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Making a Difference: An Evening with Dr. Jane Goodall

In her speech, Making a Difference, Dr. Jane Goodall, will bring her audience into the world of the Gombe chimpanzees, from her early observations and experiences to the latest news and stories from the field.

Dr. Goodall will also provide insight into the person behind the globe-trotting international icon: founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, a UN Messenger of Peace, Dame of the British Empire and the subject of countless articles and television programs around the world. She will also discuss the current threats facing the planet and her reasons for hope in these complex times, encouraging everyone to do their part to make a positive difference each and every day.  More info: http://www.meetup.com/Green-Drinks/

Click Here for Green Drinks Meetup

Author, political-economist, historian Gar Alperovitz–one of the designers of the Cleveland Model of worker-owned cooperatives that is receiving a lot of media attention from Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Nation, to name just a few. The Cleveland Model of cooperatives is based on the extremely successful model in Mondragon, Spain where dozens of  businesses are owned by over 100.000 workers. In Cleveland, the model already encompasses three major businesses: an industrial-size ‘green’ laundry cleaning operation, a solar energy company and the largest urban green house in the United States. More info: http://www.meetup.com/Green-Drinks/

And as always, learn how you can get inovlved in the Local First movement in our community, Ourland, and develop local authentic community and culture.

When: January 19th at 7pm  FREE event.

You can find out more details here: http://www.meetup.com/Green-Drinks/events/46814932/

After an evening weaving together music, food and economics with Charles, spend the day with movers and shakers in our local food system at the SUSTAINABLE FOOD CONFERENCE.

Slow Food Orlando, Winter Park Harvest Festival, Edible Orlando Magazine, and the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce are bringing TEDx Manhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” to our community via live webcast.

This one-day event will take place on January 21, 2012 and will highlight several aspects of the sustainable food movement and the work being done to shift our food system from industrially-based agriculture to one in which healthy, nutritious food is accessible to all. Speakers with various backgrounds in food and farming will share their insights and expertise.

Please visit http://www.tedxmanhattan.org/ speakers/ for more information and speaker bios.

As an added bonus, we’re giving our TEDx “viewing party” a local twist. There will be a handful of speakers presenting some key resources that are available to Central Floridians who are looking to learn to eat more consciously.

Pack lunch, snacks and drinks or purchase edibles from nearby restaurants and vendors.

TEDx Manhattan Webcast and Viewing Party
TEDx: Changing the Way We Eat
January 21, 2012
9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Winter Park Welcome Center
151 West Lyman Ave, Winter Park, FL, 32789

Pre-register online for TEDx today!

When: Saturday, January 28, 2012  from 1:30pm until 2:30pm

Fee: $10 per family

RSVP to Tia Meer to tiameer@gmail.com or call 321-217-8492. Add to your facebook calendar here.

Happy Holidays

We hope you are enjoying this delightful holiday weather as you make your final preparation for the holidays!

Just a quick reminder that we will be CLOSED on Christmas and CLOSING EARLY at 4pm on Christmas Eve.

Even though the cafe is closed, there will still be a moon circle on Christmas Eve in the garden if you would like to join in.

Our favorite picks for last-minute holiday idea:

• Gift certificates and Gift Baskets from Dandelion are still available at the cafe
• The Ourlando 2012 Event Calendar is also available in the cafe and features the urban sketches of Thomas Thorspecken of Analog Artist Digital World. A collectors item for the local lover in your life. One is on display in the front room of the cafe for you to check out!
• Membership to Homegrown Co-op for the new year!

And here are some cool things we’ve found to make the holidays just an itty bit more enjoyable…

• Local Listen. Hey, It’s Christmas – Put this awesome album of local orlando musicians in your iPod rotation. Totally Free Download. This is volume two featuring a majority of Florida musicians. Volume one is just as awesome, see link at bottom of page.
• Gather. Around the tree – local, u-pick Christmas trees complete with hayride, petting zoo, zip lines, kettle corn at this family farm just 35 minutes north of downtown for your last minute tree needs. Trim off the branches when you are done and cut the trunk into block sized pieces – instant present for the cool kid in your life!
• Mystical Santa. We love holiday myths and legends of all kinds and we recently discovered the Mushroom-Santa Link. Should make for delightful conversation around the yule log!
• Simplify.Too often, the holidays seem to exhaust rather than uplift us. Take the 2011 Simplify the Holidays Challenge and get a free e-book full of ideas!

