. Click here for a list of hip restaurants from the west coast to the east coast that feature phenomenal plant based delights. Chicago - Green Zebra, Atlanta - Dynamic Dish, LA - M Cafe de Chaya, Boulder - Organic Orbit and New York - Dirt Candy, are just a few named in the article. I had the pleasure of dining last week at The Greenhouse Tavern, a newly opened green certified restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio that specializes in preparing meals from locally grown and produced food. I will be sure the try out another restaurant featured on the Bon Appetit list, Dragonfly Neo-V Cuisine in Columbus, Ohio later this month when I visit that city for their jazz festival. A vegan restaurant that I will have to try soon is VegiTerranean, in Akron, Ohio, not a far drive from the Football Hall of Fame and only 45 minutes from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
What's your favorite green or vegetarian restaurant? Can't find one in your area? Check out HappyCow.net for a directory of compassionate eating spots around the world.
