"Wow, this shop is amazing, it's a hidden gem,” said a customer sampling early navel orange ice cream.
From behind the counter I chuckled and pointed to the two newspapers articles on the wall, both of which describe Orange Valley Cafe with the very words "hidden gem.” But what is so gem-like about Orange Valley Cafe? What's really between the bread? And what is in that mystifying orange ice cream?
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal produce directly from a farmer in their community. It is a method of closing the gap between the farmer and the consumer, assuring that families can receive local, healthy food in season. CSA is a form of handshake where everyone wins. The farmer and the consumer save money and high quality, organic produce is delivered to the people and places where it is needed. There are several such providers in the greater Fresno area. We will look at two, OOOOBY and Abundant Harvest and mention a third.
There is a Tree of Life growing in Downtown Fresno that is part of a movement to gather, feed, entertain and engage community in the heart of a great city. This Tree of Life is the Tree of Life Café and this is Part I of the story. My mouth is watering and I can hardly wait for the grand opening in March. That will be Part II.
It just so happens that healthy food not only makes healthy bodies, but making healthy food can keep minds healthy as well.
Among the community gardens in Fresno are some special gardens tended by elders who find peace, serenity, and purpose in the process of growing vegetables. In that same process, they produce food for themselves, their families, and their neighbors.
Where do you eat when you don’t want to cook? Where do you go when you want good, old-fashioned food that isn’t in a paper bag? There are the family-style diners, where you can get bacon and eggs or a steak dinner, open up to 24 hours a day. This Food Quest explores a sampling of these restaurants. The goal was to choose simple, basic food that would show the strengths and weaknesses of each chain.
One of the most important tools I can think of when it comes to changing ones entire nutritional lifestyle is changing how one looks at food. I, like so many others, have always thought of food in the terms of hungry, full, or not hungry. Basically, food was only viewed as something to fill me.