With love from the entire Dandelion Tribe!

Have a Fairy Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we stand in gratitude for our all those who bring the delicious food we serve to the table. From the long line of seed savers, our rich soil, the buzzing bees, the hardworking farmers, pickers, packers and drivers to the hands of our Dandelion Tribe who transform the grains and vegetables and fruits into something delicious for you to enjoy. And, of course, to you, our patrons and friends, who make eating organic and supporting local & independent a priority.

In honor of gathering around the table with friends and family, we will be closed on Thanksgiving and closing early today at 5pm. We will reopen on Friday for normal business hours.

We wish you an abundant, safe and joyous Thanksgiving!

Click for larger view of menu

We are happy to announce a delicious dinner menu available after 6pm during Eat Local Week. Dandelion is also hosting a film about the young farming movement. Click here for trailer & information.

Local Seasonal Vegetable Medley Soup featuring Jonathan’s Farms local produce including: Squash, Zucchini, and Green Beans.
Stuffed Portobella Caps featuring Zellwood Farms Portobella Mushroom Caps stuffed and served on a bed of organic spring greens drizzled with red wine demi-glace.
served with Quinoa Pilaf featuring Organic Tempeh from Gainesville’s Tempeh Shop

Local Beverage Options
Autumn Tea Blended by Local Herbalist Dawn Gates featuring 100% organic and feature biodynamically harvested Spanish Needles from Dawn’s Enchanted Garden and
Orlando Brewing Organic Beers

Click Image to go to Facebook Event

Sparkle is back! For More Information, click here.

Green Drinks

This month’s Green Drinks will be especially informative for those of you interested in creating a local food business or those who would like to meet other business representatives in the local food industry. Based on a recent suggestion, we will be discussing the new Cottage Industry law, as well as shared commercial kitchens, and the process it takes to get products into farmers markets and restaurants.

Green Drinks is held the third Thursday of every month starting at 7pm.

In order for us to fully understand the new Cottage Industry Law, which allows some small-scale food production for farmers markets to take place at the home, LuAnn Duncan will be joining us.  She is the Orange County Nutrition Agent and her focus is on nutrition, health, and food safety. http://orange.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty.html#LuAnn_Duncan

While the new Cottage Industry Law is a huge break-through, shared kitchens can bring almost any small food business to reality.  Talking with us this month we will also have Joshua Weinberg from the Kissimmee Kitchen Share, where their mission is “to provide culinary entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to build their dream business and succeed in today’s marketplace.” http://www.kissimmeekitchenshare.com/

Once the food is made, the next step is getting it to market.Gabriela Othon Lothrop the director of the Audubon Park Community Market will be sharing the ins and outs of getting into local farmer/community markets.   The Audubon Park Community Market is truly local market, supporting local artisans, farmers, ranchers, chefs, musicians, and so many more.  These authentic markets are springing up all over town, so come find out what it takes to get a space. http://audubonparkmarket.com/

The Green Drinks session is hosted by Emily Rankin, Founder of Audubon Park Community Market, Co-Founder of Ourlando and Proprietor of Local Roots Farm to Restaurant Distribution.

One more reason to hurry in and get your very own Communitea Tumbler!!! Let’s celebrate with a FREE Tea of the Day every Tuesday in August when you bring in your cup!

Art On Display in June

Savannah artist Brian MacGregor will be showing his work in the cafe for the month of June. MacGregor’s concept behind his art focuses on a visual metaphor of the Collective Unconscious, dreams, and his international travels. He attempts to depict this realm by including hundreds of real people’s hand written dreams collected over many years from all ages and written in multiple languages. He then glues and paints over the dreams into his mixed media paintings. They are applied in a chaotic scientific fashion to mimic the building blocks of the human collective psyche. The imagery for these works ranging from landscapes, color fields, to figurative.

The opening reception will be Wednesday, June 1st from 7-10PM and will feature live music by Matthew Mendel. Be sure to stop by, meet this fascinating artist and enjoy some tea, beer, wine and organic eats.

Click for more info on the big hug event!

We were just casting our ballot for theOW Best of Orlando and realized that Orlando is SO coming into it’s own…. there are SO many quality options to choose from this year that it is hard to decide. Of course, we hope you will consider us for the Best Vegetarianand Best Teahouse categories again this year.

