Beachgreens delivers nutrition to your doorstep

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

As the owner of beachgreens, Aliye Aydin brings the farmers market—from Santa Monica, to be exact—to your doorstep. Too busy to go organic on your own? Let Aliye (pronounced Ah-lee-yah)—who not only studied nutrition at Berkeley but trained as a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute in Manhattan and worked as a personal chef, caterer and cooking instructor—be your personal food shopper. Thirty-five dollars a week gets you a box of seasonal produce (enough for two people who eat most of their meals at home; $28 for single folks), and you can select your boxes to be filled with all vegetables, all fruit, more vegetables than fruit (or vice versa), or a 50-50 mix. And as a bonus, Aliye sends recipes and kitchen tips, like what to stock in your pantry to go with all your delicious, fresh food.

Have you noticed any increase in prices at the farmers markets?
I expected to see an increase a few months ago—spring came, there were different crops—I just wasn’t used to things. But then everything equalized. In my head, I was like, ‘What’s the story? I don’t see [higher prices] in my world.’ Which is kind of interesting.

For those who are unfamiliar with organic farming, is there really that much of a difference between organic and non-organic farming?
Yes!  Organic produce has more nutrients and minerals in general. Scientifically, this is starting to be proven. There’s also no chemical sprays and no synthetic pesticides. None of the farmers I buy from use chemical sprays or synthetic pesticides. But not all of the people I buy from are certified organic.

Why’s that?
When the USDA came in [with organic certification], certain farms that had already been organic opted not to [take the steps to become certified]. The farmers said, ‘I’m going to be the farmer I’ve always been.’ My benefit is that I know them all. I can ask, ‘What’s good this week? What’s not good this week? How’s your family?’ If someone were to ever complain that they got sick, from spinach maybe, I’d say, ‘Let me go talk to Joe—see if he had any other complaints.’ That’s it. It’s direct source. And I think people innately desire that connection to their food. It’s safer. I offer increased nutrition delivered to your doorstep. It’s like health insurance. With Whole Foods, their tomatoes are from Italy. People say, ‘I don’t care, so long as it’s organic’—I call that the ‘early ’90s’ way of thinking. If it’s costing the amount of air pollution it does to get to you, what’s the point?

I read recently that someone—I think it was Gordon Ramsay—said that chefs who aren’t cooking with locally grown, seasonal ingredients should be punished.
I’m of that—I’ve been around a lot of chefs. I’ll say, ‘What’s that?’ ‘Endive.’ ‘Okay, but that’s not really even grown on this continent.’ It’s like tomatoes in January; I won’t enjoy it as much. In a lot of other cities there’s a push for local. I’d like to see more of that here: Can we get a farm name on the menu? I’d pay a hell of a lot more for that. Like, ‘You know the farmer? That’s cool!’ You’re going to tell me about their two kids—that’s huge. But it’s hard. We live a lot farther from farms. Drive 45 minutes outside San Francisco and you’re at an organic farm. Drive 45 minutes here and you’re in Hollywood. But ultimately, when you eat out, you have to think, ‘Where does this food come from? A farm.’ But where?

Something that’s really big right now is homegrown foods. You grow a lot of produce in your own backyard. What’s thriving right now?
If I had time to keep up the yard and wasn’t eight months pregnant, it’d be a lot better! But right now, strawberries. I can go out and pick 10 every day. I’ve also got apples, olives, peaches, oranges, almonds and apricots. But I’ve got one of the bigger lots in Long Beach. If I devoted more time, I could nearly get all the food I need from my yard. That’s the dream. There’s a movement in San Diego I’ve heard about—‘Food Not Lawns’ I think is the name. It’s such a trip on my street. I never water the lawn, but a guy down the street just planted sod—very different views on beauty. I wish lawns were illegal—at least if we’re watering, make it something we can eat!

For people who read this and decide to head to one of our local farmers’ markets, what do you recommend?
Peas! Sugar snap, English peas, plus lettuces, green garlic, spring onions, leeks. Also, your basics: broccoli, chard, kale, spinach, blueberries and strawberries―the best strawberries ever! And soon, the farmers promise me, we’ll be into stone fruits, definitely peaches and nectarines. I really like fennel right now, too.

What can you do with fennel?
You can put it in salads, have it raw―shave it! Recently I braised some in olive oil, wine and garlic―you can eat that as a side dish! Also, I am really having fun with drinks. We had a lot of mint, so I made mint syrup. Now my boyfriend puts it in everything!

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Tags: beachgreens, Commerce, delivery, farmers market, Food, Long Beach, organic