Category: Food and Farming

Door to Door Organics , located in Bucks County, PA, has been delivering organic produce to homes and businesses on the East Coast since 1996. The family owned and operated business delivers a variety of fruit, vegetable, or mixed fruit and vegetable boxes, depending on availability, using biodiesel to fuel their delivery vehicles. They strive to recycle everything possible and leave the smallest carbon footprint possible, even composting their "NOT plastic bags". Visit their website for more information or to order online.

The Takoma Park Farmer’s Market consists of about two dozen producers that line Laurel Avenue every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It began in 1982 as both Washington, DC’s first Sunday market and one of the first "producers-only" markets. Everything sold at the self-governing market is fresh and local – produced by the people who sell it. Products sold at the market must be produced within a 125-mile radius of Takoma Park, meaning some non-regional products like bananas must be excluded. Visit the website for more information on the market or the participating farms.

The Yabba Pot Cafe, located at 2431 St. Paul Street, is “Baltimore’s premiere Vegan hot spot”. Owned by “Mama” Chef Skai, the restaurant offers Rastafarian-influenced cuisine called “Ital”, the main concept being that food should come straight from the garden to the table – no processing and no preservatives. She even uses traditional Afrikan clay Yabba Pots for stewing. The menu and specials change daily. A community-oriented business, the Yabba Pot also features cooking classes, workshops and seminars, as well as a poetry venue Saturday evenings. Check out the menu online!

One World Cafe is Baltimore’s only organic vegetarian restaurant and all those cakes believe it or not are vegan. Located off W University Parkway you can come in and enjoy a healthy full-course meal, relax at the bar or have a smoothie on the couch while you read the paper. You can check out there menu online.

Golden West Cafe is located in Historic Hamden, offering vegetarian, vegan and organic meat options with a text-mex attitude. The cafe is spacious, lively, bright and who doesn’t like those recycled album cover menus. I always enjoy being reminded of Gary Glitter or Liberace before breakfast. The Golden West also has a long bar so even if you’re not eating you can still enjoy the ambiance.

The Rockfish is a no waste fine dining experience located in Annapolis. The restaurant takes all of it organic waste to a compost facility, runs a recycling program called "Rockfish Recycles" which began in the early spring 2007, purchases wind power carbon credits and has already off-set millions of pounds in greenhouse gases. "Our program provides neighboring businesses that were not recycling at all with recycle containers to keep on site. Every Friday, the 12 businesses who now work with us drop off their waste in our parking lot. We sort it, pack it and deliver it to the county’s recycling center free of charge. Current estimates show that we are converting 4 tons of trash bound for landfills to recycle every month. That is almost 50 tons each year and the program keeps growing."

The Riverdale Park Farmer’s Market, situated just north of Washington, DC in a historic region of Prince George’s County, is open every Thursday from March to November. As a “producers only” market, everything is locally grown or made. To expand on “everything”, the market offers organic and conventionally-grown fresh vegetables and fruits, award-winning honey, European-style baked goods, pasture-fed meat, bedding plants, artisan breads, hand-made soaps, pottery, jams and jellies, fruit syrups, fresh cut flowers, as well as talented local artisans and musicians. Its site offers subscribers a list of vendors, market dates, and special events.