Recently I was turned on to Rutiz Family Farms, a local Arroyo Grande sustainable ranch and market stand that I am practically giddy over. One of the coolest things about the Rutiz program is that you do not need to prepay a subscription. An email is sent out each Tuesday listing what will be in the box that week (plus cooking suggestions, announcements, and prices of other stand produce). You simply need to decide by Thursday evening whether or not your fridge needs stocking, email in the affirmative, and pick up on Friday.

Local family farming

Although I am itching for tomatoes, cool season crops have been treating me well. Sugar snap peas are lucky if they make it into a pan before they are all consumed raw, fresh spearmint made lovely tea, spinach always goes to good use, baby artichokes may be a new house favorite, “Italian sprouting” baby broccoli is fine fare, and my forced variety: radishes.

Each Tuesday evening you will find me with an ear aimed at my smart phone, waiting to hear the notification that says, “yes, the Rutiz weekly e-newsletter has arrived!” I look forward to more Tuesdays, pick up Fridays, and seasonal produce all year long.

Love the stemless glassware!

If  you’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo recently, you may have noticed the quaint little tasting room on Chorro Street. This oasis of goodness is Pithy Little Wine Company and on Monday night I stopped by their Wine Industry Open House for a taste.

Felicia, owner of Pithy Little Wine Co., and me!

Amy Bakes vegan cupcakes, Joycups gluten free, organic peanut butter cups, Vivant cheese platters, and of course a plethora of Pithy wines left me in taste bud lala land. Not a wino like me? Pithy also makes classic Italian sodas that everyone can enjoy.

Amy Bakes cupcake anyone?

I love the atmosphere in the tasting room, a little modern and a lot welcoming. The word pithy, defined as concise and forcefully expressive, perfectly describes the wine, the tasting room ambiance, and even the wine bottle with wine tasting notes on the back. So after a fabulous evening filled with sweets and great wine, I headed home with a bottle of their 2009 Sangiovese Rose and a Joycup for the road!

Sweet Earth was launched by Tom Neuhaus, a Cal Poly professor who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk. The chocolate used is all certified organic, which has obvious benefits for the environment, but it’s also fair trade – meaning that the cacao beans have been purchased directly from growers or their cooperatives for a higher price than the prevailing market. Eliminating the middleman puts more money in the pockets of the growers, allowing them to invest more in their own communities, and often, the certification means that certain environmental standards have been followed as well.

Fair trade also seeks to address the dark side of the chocolate industry. Not dark as in a higher percentage of cocoa, but an element that involves child labor, slavery, and unsafe working conditions. You can read some of the buzz kill stats on the Sweet Earth website, and rest assured that the chocolates you get from Sweet Earth in no way contribute to these harmful practices.

In fact, Neuhaus not only visits cocoa farms firsthand, but also founded Project Hope and Fairness, a charitable organization that is currently focusing its efforts to help Ivory Coast cocoa farmers, many of whom are dirt poor and struggling to eke out an existence while they farm one of the world’s most prized luxury goods.

Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates will be one of the featured vendors at the upcoming Earth Day Food and Wine Festival in April, but if you’d like to pick some up for Valentine’s Day, check out the list of locations in your area. They’re also available at Splash Café on Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo (co-owned by Tom’s sister Joanne Currie and the “production site” for all the chocolates) or at The Crushed Grape in the Madonna Shopping Center.