Andreas Müller Carries Revival to Morningside Farmers Market May 28

Kickstart Saturday morning, May 28, with a bit of Revival. Executive chef Andreas Müller is stopping by Morningside Farmers Market to lead this Saturday’s chef demo before hunkering down in his kitchen at the Decatur restaurant. The homegrown fruits, vegetables and fresh foods of Müller’s boyhood in Sweden stuck, igniting a passion for seeking farm-fresh ingredients throughout his chef-hood. Bingo. Hits the asparagus on the head for a farmers market cooking class. Shop the year-round market for locally grown organic from 8-11:30 a.m. but peel yourself away around 9-ish for this demo on the patio of market-adjacent Morningside Kitchen. Another reason to praise the morning, Morningside Farmers Market requires all produce to be certified organic.

Buy Certified Organic Seedlings at The Veggie Patch Sale April 30

Did you miss the seedling sale at The Veggie Patch last weekend? You’re in luck—the sale continues this Saturday, April 30 from 8 a.m. to noon. Certified organic seedlings are priced at $3 a pot or a flat of 10 for $28. Located right off I-85 in Commerce, Georgia, The Veggie Patch at Bouchard Farms is convenient to Atlanta, Athens and Gainesville. Available seedlings include: tomatoes (heirloom, cherry and hybrid slicers), cucumbers, eggplant, squash/zucchini, sweet corn, Chinese cabbages, Swiss chard, greens, kale, broccoli, lettuces, peas/beans, watermelon, okra, herbs, peppers (hot and sweet), leeks, onions and flowers.

Sharpen Blade Skills at White Oak Pastures Butchering Workshop August 22

White Oak Pastures gets right to the point of knife necessities at their Butchering Workshop -- in the butchering room -- on Saturday, August 22 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Learn butchering techniques including how to keep knives properly sharpened to slice the best cuts, how to break down a side of beef, carve out five different cuts of meat and how to age beef cuts to obtain the best flavor. Meaty tidbit: White Oak Pastures is the only farm in the U.S. that pasture raises and hand-butchers 10 red meat and poultry species as well as produces pastured eggs and certified organic vegetables. Limited to 10 participants. Purchase your spot now for $100. Includes lunch in The Pavilion.

Why the Grass is Greener: White Oak Pastures Pastured Poultry Workshop June 13

Take a gander at what the broilers, laying hens, guineas and ducks are doing to stay healthy, happy and busy at White Oak Pastures by attending the Pastured Poultry Workshop on Saturday, June 13. At 9 a.m., during the cool of the morning, tour the poultry fields to scratch the surface of pastured practices and see the farm’s mobile housing for 60,000 broilers and 9,000 layers. The tour then shifts to the Animal Welfare Approved, zero-waste abattoirs where humane processing takes precedence over volume. Escape the midday heat by lunching in the covered Pavilion then settling into lecture time from 1-3 p.m. Dig deeper into topics such as brooding, nutrition, pasture raising, processing, egg production, what has worked for the farm and what White Oak Pastures seeks to improve. $80 per person, includes lunch. Class size limited to 25. Reserve a spot online or call 229-641-2081.

Outsmart Pests After Attending White Oak Pastures’ Organic Pest Management Workshop May 30

Oh, bother. Seems those nasty pests love lazy summer days as much as you do. Learn the basics of integrated pest management at White Oak Pastures’ Organic Pest Management Workshop on Saturday, May 30. Identify nasty garden pests, discover how to prevent the voracious villains from establishing residency in your small veggie garden or larger farm, review commercial and homemade solutions and see how beneficial insects fit into the mix. Already bugged by pests? Bring insect damage examples from your home garden for identification and eradication suggestions. A farm tour opens the day at 10 a.m., and the workshop wraps up around 4:30 p.m. with lunch in the Pavilion filling the noon hour. Class size limited to 20 participants. $65 per person, includes lunch. Reserve a spot online or call 229-641-2081.

Appetizing Aperture

What’s more refreshing than a couple of days away from the city? Absolutely nothing. Even better, White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga. is only a two-and-a-half hour drive south of Atlanta. With newly built lodging, stay a few nights and get rejuvenated. During your stay, get up close and personal with cattle and poultry by taking a farm tour. After working up an appetite on your journey through the ranch, pay a visit to the farm store or White Oak Pastures’ open-air dining pavilion. 

Todd Richards of The Pig & The Pearl, The Shed at Glenwood Works with Pork at Morningside Farmers Market Chef Demo on August 23

Are you tired of buying all of that farm-fresh fare at the farmers market only to realize you have no idea what to do with it? Chef Todd Richards from The Pig & The Pearl will be at the Morningside Farmers Market on Saturday, August 23 working with the product he knows best: pork. Riverview Farms, a certified organic farm in northwest Georgia, is providing Richards will a fresh from the farm hog. This delectable demo with begin at 9 a.m. and market hours are 7:30-11:30 a.m. 

Gerry Klaskala and Tyler Williams Cover Next Two Morningside Farmers Market Chef Demos

 

You don't have to wait long to start the weekend off right at the Morningside Farmers Market. Booths open shortly after sunrise (7:30 a.m. to be exact) on Saturday mornings, so you can jump in as soon as the sun starts shining. By 9 a.m., shopping bags are bulging with locally grown organic produce, herbs and craft food items. Chef demo time! Gerry Klaskala of Aria leads a lesson in working with Riverview Farm andouille sausage on May 25, and Tyler Williams of Woodfire Grill takes on the fresh taste of Woodland Gardens fennel on June 1. Be sure to stock up on these items before the demos because after these chefs share their ideas there's sure to be a run on the market.

