The Food
We make everything on our menu from scratch, and we strive to use as many local, organic, and fair-trade ingredients as possible. Our menu changes constantly, allowing us to make frequent use of local ingredients. Since opening in July of 2007 through March 2008, 81% of our food and beverage purchases were local, organic, or fair-trade!
Those numbers are possible because we consider the impact of all our purchases. Our first choice is to work with local farmers – we get the freshest, highest quality produce, support the local economy, dramatically reduce the distance food travels from farm to plate, and get to know the stories behind the food. Through March, 57% of our food purchases were local! Almost all of the dairy products and flour we used was local, and we never serve meat that isn’t local and either grass-fed or free-range.
When we can't find local options, we choose organic or fair-trade ingredients whenever possible. All of our coffee and tea is certified fair-trade and/or organic. All of our non-local wine was fair-trade.
Our 2007 Food and Beverage Purchases |
|||||
Local |
Locally Processed |
Organic Valley Co-Op Midwest Dairy Pool |
Organic, Not Local |
Fair Trade |
None |
36.41% |
2.57% |
12.89% |
12.67% |
15.83% |
20.30% |
January-March food Numbers
We made it through the winter and kept our food purchases 54% local in January, February, and March by using local grain, dairy, and meat, some local dry goods, apples, hydroponic lettuce, and greenhouse sprouts, tomatoes, and mushrooms. 83% of all the food and beverages that we bought were local, organic or fair-trade!
January-March 2008 Food and Beverage Purchases |
|||||
Local |
Locally Processed |
Organic Valley Co-Op Midwest Dairy Pool |
Organic, Not Local |
Fair Trade |
None |
32.50% |
3.85% |
13.28% |
15.56% |
14.47% |
19.12% |
Local: Grown/Raised within a 250 mile radius of Common Roots. Much of the local produce we buy is also organic.
Locally Processed: Processed within a 250 mile radius of Common Roots (largely beer).
Organic Valley Co-Op Midwest Dairy Pool: Produced by Organic Valley's midwest dairy farmers. All of the family farms that participate in the dairy pool are in the Midwest, and they're concentrated in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We include these purchases in our overall local food purchasing numbers.
Organic, Not Local: Certified organic, but not from within a 250 mile radius.
Fair-Trade: Certified Fair Trade. Almost all of the fair-trade products we buy are also certified organic.
None: Not local, certified organic, or fair-trade
Common Roots Cafe • 2558 Lyndale Ave. S. • Minneapolis, MN 55405
(612) 871-2360 • info@commonrootscafe.com