Organic Vegan on the Farm

Welcome to the White Rabbit Organic Food Farm in Vero Beach!  Visiting this special place is one of the coolest experiences I have had shopping for organic fruits & veggies!  And it has such a cute name too :)

First of all, this place is very underground & hush-hush, kinda like the speak-easy for farm-fresh food shopping.  The Reporter in me feels like I'm blowing their classified cover by giving you the exclusive sneak-peek of this out-of-the-way no-frills market.

My parents were my tour guides & they still got lost getting to this tucked-in store!  Making the wrong turn twice & second-guessing which dirt road it was down... & they've been here a few times.  You can't even find this place on google maps! I know because I tried.  But like I said, this is not a farm co-op that is looking for any fan-fare.  But make no mistake, the 'White Rabbit' has FANS.

The faithful that frequent the establishment know exactly what is in season, what is grown on the property, what is available & for sale, what will be available in a few weeks. Everyone who walked into the joint, I approached to ask questions, thinking they must work there.  Every person answered my questions but they were all customers, not employees.  Because guess what?  There are none!

You scoop your own dry goods & weigh your own vegetables.  This is self-service all the way!  My Dad got a kick out of the walk-in refrigerator.  He scooped up evaporated cane juice my Mom needed for a recipe while I munched on dehydrated banana chips - no oil, no sugar.  This is not your average Whole Foods or Fresh Market!  This is like an old-time grocery store... & what was most unexpected is the surprising location of Vero Beach!

Homegrown Honey!  Harvested from local honey bees and of course... it's organic.  I love supporting local farmers that keep sustainable food in the area, so that they can keep a low carbon footprint by avoiding shipping products all over the U.S.  And I love honey!  Seriously, I've cut refined sugar & corn syrup as much out of my diet as I possibly can, so sugar has become a yummy substitute for sweetening! 

Look at all those fresh fruits & veggies in the cold cases!  My Mom & I were drooling over the kale & grapes while my Dad & I devoured the watermelon & apples!  The White Rabbit has those healthy super foods that you will never find at Publix or Winn Dixie.  Ok... I know I get excited about eating Vegan & choosing super clean food choices, but this visit to the farm makes grocery shopping fun, so that you can get excited about cooking your next meal or preparing a healthy snack.  It's an adventure!

And this may be the coolest part of all... Remember I told you that I couldn't find anyone that worked there?  Well, the entire store is on the honor system!  How awesome is that?  Believing the best in human beings in 2013??  I LOVE IT!  So you have to weigh your own fruits & veggies in the old-fashioned scale... Then you add up your grocery total on the calculator from the 1960's... Then you put your cash (no credit cards!) into a little yellow envelope... And you drop it to to a box.  But what if you don't have exact change?  Money is laying out on the counter to make change... Can you believe that?  Amazing trusting owners in this day & age... Because the people shopping at this farm store support what they are doing.  Isn't that how it should be?

My Mom & I both love to shop, she loves to cook & I love to eat!  So this shopping adventure was right up our alley.  She made me homemade vegan chocolate chip cookies with the evaporated cane juice we bought, I chopped up tons of bites of watermelon for my Dad & me to chow down on & now I know where to get kale when I'm in Vero, because I pretty much put kale in everything I eat!

It was a beautiful sunny day to visit the White Rabbit!  Those beautiful blue skies fed these tall sunflowers... Taller than me!  These are the biggest sunflowers I have ever seen... This guy had to be nearly seven feet tall!  What a day... fun with the family... Honest purchasing of healthy eats & home to cool it all... Yummy for my tummy = HAPPINESS!