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The Honeybee in Springtime
Our favorite new find for healthy eating is The Honeybee Organic Juice Bar—a wonderful organic (and mostly local ingredients, as available) juice bar inside the Ute City Building. The Honeybee is run by local Kate Linehan. She specializes in fresh organic juice blends (squeezed via a hydraulic press, which retains more nutrients), raw almond milk smoothies, warm elixirs, soups, raw snacks and more. Try the nut milkshake made with homemade (yes, homemade!) nut milk, frozen banana, raw cacao and honey, or one of her raw treats like the coco ball: a chilled ball of coconut, date, chia seeds, honey and cinnamon. Coming soon, The Honeybee will offer juice cleanse programs designed for those ready to detoxify this spring!
970.765.6889; www.honeybeejuicebar.com.
Being Colorado Proud
You probably recognize the Colorado Proud logo from your local grocery store or on TV. But do you know what Colorado Proud is all about? Wendy Lee White, a marketing specialist for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, organizes this program which encourages consumers to buy locally raised, grown or processed foods. (They do not identify organic versus not organic foods.) For Colorado Proud’s more than 1,400 members (membership is free), it is a great way to gain exposure for their produce or product. For Colorado, it’s a way to support farmers and ranchers throughout the state and spur small business growth. If you are interested in searching for a specific Colorado Proud product, farmers’ market, agritourism locations, restaurants or more, visit Colorado Market-Maker at www.comarketmaker.com. For more information on Colorado Proud, or to become a member, visit www.coloradoproud.org.
Some interesting facts on the local agriculture industry from Colorado Proud:
- Colorado agriculture is essential in the state, contributing nearly $20 billion annually to the state’s economy—ranking in the country’s top 10 for production of nearly 30 agricultural products.
- Colorado has more than 36,000 farms and ranches encompassing 32 million acres—nearly half the state’s total land.
- There are more than 105,000 jobs in Colorado related to agribusiness.
- Colorado produced 26 million pounds of peaches and 16 million pounds of apples in 2009.
- The high altitude at which Colorado apples are grown makes them taste better, consistently winning taste tests in supermarkets and at trade shows.
- Since 1980, Colorado’s wine industry has grown from one to nearly 100 licensed wineries. In 2008, statewide production of Colorado wines increased to 995,989 liters. This amount translates into 110,665 cases of wine, or an estimated $17 million in retail sales.
- Colorado’s grape-growing regions range in elevation from 4,000 to 7,000 feet and are among the highest vineyards in the world.
- There are 28,000 bee colonies in Colorado producing nearly 1.5 million pounds of honey every year.
Locavores, Are You Ready for Summer?
Sign up NO W for your summer CSA :
Visit www.edibleaspen.com and view a list of local communitysupported agriculture organizations ready to supply you with fresh fruits, veggies and more this spring, summer and fall!
Reserve a plot at one of our great community gardens:
LOCAL HEROES
Each fall, edibleASPEN asks its readers to vote for those who are making a difference in the local food community. Please join us in celebrating these winners for their outstanding contributions to the local foods movement in our area.
Mark Fischer, Restaurant Six89, Carbondale (chef/restaurant)
www.six89.com
A pioneer in local food use and preparation, Mark Fischer continues to excel at “random acts of cooking” at his first Valley eatery, the classic Six89. Since opening more than a decade ago he has added to his cache of restaurants including Phat Thai, also in Carbondale, and more recently, The Pullman in Glenwood Springs.
Clara Coleman, Divide Creek Farm, Silt (farmer/farm)
www.dividecreekfarm.com
Sure, she’s the daughter of organic farm pioneer Eliot Coleman, but Clara Coleman and partner Robbie George are carving their own path of success at Divide Creek Farm. This small organic farm and livestock operation focuses on four-season production and their credo of “real farming, real food.”
Wendy Mitchell, Avalanche Cheese Company, Basalt (food artisan)
www.avalanchecheese.com
You’ll see Wendy’s handmade goat cheese on all the great menus in the Roaring Fork Valley, and for good reason. Wendy is one of the most gifted artisan cheesemakers in the country, and her milk is derived from goats fed on organic grain and hay on a rolling, pesticide-free pasture in Paonia.
