A really great cover story appeared in last week’s issue of the Orlando Weekly, our local independent news source. It talks about the Homegrown local food co-op, a community-supported agriculture non-profit organization here in Central Florida. They recently re-located to the Florida Hospital’s “Health Village” campus. Seventh-Day Adventists are really into a healthy diet – I believe their patients eat mostly vegetarian/vegan – and they run the hospital system, which is one of the largest in the country.
From “Betting on the Farm” by Lindy T. Shepherd:
But Florida Hospital’s Paradis deliberately partnered with an entity outside of the hospital’s insular system, rather than re-create the project within the hospital system. “I’m big enough to do the whole thing,” says Paradis of the hospital’s resources, “but I’m choosing to talk to (Homegrown Co-op), because (those) guys are so passionate – I call Michael and Emily ‘community passionaries.’”
They will also be opening a retail store sometime in the Fall, according to the article. On Orange Avenue, on one end of the “Antique Row” along Lake Ivanhoe. Orlando has sorely needed something like this for a long time, and now thanks to a generous matching grant program from Florida Hospital, it can become a reality, despite a rough economic climate.
The Weekly article says Homegrown will not be selling pork products because of Florida Hospital’s involvement. That’s a small price to pay for such a huge leg-up in your third year of existence. I honestly can’t wait for the retail store to open, and for Orlando to become a bit more self-sustaining.
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