Living Organic

My new lifestyle is causing me to be friendlier to my body and my world. One of my new favorite hangouts is Organic Grounds in Harrisonburg.

As proof that email marketing works, I stopped in one week this afternoon after receiving an email (yes, I voluntarily signed up for their email list) that they were serving a new soup: spinach and mushroom. Sounded too good to pass up, and the day was a bit gray.

Owners Lee Ann and Barry Jeffer guarantee everything fresh and organic, from the coffee to cookies. By the way, gotta try their harvest nut cookies–they are to die for–organic or not.

Anyway, my son was having fun with the video camera, so here’s my trip to Organic Grounds for a cup of delicious spinach and mushroom soup with a three cheese grilled sandwich on something that’s not bread, but really good!

–Toni

Green Kitchen

» This Lexington caterer is one of few in the world
to be certified green.

By KAREN DOSS BOWMAN

For Jenny Elmes, “green living” is second nature. The Lexington native was raised to compost, recycle and eat natural products. Nowadays, as owner of Full Circle Catering in her hometown, Elmes is sharing with her employees and her clients—and anyone else who will listen—the lessons her parents taught her about sustainable living.

“My family grew a garden and recycled and composted… and I thought everyone grew up like that, canning jam every year and making homemade bread,” Elmes says. “One of the reasons I started talking about the green things I do is so that people would see that they don’t have to be ‘hippies’ to be doing great things for the environment. Normal, everyday people can take steps to make the transition into a greener lifestyle.”

Hints of green living are apparent throughout Jenny Elmes’ commercial kitchen: energy-star appliances; compact fluorescent bulbs; organic foods stacked on a large utility shelf. In one corner, a pasta drying rack is used to dry out gallon-sized plastic storage bags, which will be reused instead of thrown into the trash. And Elmes frequently cleans the kitchen’s bright orange and yellow tiled floor with natural-based Seventh Generation cleaning products, except when state regulations require her occasionally to scrub with bleach and other antibacterial cleaners.

Simple Steps When describing the efforts she has made to save the planet, Elmes makes it clear that it’s no big deal. These are simple steps anyone can take to tread more lightly on the earth, she says.

“We in the U.S. are huge producers of waste and huge users of natural resources, and I think we need to be aware of it,” says Elmes, pointing out that Lexington’s landfill is projected to fill up and close by 2012.

“There are things we can’t help, but there are things we can do better in every day living, like going to the local farmer’s market and taking your own bag.”

Going green isn’t just a gimmick for Elmes. Not only does she personally compost, recycle and shop locally, she integrates these practices into her business model. If her clients don’t have an on-site composting system or recycling bins, for example, Elmes collects the waste in airtight, leak-proof bags and lugs it home to put in her recycling and compost bins. In a typical week, Elmes composts about 30 gallons of biodegradable waste, but during her busy seasons (during Christmas, for example), she may compost up to 15 gallons a day.

“I love that I can leave my job knowing that I have nourished folks with healthy, great tasting and artfully presented food that leaves a little footprint on the environment.”

Elmes’s environmental efforts have earned her certification as a “Virginia Green Restaurant” by the commonwealth’s Department of Environmental Quality. Additionally, she is one of four caterers in the world who has been designated as a Certified Green Restaurant from the Green Restaurant Association, a non-profit organization that helps restaurants to become environmentally sustainable.

‘Militant Recycling’ A Washington and Lee University alumna, Elmes donates prepared food that hasn’t been placed on a serving buffet to her alma mater’s chapter of The Campus Kitchens Project, a national organization dedicated to relieving hunger in college communities. The food is then donated to several local charitable organizations, including an after-school program and Habitat for Humanity. The food waste that can’t be donated goes to her compost bin and is collected regularly by Elmes’s next-door neighbors, owners of Paradox Farms, to feed their chickens, whose eggs are sold throughout the community.

Elmes, who has taught her 11-year-old son, Marley, to recycle and compost, gets visibly excited when describing how others have joined in her efforts to reduce waste and save resources. Last fall, for example, she catered a party for about 100 people and was thrilled with the results: a large bag of recycling and only one piece of trash.

“All of my employees are so nice to go along with my militant recycling,” Elmes says, laughing. “All of them recycle at home—a couple did not when they started working with me, but they do now. They have gotten really excited about it, and that’s 10 more people that are on the band wagon. Then you see that [all this effort] is completely worth it.”

» GREEN YOUR KITCHEN

You can get started with these simple steps:

Read the labels. Before buying a product at the grocery store be sure to read the label. If you don’t recognize the ingredients, you shouldn’t eat them.

Milk products. Buy organic, or at least purchase milk from cows who have not been treated with hormones (check the label).

Shop at the farmer’s market. There’s something special about being able to know personally the people who raise the meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables you eat.  And by purchasing locally grown food, you lessen the impact of fossil fuels burned to ship food from far away—and you keep the local economy strong.

Buy recycled products when possible. From paper towels to trash bags, many kitchen products are available that are made from post-consumer waste.

Eliminate (or limit) chemical cleaners. The advent of the green movement means numerous environmentally friendly cleaning products are on the market. These products are not made with harsh chemicals and do not leave behind dangerous toxins. Two effective green cleaners probably are already in your pantry: baking soda and vinegar.

Recycle and compost. Many towns, including Elmes’ hometown of Lexington, offer curbside pickup service for recycling. Nothing could be easier.

— KDB