When we first started the cafe, we were avid promoters of some cool stuff going on in town because there were not that many outlets to discover what was happening when. Today’ there are lots of resources to choose from and we leave it up to those folks to keep you informed about what is going down in O-town. Here is our favorite list of go to resources for the latest and greatest in this town of ours (besides the Weekly, of course). If we’ve missed something, please let us know!

• Publications: Edible Orlando * Velocity Magazine * Playground Magazine
• Blogs: The Daily City * Central Florida Green Guide * Thor’s Sketch Blog *
• Radio/Podcasts: Front Porch Radio * Out and About
• Guides: Ourlando Local Business Guide * Slow Food Orlando * Simple Living Institute’s Sustainable Food Guide

Speaking of things going down, we do have just one itty bitty thing to whisper in your ear. It’s actually big. REALLY big. So big, it’s got three big’s in the title. And it’s going to be bigger than big if you participate and invite your friends. It’s a Big Big Big Hug happening Saturday, May 28th at 6pm on the lawn at the Fringe Festival. That’s right, a gathering of folks who just get together to give each other hugs. Big Bear Hugs. One Armed Patting Hugs. Quick Squeezes. Maybe even a few high fives for those needing their space. RSVP on Facebook or stay tuned to the blog for more info as it becomes available. Collaborators and co-conspirators are encouraged to get involved.

Ron Whitehead is one of the most famous poets in the world. He is the author of twenty-one books including Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon and Western Kentucky: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered and thirty-one CD titles including the iconic “Tapping My Own Phone” and “I Will Not Bow Down.”

Crowned “a classic” by the New York Times, Frank Messina is the author of Disorderly Conduct, andFull Count: The Book of Mets Poetry which sold over 60,000 copies since 2009. He’s performed his signature spoken word and music shows in over a dozen countries and all across America.

Tyrone Cotton is steeped in the blues, mixing folk, gospel, jazz, and pop to make American music which has been compared to Tom Waits, Dylan, Ray LaMontagne, and Johnny Cash. He has shared the stage with the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama, Johnny Winter, Jolie Holland, and Grammy nominated artist James Hunter.

The three artists hit the road together in 2006 for their Wanderer Tour to packed venues and rave reviews. The Southern Discomfort Tour in sunny Florida will be joined by special guest poets and musicians including former Wall Street maverick and poet Anthony Broy with dates in Orlando, Gainesville and Cape Coral. They will all pack the WPRK basement for a very special edition of Front Porch Radio on Wednesday, May 4th.

Earth Day 2008 photo by Lance Turner

We wouldn’t miss one of the biggest events of the year in honor of Mama Earth!!!! Central Florida Earth Day started five years back at Dandelion & this party soon outgrew our little block! Instead of the event coming to us, we head over to Lake Eola and set up a tent with our world famous Chili & Nachos plus ice cold organic tea for you to enjoy all day long!

We’ll be over in the area where the farmers market is usually held, so when you get hot and hungry come see us and we’ll take care of you! The cafe is open regular hours, so bring your friends for a pre-Earth Day snack or swing by afterwards for a post-park local organic beer from Orlando Brewing.

The celebration is this Saturday, April 23, 2010 from 10am to 6pm at Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando!

FREE BEER for Earth Day Vendors & Volunteers!!! A Earth Day Tradition, head over to Dandelion after the event and all hardworking Earth Day vendors and volunteers can get a free draft beer with any purchase.

WHAT’S “ORGANIC” ABOUT ORGANIC? is an entertaining and educational documentary feature that dives into the challenges that arise when a grassroots agricultural movement evolves into a booming international market. Through the stories of farmers who steward land from upstate New York to Central Florida, the film offers audiences a deeper understanding of the difficulties involved in creating a more sustainable food system and creating a healthier environment. As we experience the devotion and passion that the farmers demonstrate in their adherence to the ecological and social principles of the organic movement, our questions begin to be answered. The audience is compelled to understand the marketplace challenges these farmers face and gain respect for their efforts to produce food that is not only healthier for the public, but is also a positive solution for our environmental crises. This movement is taking place in our own back yard—Co-Producer Marty Mesh, Executive Director of Florida Organic Growers and Consumers (FOG), head-quartered in Gainesville, is featured in the film for his involvement in the Florida Organic movement. Director and Co-Producer Shelley Rogers will be in attendance to answer your questions and discuss issues raised by this important film.

