Basil and Beyond Brings Locally Grown Herbs to LEAF Nights

Do you like locally produced, fresh food?  In addition to the great opportunities to buy local food in Lakewood, your chance to buy food grown even closer to home has arrived. A new urban farm has started in Lakewood, Basil and Beyond, LLC, which grows all natural culinary herbs including several types of basil, oregano, chives, sage, rosemary, cilantro and many others.  Basil and Beyond is operated as a small environmentally sustainable business that uses no synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides. 

On Wednesday, July 22, Basil and Beyond will appear as a guest vendor at Lakewood Earth and Food’s LEAF nights in front of the Main Branch of Lakewood Public Library from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Shoppers do not need to be currently enrolled in any of LEAF’s programs to purchase from LEAF nights’ guest vendors. More information about LEAF can be found at www.leafcommunity.org

Basil and Beyond will also sell fresh herbs as a guest vendor at LEAF nights on the following dates in 2009: Aug. 12, Sept 16, and Oct. 14. Starting Aug. 1, Basil and Beyond’s dried herbs and herb gift baskets will be available at Green Smart Gifts (www.greensmartgifts.com), located at 14534 Detroit Ave. 

In our era of big agribusiness, most food is grown and shipped all over the world. In the United States, the average meal has traveled 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Buying locally produced food reduces these “food miles”, reducing the energy required and pollution caused by shipment. As a small local farm, Basil and Beyond uses none of earth's resources for large farm equipment, shipping long distances or elaborate packaging. Furthermore, food shipped from far away typically is bred for shelf life and ability to travel well, rather than taste or nutritional value. 

“Since Basil and Beyond does not need to worry about shipping our food far away, we can focus on growing great tasting, high quality herbs, says Cindy Bischof-Steinbrick, owner and Lakewood resident for more than two decades.  “Our herbs are very fresh, harvested a few hours before their sale.”

Bischof-Steinbrick attended Lakewood public schools and graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Biology. In early 2009, she started Basil and Beyond.  “After years of supporting locally produced food, I started Basil and Beyond to marry my long term passions of gardening, cooking with herbs, and environmental sustainability to provide Lakewood with fresh, locally produced herbs,” she says. 

Please visit www.basilandbeyond.com for more information, updates, and to get recipes using fresh herbs and locally produced foods. 

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Volume 5, Issue 13, Posted 10:40 AM, 07.01.2009