Sustainable Settings (nonprofit)
www.sustainablesettings.org
Located in Carbondale, Sustainable Settings is a mecca of sorts for local food movement ideologists. Led by Brook and Rose LeVan they “research, design and demonstrate whole-systems strategies in sustainable agriculture, green development, micro-enterprise, land stewardship and art for daily life.” It’s a great place to buy local eggs, honey, wine and meat, too!
Mike King, Revolution Brewing, Paonia (beverage artisan)
www.revolution-brewing.com
No matter the season, most days if you pass Revolution Brewing on your way into Paonia there are crowds of people on the porch of this former house of worship—drinking beer. And those people look really, really happy. Need we say more?
Party Down to Earth
Making your next event eco-friendly
By Chelsea VanVleet and Virginia Frischkorn
When we set out to create Bluebird Productions, our biggest goal was to be a sustainable and eco-friendly company. From our day-to-day operations to each aspect of our largest events, we make every effort to practice environmentally friendly methods in our business. Knowing that the average wedding emits 63 tons of CO2, more than a single person emits in a full year, we do our best to tread lightly on the beautiful place we call home. So we focus on producing the “greenest” events possible. Even the most over-the-top events can be designed using sustainable products. Here are a few tips:
1. Purchase compostable materials that will break down quickly. (Aspen is in the process of developing a town-wide compost.) Try corn cups, compostable cutlery or bamboo elegant silverware for the ideal green look. Sold at Vitamin Cottage in Glenwood Springs, try stylish plates that can be reused or composted, made from fallen leaves by VerTerra. www.verterra.com.
2. Look for local and organic food and flowers that do not have to travel far to arrive at your event. Attend the farmers’ market a few months before the event and talk with different farmers to find out if they can supply enough food or flowers for your event. One of our favorite organic flower vendors is Field Florals from Paonia. www.fieldflorals.com.
3. Skip the bubbles and other little goodies packaged in mini plastic bottles. They may be cute, but if every bride buys 200 of them, and they all get thrown away, how long do we think all those little plastic bottles take to break down? Instead of buying party favors, use your money to make a donation for each guest towards saplings that will be planted in devastated areas. The ultimate in green, they not only don’t increase waste, they replenish the planet. Try a new local Aspen business called Plant Trees 4 Life. www.planttrees4life.com.
4. When hosting an event, especially a destination event, consider investing in carbon offset packages for each guest instead of a gift bag. One example of a great local program in Aspen is the Canary Initiative, where you may purchase Canary Tags that offset your carbon footprint. Visit their site to calculate your carbon footprint as well! www.aspenpitkin.com/Living-in-the-Valley/Green-Initiatives/ Canary-Initiative.com.
5. Glass beer bottles and aluminum cans take a lifetime to break down, so consider serving beer from a reusable keg at your next event. Try to purchase beer from a local brewery that has not trucked the keg across the country to quench your guests’ thirst. For Aspen/Snowmass events, try the Aspen Brewing Company’s kegs. www.aspenbrewingcompany.com.
6. Choose a green suite: At Aspen’s The Little Nell hotel, guests can sleep in the Paepcke suite, now also known as The Little Nell Green Suite, and feel confident that they are sleeping in an energy-efficient room. A 5,000-watt solar panel system provides electricity for the 2,500-square-foot Paepcke Suite. www.thelittlenell.com.
7. Choose 100 percent environmentally friendly transportation that will make your guests smile, such as one of Aspen’s pedicab companies. Pedicabs are human-powered bicycle rickshaws. Local companies we love are Local Spokes, www.localspokes.com/Aspen and Jay’s Valet, www.jaysvalet.net.
GO FIND IT !
Bluebird Productions, www.bluebirdaspen.com
VerTerra, www.verterra.com
Field Florals, www.fieldflorals.com
Plant Trees 4 Life, www.planttrees4life.com
City of Aspen Canary Initiative, www.aspenpitkin.com
Aspen Brewing Company, www.aspenbrewingcompany.com
The Little Nell, www.thelittlenell.com
Local Spokes, www.localspokes.com
Jay’s Valet, www.jaysvalet.net
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