• Music: DJ by day, Live Music with the Token Gamblers & Oak Hill Drifters in the evening, followed by an after party for the lively at F! The Man Fest next door at the Cameo Theater. (Free PBR with a Dandelion receipt!
• Get Stoned, Gem-Stoned: After party for the mellow amongst us at Shine On Yoga! Join Kate Ad Sach Kaur, Sacred Alchemist & Sherry Sat Prem Kaur Sacred Sound Healer for Gemstone Alchemy Bowl Meditation & Soul Dance.
• Planetary premier of Tea for Change - a limited edition blend with proceeds supporting those in the blessed unrest movement. This inaugural blend will be launched today, benefiting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers who will be on site with the Modern Day Slavery Museum. The tea is called Lemon Tree, an organic, biodynamic blend of Pine Needles, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Balm & Nettles and was formulated by Master Herbalist Dawn Gates, RN.

Many more updates to be found here. One last note: please don’t park in the Colonial Photo & Hobby Lot.

Art by Marabou * On Sale at Dandelion in March

Life is a journey, and being the ringleader of Dandelion has definitely been that. Chris & I started the cafe with big plans and dreams, not just for us, but for our entire community. So we’re dreamers, but we’re not the only ones – many of you have conspired, inspired and moved into action, and so many initiatives (Slow Food, OurLando, The Daily City, ELLA Music Festival, Audubon Park Community Market…to name a few) have taken hold to make our community more connected, fun, enlightened and informed. Orlando is the kind of place you are proud to call home. The kind of place you want to put down roots and make better for the next generation.

We started with an idea to bring people together around the table because we knew it was vital to fix our broken food system, like this guy explains so well. There’s a lot of momentum locally and nationally to start that process, thanks to good people like you who support philosophies like Sole Food and Slow Money. Even though our hopes and dreams have brought us to this place, it’s time to wake up.

The Spring Equinox marks our 4th birthday (you’re invited, of course) and we’ve committed the next four years to digging deeper into the reach America’s appetite for fuel (the kind we eat & drink + coal & crude oil) has on people & planet. Many people think the film Avatar is a fantasy, but billions of people in communities around our globe continue to be exploited, displaced and destroyed while their land is razed, their dignity & ability to sustain themselves stripped and entire cultures with rich histories and unique knowledge perish.

It’s happening right here in the United States to the people of West Virginia and Florida farmworkers. It’s happening to the people of the Amazon. We’re watching in horror to the last gasps of it in Haiti right now. As we take in environmental refugees from this long exploited people and land, I hope it serves as an urgent reminder that vibrant local economies and preservation of natural resources, including a strong regional food network are paramount to the security and, thus, sustainability, of life. If this earthquake were to have occurred in a Haiti that had not been deforested to the point of desertification, this would have been a disaster, but not one complicated by massive mudslides or non-existent access to food.

I don’t want to bum you out, and promise to continue to educate you by lifting the veils of illusion one by one in unique, artistic ways. Our featured artist in March shares his deep understanding of these issues so beautifully, you won’t even realize you are being schooled. We’ll continue to strengthen our own community and connection to food with lots of live music, poetry and opportunities to meetup while planting seeds for our garden & yours.

Thanks for being on this journey with us. It’s been up and down for everyone the last four years, and the next four are probably going to be about the same, but we’ve now had some practice at how we respond and how to prioritize when the going gets tough. We enter the next four years a bit wiser, with resilience and more appreciation for taking delight in simple pleasures because we are more empowered with each passing day to be the change we wish to see. After all, it’s become quiet obvious that WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Tune into Front Porch Radio Wed, Feb 17th at Noon to listen in on a discussion about Pachamama.

You Have To Love A Place

Also coming up during our 4th B-Day Bash on the Spring Equinox (March 20th, more on that soon) we will be visited by the Modern Day Slavery Mobile Museum. It’s all connected, just like you and me.

