News for Asheville, NC (South)

There's a new burger in town and it ain't messing around! All natural, local, and organic gourmet burgers cooked to order with organic french fries, local sweet potato fries or veggie side of the day just arrived at Earth Fare. In addition to local grass-fed beef and pork from Hickory Nut Gap in Fairview, the Earth grill features local grilled trout from Sunburst Farms, all-natural local chicken from Springer Mountain Farms of Georgia, local goat cheese from Spinning Spider in Madison County and whole wheat buns baked locally at Fletcher Valley Naturals Bakery. The Grill also has made-from scratch veggie burgers and offers Field Roast Italian sausages for our vegan customers. Kids menu items also available. Add one trip to the salad bar, soup or bottle beer for an additional charge and enjoy! The grill is opened Monday-Sunday from 11 am until 7 pm.

If your business or organization needs a meeting space, Earth
Fare's community room is the perfect location for small groups. The space is also perfect for lectures, seminars and classes of all kinds for up to 20 attendees and is free of charge. Please contact Janice Husk, Community Coordinator at (828) 210-0100 for reservations.

For 15 years, we've encouraged our customers to bring their own reusable bags through the Freind of Earth Fare program. But plastic and paper are still in high use. We go through 1.5 million paper bags and over 4 million plastic bags a year. Last year our FOEF program saved only 1 million bags from use. It's not enough. Both paper and plastic have their negatives. Banning one increases the use of the other. Only reusing a bag will alleviate the problem. Starting June 2nd, we begin a new bag program to encourage you even more to REMEMBER and to REUSE. For every bag a shopper reuses, we will donate 5¢ to a local non-profit. For every plastic or paper bag used, the shopper will be charged 5¢. Money collected will be used to purchase carbon offset credits from Appalachian Offsets, a local non- profit working to combat global climate change through local renewable energy and efficiency projects in WNC.

Asheville, NC

Would you like to receive health tips, monthly specials, recipes and more? The Healthy Plate is Earth Fare's new email newsletter. If you would like to receive the Healthy Plate sign up at www.earthfare.com

Earth Fare’s South Asheville location adds an all natural and organic pasta bar to their cafe which includes prepared to order pasta created by the customer. Select from an array of fresh all natural and organic vegetables, seafood, poultry and sauces for just $7.99 bow/adults and $3.50/children. Beer or wine can be purchased separately and enjoyed in the cafe or patio dining areas. Relax to a variety of musical talents weekly every Friday evening from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.. The Market and Café is located at 1856 Hendersonville Road.
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(Asheville, NC) March 10, 2008—–Earth Fare partners up with the FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM for the fifth consecutive year to raise money for worthy local non-profits whose mission is to fight hunger in our communities. During the 2007 holiday season, Earth Fare and its generous customers raised over $12,000 companywide for the cause.

The FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM is an annual, nationwide fundraising campaign that provides an easy and effective way for retailers and customers to raise money for the less fortunate in our communities. The point-of-purchase fundraiser allows customers to select $1, $3, and $5 donation coupons. At the end of the program, donations are tallied and a check is mailed to the selected local non-profit.

“With the FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM, each Earth Fare store is allowed to select a local non-profit of their choice,” said Janice Husk, Community Coordinator (Earth Fare-South). “Our customers are delighted and encouraged to find out that their monetary donations stay within their own community. We believe this is one of the reasons the program is so successful each year,” said Ms. Husk.

Asheville area Earth Fare stores selected Manna Food Bank and Meals on Wheels of Buncombe County to be the recipients of funds raised during the 2007 FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM, which ran from October 21, 2007 through January 7, 2008 and totaled $1,741.00. "Both of the non-profits selected provide an invaluable service to those who are in need in our community.” said Ms. Husk.

Over the past five years, Earth Fare has raised approximately $50,000 companywide for The FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM. Last holiday season, The FOOD FOR ALL® PROGRAM and its retail partners across the country raised more than $4.2 million to fund worthy non-profit agencies nationwide in their fight against hunger. Earth Fare is proud to be a part of this worthy fundraising program each year.

(Asheville, NC) February 19, 2008—–Anyone who shops at Earth Fare knows that the answer to the question, “Paper or plastic?” isn’t a simple yes or no. Instead, many customers prefer to say, “I brought my own bag.” This action results not only in the conservation of non-renewable resources, but also gives back to the local community in a big way.

In 2007, Earth Fare, with the help of its customers, raised approximately $100,000 through the “Friends of Earth Fare” bag recycling program. All funds raised through this award-winning program were given directly to worthy, local non-profits selected by each Earth Fare store.

The “Friends of Earth Fare” bag recycling program is an easy way to give back. When customers bring their own bag to shop instead of taking a new one, Earth Fare donates 10 cents per bag to a selected local non-profit who is the “Friend” of the month.

