Dandelion Communitea Cafe

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled “organic,” a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.

Organic food is NOT: a diet, a fad or something only granola-eating hippies eat. Simply put, organic food is grown the way nature intended. It is the way food was grown for millineum before the industrial revolution.

Our Journey to Organics

Our journey to organic food started with our taste buds. In a post-college backpack tour or Europe, Julie was amazed at how flavorful the food was and could not understand how a simple banana could taste ten times better across the pond. Her hosts in Germany explained that they had been feeding us all organic food, most of it regionally and seasonally produced. Upon returning to the states, the “research” began in the form of taste tasting starting with fruits, eggs and dairy products. Her world exploded.

Naturally curious about WHY this organic food tasted so much better than regular, Julie started researching about organic food which led to unpleasant discoveries about our industrial agriculture system, processed food, unnatural additives and preservative, the treatment of livestock and the ill affect of all of this on farmers, local economies, our health and the ability for our planet to sustain all this.

Doom and gloom were quickly replaced with vibrant health & good cheer as small but incremental lifestyle changes were made to accommodate a better plateful of food for both Julie & Chris: they planted a garden, started composting with worms, became flexitarians and then vegetarians, and kicked their addictions to high fructose corn syrup and processed foodstuff. One day they woke up full blown environmentalists who preferred a simple lifestyle full of experiences over the consumer culture they had been a part of. They had dropped out and tuned in, as the hippies that had been talking about this all along would say.

Our Practice

At Dandelion, over 90% of our ingredient list is made from organically grown foods. As we also stick to a vegetarian ethos for most of our recipes, there are some items that simply cannot be found organically, but which we still insist are free of artificial colors, preservatives and additives. We purchase our produce from an exclusively organic distributor, choosing Florida or Georgia grown as available, with occasionally bumper crops from a local grower that we trust. On occasion, there simply are not any organic lemons or peppers available, and on these rare occasions we do substitute with conventionally grown.

The term organic is a somewhat limiting word, however, and does not take into account the values of local, small scale and independent that we value just as much. We have to use common sense and make adjustments to our procurement as more artisan products come to market and our local food network builds capacity.

For that reason, we have been early supporters and co-founders of both Slow Food Orlando and the Ourlando Local Food Alliance, and members of the Simple Living Institute since we opened. We recognized early on that our entire food system needed to be rebuilt and it would take a community effort to do so.

Resources

Locally

• Simple Living Institute – Organic Growers Meetings
• Florida News & Action Resources
• Homegrown Co-op – Locally focused organic cooperative
• Audubon Park Community Market – Locally focused organic growers
• Get Green Organics – Home delivery service
• Orlando Organics – Home delivery service
• LocalHarvest – Farm Finder
• MyYardFarm.com – Edible Landscaping
• Homegrown Delights, LLC
• Eat Well Guide – kinda like Local Harvest, but with restaurants included.

Research & Articles

• Organic Consumers Association: Organic Transitions
• Creating an Organic World For Baby
• 10 Reasons to Go Organic
• Why Organic Foods are Better for Health
• A Month of Organic Eating

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