Bauman College Farm To Table Tour of Earl’s

Saturday morning Earl’s Organic hosted a group of faculty and staff from the Bauman Holistic, Nutrition Culinary Arts College for a tour of the warehouse.   Bauman is a non-profit educational institution that aims to create a sustainable culture of wellness in individuals and to change the way people consume food from convenience to conscious eating. It was a natural fit for Earl to share his expertise with the Bauman College and provide a more comprehensive educational experience in understanding the concept of farm to table.

Earl was joined by Sitarani Palomar, Culinary Program Director of Bauman, Kasey Caletti, Culinary Curriculum Manager of Bauman, Helge Hellberg, host and founder of An Organic Conversation(AOC) radio show and Mark Mulcahy, founder and host of AOC as well as an Organic Retail and Management Consultant.

Earl guided the tour through the warehouse explaining how produce is brought into the warehouse from the farms and how it is stored in either the warm storage area, fruit storage area, cold/wet cooler or cold/dry coolers.  Every item of produce that arrives goes through strict quality control and usually has a 2-3 day turnover rate.  Produce is constantly arriving into the warehouse and being shipped out to customers.  The busiest time at the warehouse happens at night between 10pm -5am when trucks can be seen arriving with the latest harvests from farms all over California and even from Oregon depending on the season.  The trucks are constantly checked for the correct temperature with infrared thermometers and great care is taken to work with the growers on how to optimize the integrity of the produce from farm to table.

Earl, Mark and Helge

The tour was followed by a tasting of some of springs amazing bounty.  Mark Mulcahy cut up slices of blood oranges for everyone to try and spoke about how they are at the peak of the season right now!  The color of the flesh was a deep red and had an incredibly floral and sweet taste.  Mark then had the group taste Nagami kumquats, the oval variety with a sweet skin and tart flesh.  In order to really get the full flavor and juice of the kumquat you need to roll it between the palms of your hands first and then take a small bite.  As the juice goes flying the sweetness hits your tastebuds followed by the pow of the tartnesss.   Sitarani continued the tasting by discussing the nutritional values of the ingredients and also showing the group culinary uses and tips for balancing flavor and texture with complimentary ingredients.  A slice of Nagami kumquat was paired beautifully with a piece of avocado,  spring strawberries were drizzled with balsamic vinegar and asparagus tips were served raw with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Slice of nagami kumquat with avocado

Jen, Kasey and Sitarani from Bauman

Helge ended the tour by discussing nutrition as it pertains to soil health, nutrient density in the plant, the resulting health of the individual, and the ultimate health of the planet, demonstrating the interconnectedness of all of our choices.

Earl finished the day by emphasizing the opportunity and advantage of working in San Francisco which is home to the most passionate and knowledgeable advocates of organic and sustainable agriculture.

Even if you don’t have an account with Earl’s Organic you can walk into the warehouse Sunday-Thursday evenings starting 8pm until 10am the following morning and buy cases at our Customer Service Office.  If you have questions please give us a call!