Team Plant-Based: Shout Out to Our Sources

You know we be lovin’ our fresh and healthy ingredients here at HipCityVeg – that’s no big news for you guys. We source local and organic whenever possible and always GMO-free, because we care about the earth, we care about our neighbors, and we care about you! We wanted to give a shout out to the real MVPs which are the local farms that provide us with such delicious and nutritious ingredients. Eating locally is something we take pretty seriously here. It’s good for the environment and it’s good for our bodies, so there’s really no catch. We can sleep easy at night knowing that we’re doing the right thang.

So what are the real benefits of using locally-produced ingredients, you might ask? First and foremost, we like to keep things nice and personal. Using local, smaller farms means that we can have a nice, working relationship with our farmers. We like to know exactly where our food comes from and that it was treated with care.

By simply supporting our local farmers, we’re also promoting the continued use of open, green spaces in our area and preserving our ecosystems. Farms are some of the best plots of land for the environment – they protect our soil and water sources, and help lessen the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. The more green there is, the more smiles we have. We like a happier earth and a happier community.

We’re also huge fans of reducing pollution wherever and whenever we can. Transporting food locally, rather than nationally and internationally, emits 5-17x less carbon emissions by reducing cars on the road. That’s a lot. And at the end of the day, if our food has less of a distance to travel, it also has the shortest time between the farm and your plate. That means the food is the freshest and most nutritious it can be. We’re talkin’ better tasting and healthier. Plus, no need for pesticides to keep ’em ripe and increase shelf-life. (Less pesticides = better for our soil and aquatic environments too. The benefits keep on going!)

At any given time about 70% of what we are serving at our stores is local. And we’re always pushing to do more. We want to do what’s best for you and for the planet. So cheers to these guys for all their hard work and labor! Thanks for giving us the crunchiest greens and juiciest tomatoes around. You help us do good and taste good, and we can’t thank you enough.

Check out just a few of our local farms below:

Ploch Farms, Vineland, NJ – Arugula
Davis Mushroom, Kennett Square, PA – Mushrooms
Avon Heights, Avondale, PA – Spinach
Godfrey Farms, Sudlersville, MD – Corn
Kaplan & Zubrin Pickles, Camden, NJ – Pickles
Fresh Tofu Company, Allentown, PA – Organic Tofu