About the only things sprouting up on lawns this summer in central Texas are “Alarm Stage Drought” signs. The grass is crispy, some trees feature the yellow hues of autumn, and county officials and parents will be closely monitoring the few fireworks used by neighborhood kids this year. Our typical blast-furnace-August weather started in mid-May this year, and we’ve not had more than a flirty little spatter of rain since. Our June was the hottest recorded in Austin since 1854, with an average high of 99.4 degrees. Even our scrappiest cur-dogs won’t go out in this year’s noon-day sun.
Summer is officially here and, to me, 4th of July celebrations seem like the perfect place to indulge in a bit of frozen fun. In this podcast, recipe developer Cindy Cuomo shares her ideas about frozen treats like innovative ice cream sandwiches, frozen fruit salads and red, white and blue sundaes. Popsicles and sparklers, anyone? Got a favorite 4th of July memory involving cold treats? I remember eating a whole can of black olives while waiting for the hand-cranked ice cream to freeze. A big bowl of ice cream on top of the olives made me sooooo sick! Listen in and share your memories.
This comment came in to John Mackey’s CEO blog this week and I thought it was worth sharing here — cool story about Mr. Moore’s coffee company and what they are doing (story starts in the 3rd paragraph).
Dear Mr. Mackey -
I love your passion for life and your refreshing ability to express yourself so well in the media – both in speeches and in this blog. It so cool in this society to see a leader such as yourself to express his views on love and life but more importantly your gracious views of and respect for your parents is so critical in this society. We need more people to express their values and to not be afraid to express them even when they may not be so well received in this culture. Thanks again for your two wonderful speeches and your love of life and love and parents.
I just visited Ron Cottle, one of the better conventional and “emerging organic” growers (and long-time vendor/partner with Whole Foods Market) in Eastern North Carolina and took a bunch of pictures to share. He is just about wrapped-up with organic and conventional blueberries and is just now starting his blackberry harvest (they’re awesome!), and in about 8 to 10 days will be full-speed ahead with his organic grape tomatoes.
This block of about 10 contiguous acres just came to full organic certification this season, and he’s pretty excited about it. Read the rest of this entry »
For about a year, we’ve been giving small, local producers low-interest loans to help them grow their businesses. You can learn more about Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program.
Just this week, we finalized our first loan in our hometown, Austin, Texas! Tracy Claros, originally from England, makes and sells incredible English puddings, or cakes, under the name The Sticky Toffee Pudding Company. After starting with just one flavor, Tracy has branched out (one cannot live by sticky toffee pudding alone, although you can try!) and now offers four different puddings, with English Lemon Pudding, Molten Chocolate Baby-Cake (pictured), and Sticky Ginger Pudding rounding out the lot.
I love the classic, the sticky toffee pudding. When I lived in Australia many years ago, my best friend and I used to share these all the time (although there they are called sticky date puddings). The best part, IMO, is the stickiness – an awesome toffee sauce. Totally amazing! And really good with whipped cream or ice cream (but what isn’t?).
Although Tracy’s products are already in distribution in many parts of the country, she still makes her cakes by hand and needed some additional equipment to help her continue to grow. The loan we’ve worked with her on is going to finance a tray sealer, which will help her go from 12 puddings a minute to 40!
We’re always looking for new loan recipients, so please feel free to check out the program information and contact me if you or someone you know would be a good loan candidate.
Hear from our local foragers on how to find locally grown and produced foods. We’ll also share some recipe ideas for those delicious local peaches available this time of year.
Whole Foods Market is proud to support the important work of Jones Valley Urban Farm in downtown Birmingham. Though we are currently unable to carry any products from Jones Valley Farm in our stores due to the high neighborhood demand for the garden’s modest output, we support in other ways. We regularly contribute food and drink to fundraising events and dinners and make our store available as a venue for educating our customers about the JVUF mission. Recently, we have partnered with the Southern Foodways Alliance to fund a film that tells the Jones Valley Urban Farm story.
Welcome to Whole Story, the official blog of Whole Foods Market.
Don’t know us? In a nutshell, we are the world's leading natural and organic grocer and we’re passionate about healthy food and a healthy planet. Learn more about us.
We’re lucky to have a whole bunch of smart, passionate people doing incredible things in areas like organics, supporting local growers, green practices, fair trade, micro-lending and all kinds of food related stuff. We’ll use this blog to share some of the cool things going on around here.
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I love the classic, the sticky toffee pudding. When I lived in Australia many years ago, my best friend and I used to share these all the time (although there they are called sticky date puddings). The best part, IMO, is the stickiness – an awesome toffee sauce. Totally amazing! And really good with whipped cream or ice cream (but what isn’t?).