Appetizing Aperture

There's nothing like biting into a field-fresh strawberry when the summer weather starts to heat up. Luckily, crates full of strawberry bliss are heading out from Watsonia Farms in Monetta, S.C. and are bursting with the refreshingly sweet flavor that only certified organic berries can yield. Organic farming forerunner Watsonia bears organic certification from Clemson University and the USDA, so you can rest easy about bringing these little beauties to the table.

From Pasture to Plate, Literally: White Oak Pastures Opens Restaurant On the Farm

Bluffton, Ga. is now home to a new restaurant at White Oak Pastures, where sustainable farming is the focus. Grass-fed beef and lamb and free-range pastured poultry plus no waste, energy-efficient methods of farming mean only the cleanest ingredients will go into restaurant dishes.

White Oak Pastures is the largest certified organic farm in Georgia, and the spacious layout of the restaurant is located in the middle of an organic vegetable farm. Pasture to Plate is so close to the food chain action, guests will almost be able to reach out and pick their vegetables while observing the spectacular view from the 90' x 30' open-air building.

After a private opening dinner prepared by celebrity chef Kevin Gillespie for Southern Foodways Alliance guests, the restaurant will serve lunch to the farm's 85 employees. Beginning in August, anyone can stop by for breakfast and lunch, and the restaurant will be able to host up to 100 patrons at a time. Evelyn Taylor, who has managed restaurants most of her life and has prepared lunch for the Harris family for several years, is the chef, and her daily plate (one option) will pull from what is fresh and available on the farm. Owner Will Harris has many chef friends, and you never know when one of them will drop by for a special event. So, is it okay to show up with dirt on your overalls, or is the establishment more geared towards formal attire? You choose. Harris says Pasture to Plate will be exactly halfway between a five-star establishment and nearby Blakely Chicken. Better look that one up. 

It's Follow Friday... Meet our Tweep of the Week @EatDrink_Better

The bio says it in a Tweep nutshell: Everybody eats, and Eat.Drink...Better. invites readers to explore the environmental issues surrounding their food choices. Farming practices, local markets, bushels of recipes and daily healthy you/healthy earth food news you can chew on is all here via blog or short, sweet Tweets!

Pass the Shrimp

Ever wonder where those delectable shrimp you indulge in came from and when they were caught? Whole Foods Market does--and they want to make sure they provide you with fresh, wild Georgia shrimp. That is why Whole Foods supports local fishermen such as Ambos Seafood in Savannah, GA. Click here to watch a video on how Ambos Seafood delivers fresh seafood daily.

Whole Foods Market Eat Local Challenge

Are you ready to take on the Whole Foods Market Eat Local Challenge during the week of July 13 - 20? If you're up to the challenge, start checking out local foods from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and some parts of Florida, homegrown local land. This is home for the foods you'll be eating next week if you accept the challenge. Not only will you be eating fresh foods that took a very short trip to your shopping bag, you'll be helping local farmers and economies as well. Register for the Eat Local Challenge on Saturday, July 11 at your local Whole Foods Market. At week's end, jot down your thoughts on the Whole Foods Market summary sheet, turn it in and you'll have a chance to win a $100 Whole Foods gift card!

A Group Dinner at Pizza Fusion

The team headed out on a chilly, Atlanta night to try the new Pizza Fusion restaurant in the Aramore on Peachtree. First things first - free, self-parking in the garage! From there, just allow the smell to lead you to the restaurant.

Clean, sleek interior

When you walk in you immediately notice the clean, sleek atmosphere. This is Atlanta’s first LEED Certified restaurant meaning everything from the light fixtures to the delivery vehicles is energy efficient. We sat down with the owner Jeff Melnick and got the whole schpeel . They use over 75% organic ingredients in the menu, tables are made from recycled wood, toilets are low-flow and customers who return their pizza boxes get a special discount. I love the concept of this place just as much as I love the food!

Owner Jeff Melnick

Energy efficient delivery car

We had a deliciously organic meal that started with wine and bread sticks. The mutli-grain and organic white sticks came with tomato marinara sauce and we added a side of olive tapenade. The combination of olives, garlic and red peppers made for a perfect dip.

Multi-grain and organic white bread sticks with marinara and olive tapenade.

We wanted to get a good taste of the pizzas so we ordered four of the Specialty Pies – Founder’s Pie, Greek, goat cheese & sundried tomato and the Seattle. All specialty pies are served large, which is 18” x 9”, and on a wooden plank. You have the choice of multi-grain, organic white or gluten-free crusts and we decided to test out each one.

Greek on gluten-free

goat cheese and sundried tomato on white

Seattle on white

The chalk wall boasts great lunch specials ($9.99 for a personal pizza, soda, side salad) and the build your own pizza option is enticing. In addition to organic beer and wine they also serve Boylan sodas that use natural sugar and my favorite, Honest Tea.

We had such a great time at Pizza Fusion. It’s unique in that the restaurant can host a group of ten or a couple on a date and everyone feels comfortable. The pizza is great and I love supporting a restaurant that uses organic ingredients and energy efficient appliances.

Find more of our pictures from the night on our flickr page, here. Pizza Fusion: 2233 Peachtree Road, Suite M; 404-351-9934.