by Danielle Bussone

Organic Garden Café

VEGGIN’ OUT AND ABOUT  DEDICATES A PAGE TO ORGANIC EATERIES!

In 2014, Veggin’ Out and About! has decided to dedicate a page called “Organic Standouts” for restaurants that go the extra mile in offering organic, non-GMO, pesticide free foods for the health of our population and planet. Too often, even restaurants that offer 100% vegan meals continue to prepare their foods with genetically modified corn or canola oil. They sweeten with high-fructose sugars derived from genetically modified corn, genetically modified sugar beets or cane sugar processed with cow bone char. Ninety percent of the soy produced in the US is genetically modified. Many restaurants which serve vegan meals, particularly Asian, are still using genetically modified corn starch and soy products.

Lately, the speak I’m getting from many restauranteurs is “Our produce isn’t organic, but it is sourced from local farmers.” So, are they are saying  it is it’s OK to eat produce which has been modified to include genes from a foreign species (such as salmon genes in tomatoes), drenched in pesticides and treated with toxic herbicides as long as it comes from local farmers? I hardly think soiling one’s own back yard fixes the problem.

VOAA continues to review restaurants which are not organic, otherwise, we’d have little to write about. Organic restaurants are few and far between and the sad truth is they don’t tend to last very long. I recently visited a wonderful organic vegan restaurant in Charleston, SC. The food was absolutely delicious, creative and reasonably priced. When I returned a week later they had closed their doors.

The owner explained to me that a neighboring restaurant could sell a bowl of beans for $8 using “conventional” products (meaning it could contain GMOs, pesticides, herbicides and all manner of contaminants detrimental to the health of the consumer). They reaped a profit of $6 from this bowl of beans. The organic restaurant in question had to sell the same bowl of beans for $9 and their profit for the dish was only $2.  This means the organic restaurant has to bring in three times the number of customers to reap the same rewards as the restaurant selling unhealthy, “conventional” food.

The disparity is due to the fact that the cost of buying organic ingredients is many times higher than the cost of so-called conventional products. While it may seem too costly to patronize organic eateries, considering the cost to our collective health by consuming unsafe foods and the cost to our environment by continuing to support the use of chemical farming, a few bucks more for a meal may be cheap in comparison. That the food just tastes better is an additional bonus.

While it is virtually impossible to guarantee 100% organic compliance at all times, restaurants who make it to our Organic Eateries page must be very close. VOAA does our  best to ferret out the details of the ingredients each restaurant serves. These socially responsible eateries stand out in the obvious quality of the food they offer and in the pride in which they offer it. The overarching attitude of these establishments is one of stewardship; stewardship of the earth and of the people who inhabit it. We feel these restaurants should be recognized and supported.

When making decisions as to where you will dine, please join Veggin’ Out and About! in supporting establishments with sustainable organic practices. The few dollars more you will spend is worth the investment in your health, the health of your loved ones and the environmental impact upon our planet.

Your patronage can mean the difference in whether these establishments are able to continue to exist at all.

Co-founder and editor of Veggin’ Out and About!, Danielle writes restaurant reviews, profiles and interviews of people making a difference in the plant-based community. She is currently writing a cookbook for vegans called, “Time For Change: Whole Foods For Whole Health.” Danielle’s region is SW Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and anywhere she happens to stop for sustenance along the road. Contact Danielle  directly to share your restaurant finds, to make comments or just to say hello.