Oops!

About a year ago, my kids discovered a fresh juice brand named Arden's Garden. Their favorite flavor, called Oops!, was apparently created as a mistake. The clever copy on the label says to "drink this juice and turn your blunders into blessings." The ingredients list contains only three items: fresh pineapples, bananas, cranberries. That's it. Ingredients--and a message--about which a mom can feel good.

And so it was with great excitement and a bit of nervousness that I told my kids I was going to call Arden. Please, please, please, use fruit from our foodshed, I thought to myself, so I can rave about the company!

Arden Zinn started the company about twelve years ago. She is an ardent (no pun intended!) supporter of the nutritional benefits of fresh juices, cold-pressed using Norwalk juicing methodologies to retain the bulk of the nutrients. Arden's Garden juices and smoothies are made fresh six days a week at a 24,000-square-foot processing plant from fruits and vegetables, nothing else. No sweeteners, concentrates, purees, dairy products, or even ice.

Arden has a deep, no-nonsense voice filled with passion and opinion. But it was Leslie, her daughter and business partner in charge of operations, with whom I needed to talk to find out the details about the fruits and veggies.

Turns out Arden's Garden uses North Georgia apples for about two months of the year, when they are freshly harvested. The next-best thing is the amount of produce they source from our sister foodshed, Florida. They get 100% of their citrus from Florida, as well as their watermelons.

But the big news? Leslie is definitely interested in releasing a locally-sourced organic juice but doesn't have a reliable source who can provide the quantity of fruits and veggies that she needs. She is open to talking with you if you are a certified organic farmer within the Atlanta foodshed. That means all of Georgia, as far north as Asheville, North Carolina, and into parts of Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Check out the Arden's Garden website at www.ardensgarden.com. And contact Leslie at 404.209.1200 if you think you might be a good match for Arden's Garden.

And speaking of "about a year ago," it is with great excitement that I celebrate the One Year Anniversary of FoodShed today! And it's Market Day--could it be more fitting?

Oops!