A Spin Through a Celery-Scented Factory

Been reading a lot about raw foods lately, and how the live enzymes and plentiful nutrients present in unheated foods are so extraordinarily healthy for you. This isn't news--I've been covering the raw milk issue for awhile now. But I never really sat and thought about how much raw food I eat in the course of a day, without really trying. And I never considered myself a "raw foodist" before.

But, ya' know what? I guess if you add up the two or three raw fruits, and those massive salads I eat almost every day of raw greens (including ones most folks usually cook such as kale, collards, bok choy, Swiss chard and more) topped with raw seeds, nuts, and beans, I'm probably looking at a good 50% of my diet.

Interestingly, an article in the current issue of VegNews, which is what got me thinking about all this, mentioned that a raw food diet requires much less energy from your body for digestion, so a surge in energy is common in those who eat this way.

So that's what's been going on! Since I went vegetarian last March 23, I have been bouncing off the walls with energy. I had expected an energy drop, especially because of a reduction in iron in my diet, but have been surprised that the exact opposite has happened.

Raw foodists also eat sprouted grains and seeds, and superfoods such as spirulina and other euphemistically-named "sea vegetables." (That's seaweed, folks. Let's call it like it is!)

And that, of course, reminded me of my visit to Arden's Garden, a local juice manufacturer about which I wrote last June and then visited this past fall for an Edible Atlanta article (but the publisher just sold and all my articles went into limbo!)

So, for today's Eating Close to Home post, I take you to Arden's Garden:

Let’s face it—making fresh juice is time-consuming and expensive, plus who wants to clean that machine? Why not let Arden Zinn, founder of Arden’s Garden, do it for you? My kids fell in love with the Arden’s Garden’s Oops flavor (pineapple, orange and cranberry juices) at Whole Foods. It was, therefore, a joyous occasion when we visited the Arden’s Garden headquarters, retail store and processing plant (all rolled into one brightly-painted building in East Point) on the day of the week when Oops, and several other juices, get made!

Our tour started with custom-blended smoothies in the retail shop, where the whole line of Arden’s Garden juices is sold, including gallon jugs of Arden’s Garden 2-Day Detox special formula along with raw food goodies and dehydrated fruits and veggies that explode with sweetness as they melt in your mouth.

Victor Gaffney, Arden’s Garden’s director and a long-time friend of Arden’s, then outfitted us in hairnets and took us for a spin through the 24,000-square-foot celery-scented factory, where sixteen fruits and eight veggies (no preservatives, sweeteners, or added flavors or colorings) are washed, crushed, mixed, cold-pressed, pasteurized at the minimum temperature (166 degrees) for the minimum amount of time (4.7 seconds) in order to retain the highest level of nutrients and flavor, labeled and bottled.

We tasted just-made Oops from large drums in the plant, as well as the addictively-delicious Supergreen, the company’s best-selling juice. As a local food enthusiast, I was pleased to learn that all citrus fruit used by Arden’s Garden comes from our sister state, Florida, and watermelons and apples are Georgia-grown, when available.

Arden’s Garden juices have a shelf-life of just 4-10 days, depending on the flavor. In our house, they have yet to make it through the day. Oh, and Arden's Garden also sells raw snacks such as nori bites and fuzzy kisses. Who wouldn't want a fuzzy kiss?

Only downside? No organics yet. So Arden's Garden products are a once-in-a-while experience for me, although I'd like to drink that Supergreen every single day, if it were organic. I'll let you know if that day ever comes.