Julie Norris, co-proprietor of Dandelion Communitea Cafe near downtown Orlando, said that the local farmers were not only chosen for their proximity. Their independence from the mass markets allows them the freedom to emphasize quality. “It’s so important to know your grower,” Norris said. She said with the overuse of pesticides, environmental impact of big agriculture and the poor treatment of farmworkers, the best way to know that the food is good, clean and fair is to build a relationship.

“I’m all about organic food,” Norris said, “but when it comes to a small grower, they can’t get that certification because it’s expensive. But if I know the person and I know what their growing philosophy is, I call that relationship organic. The reason we have a USDA label is because we’ve lost our connection to who’s growing our food.”

Read the entire article here: Central Florida Future – Restaurants showcase ‘slow food’.

The next couple of weeks are going to be delicious, educational and entertaining, we promise. Here are some highlights:

For more on the local food movement, watch the above video (taped in 2007) and check out our answer to Why Local?

Eat Local Week by Slow Food Orlando is January 25-31st

As you know, Dandelion is dedicated to helping grow the local food movement. We’ll be participating in this special effort to source within 200 miles of Orlando with a Southern inspired plate of Collard Wraps from My Yard Farm edible installations, Rock Bottom Farms Mushroom Pilaf, Deviled Eggs from happy chickens over at Lake Meadow and more. Be sure to tune into Front Porch Radio on Wed, Jan 20th for a discussion with Chef Josh Oakley of the Enzian about the state of Slow Food in Orlando.

…but be sure you know your grower!

Florida is filled with big corporate ag. When we talk about eating local, we don’t just mean proximity, we mean supporting independent growers who take social & environmental responsibility into account. You are invited to join the National Farmer Workers Ministry on Thursday, January 28th at 7pm to discuss the plight of modern day farm worker’s and how you can help stand up for what is right. Listen to this podcast about modern day slavery, child labor and the human rights crisis taking place in the fields of Florida.

Thomas Thorspecken

Thor sketched his own Art Opening at Dandelion – check out the photos below & then read Thor’s take about the evening and see the sketch here. This is the public’s first opportunity to buy what are the most famous Orlando sketches to date. Also view him in Winter Park Magazine sketching a Front Porch Radio show (he’s interviewed towards the end of that show).

They’ll serenade us while you check out this month’s awesome art show, with community documentarian Thomas Thorspecken’s scenes from local happenings & hotspots sketched in pen & ink and watercolor This show will be an Analog Artist/Digital World Retrospective; it has been a year since Thor, as we lovingly call him, started his blog. This will be the first time all of his sketches will appear together, in public.

Amelia Coffaro’s photography and Rebecca Downin’s portraits of music legends on vinyl records are also worth a serious eyeballing.

Tuesday, December 15th // 6:30 to 8:30pm
Includes entree and bottomless Mommy-To-Be tea.

Co-Proprietor Julie Norris shares her insights into Blissful Birthing & Radiant Pregnancy with open discussion amongst participants who want to share their own knowledge and experience with each other. Suitable for women who want to explore these topics whether currently pregnant, exploring the idea for a later time or have experience you’d like to share with other women. More on Julie’s experience can be found at: http://gaiamama.wordpress.com

Limited space available. Reserve your seat at the table today.

$35 + Tax

Tuesday, November 17th // 6:30 to 8:30pm

Includes dinner & wine or beer. Julie answers your questions about sustainable, organic, local and ethical eating while exploring the concepts of Flexitarianism with open discussion amongst participants who want to share their own knowledge with each other.

Limited space available. Reserve your seat at the table today.

$35 + Tax

Featuring the the documentary “Food Fight”
by Chris Taylor and food by Chef Josh Oakley.

Tickets: $18, includes hors d’oeuvre, beer, coffee and tea.

Durng last year’s Florida Film Festival, I watched the film Food Fight with a couple of other sassy ladies in the local food movement & we immediately began planning this “Farm To Table” event, knowing the time was right to introduce farmers, restauranteurs, chefs, and people who care about food to one another through Ourlando’s Local Food Alliance. We’ve got a young and ambitious local food movement in Central Florida, and this event is going to be a defining one in the history of Orlando. The film is one that chronicles the history of the local food movement, started by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in the sixties. Let your tastebuds guide you to this event which includes local beer, tea, coffee & hors d’oevres by Executive Chef Josh Oakley. You don’t want to miss it! Buy tickets & watch the trailer here: http://www.enzian.org/film/farm_to_table_ft._food_fight/