“Ten cents may not sound like much, but all those dimes do add up to a large amount of money,” says Troy DeGroff, director of sales and marketing at Earth Fare. “Not to mention that in 2007 alone, our customers saved over one million plastic and paper bags from going into circulation.”

The “Friends of Earth Fare” program has been a vital part of Earth Fare’s community outreach for 15 years. “Not only does this program help everyone conserve non-renewable resources used in the production of both paper and plastic bags, it helps immediately impact the health of our communities by supporting local organizations,” says DeGroff.

(Asheville, NC) February 18, 2008-–The recent meat recall of over 143 million pounds of beef in California, the largest recall in U.S. history, once again underscores the importance of humane and natural practices in maintaining the health and quality of the meat we consume.

The natural beef sold at Earth Fare markets, for instance, has higher standards than the USDA for animal health and safety. Earth Fare beef comes from small family ranches in Montana and the mid-west. The natural cattle ranchers and processors that are part of the Montana Ranch Co-operative do not use growth hormones, antibiotics, or animal by-products in their feed. They also strive to treat the cattle and the land used for grazing with respect and care.

Earth Fare beef cows spend less time in feedlots, an environment where illness and injury are widespread. Processing of the animals occurs in much smaller batches, resulting in a cleaner and more humane method of slaughter. Sick or injured animals are removed from the herds before processing and not sold as natural. Animals from cloned or genetically modified stock are not permissible.

“The quality of life an animal leads from birth to slaughter does matter,” says Earth Fare Marketing Director Troy DeGroff. “How you treat an animal in life reflects in the quality, flavor and safety of the meat that ends up on your plate. It makes sense that an animal that can’t move to get into the slaughter facility could pose a greater risk for disease than a healthy animal.”

DeGroff continues by stating, “Fortunately, at Earth Fare, we work with suppliers who ensure their animals are healthy at the time of slaughter. We also only sell meats that are free of added growth hormones, antibiotics, genetic manipulation including cloning, and animal by-products in the feed. You only need those things when you are raising sick animals as a commodity product, not as a living food source fit for human consumption.”

Earth Fare-South Ashesville offers complimentary store tours five days a week. Your tour guide can specialize the tour for an individual and/or group, club, organization, etc. Past guided tours have covered such topics as, Power Eating for Girls & Boys, Gluten Free Foods, The New Food Pyramid, Where to Find It, and Heart Healthy Eating and include samples of some of our most popular snacks! Contact Janice Husk, Community Coordinator, 828.210.0100 to schedule your free tour today!

AUGUST 27, 2007

Earth Fare Serves Up the “Best Dish in North Carolina”

Asheville, NC – Earth Fare Market and Café is the winner of the 2007 “Best Dish in North Carolina” annual competition, sponsored by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and its Goodness Grows in North Carolina program. The competition was created to recognize and reward the efforts of restaurants and chefs who use North Carolina products regularly in their menus.

The dish that won Earth Fare this prestigious award was Carolina Chicken Roulade with Sweet Potato Salad & Sesame Kale made with local ingredient from Pine Knot Farms, Hurdle Mills, NC; Alison’s Family Farms in Troy, NC; The Goat Lady, Climax, NC; Latta Farms, Hillsborough, NC; Black River Organic Farm, Ivanhoe, NC; Timberwood Organics, Efland, NC; and Sunburst Tomatoes, Nashville, NC.

Mitch Orland, Earth Fare’s food service director and executive chef, along with the assistance of Stewart Moore, food service specialist, created the unique recipes for the award winning dish. “The inspiration for this dish is traditional Southern but with an haute cuisine twist,” says Orland. “It was crafted to add creative flavor to fresh, local ingredients and allow them be the true standouts of the dish.”

Earth Fare Market and Café competed against several larger chain restaurants across the state for the title of “Best Dish in North Carolina.” Entries were judged based on the featured dishes’ use of North Carolina products and ingredients, creativity, feature and promotion of the dishes, presentation, and of course, taste. “Given that we were the only supermarket retailer in the competition, it’s a huge honor to compete and win against larger, chain restaurants.”

The “Best Dish in North Carolina” award will be presented October 17, 2007 during the Paula Dean Show in Dorton Arena at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. Representatives from Earth Fare will be present to serve up samples of the “best dish” and accept this year’s award. “It is a wonderful opportunity for Earth Fare to showcase how local, natural and organic products are just as delicious and fresh as those purchased elsewhere.”

Earth Fare Market and Café was founded in Asheville, North Carolina in 1975 and has grown into a premier chain of natural and organic markets located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. All Earth Fare stores provide customers with real food that tastes better – fresh, locally grown organic produce, artisan products such as raw milk cheeses and specialty wines, scratch-baked breads and pastries, as well as antibiotic and hormone-free meats and poultry, and sustainably harvested seafood.