Industry: Food service

Headquarters: Philadelphia, PA

Founder: Judy Wicks

Founded: 1983

Markets: Philadelphia, PA

Interviewed: Judy Wicks, Founder

The White Dog Cafe is located in three adjacent Victorian brownstones in the University City section of Philadelphia. Known for its unusual blend of award-winning cuisine and social activism, the cafe presents numerous events throughout the year which please palates while raising consciousness. The cafe’s cuisine is contemporary American and incorporates many other culinary influences from Native American to Southeast Asian. It emphasizes high quality, farm fresh ingredients, purchased from local sustainable farmers whenever possible. The menu balances the familiar with the new, presenting dishes with flair, originality, and outstanding flavor and freshness. The White Dog Cafe’s support of sustainable agriculture is driven by both taste and food politics. Seasonal, local, and organically grown ingredients taste better. Humane and sustainable agriculture produces safe, wholesome food in a manner that is ecologically sound, economically viable, equitable, humane, and provides a healthy and safe environment for the present and future.

At White Dog Cafe they use good food lure customers into social activism. The firm’s goal is to be in service in four areas: serving customers, serving community, serving each other as fellow employees, and serving nature. Through extensive programming and a newsletter, White Dog Cafe gets its loyal customers involved in its many social action issues. The topics in which the cafe is engaged include: economic justice and fair trade, environmental sustainability, socially responsible business, criminal justice reform, peace and nonviolence, children, seniors, diversity, and social change through the arts.

White Dog Café

3420 Sansom Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

www.whitedog.com

Social Action: http://www.whitedog.com/action.html

            Industry: Beverage

Headquarters: Ojai, CA

Founder: Zhena Muzyka

Founded: 2000

Markets: United States, Australia, Iceland

Interviewed: Zhena Muzyka, Founder and CEO

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea formulates and sells a variety of bagged organic, Fair Trade teas. All of Zhena’s tea blends are sourced from Fair Trade, organic gardens in Sri Lanka, India and two Fair Trade organic projects in China.  The company has direct relationships with its tea growers, the tea pluckers, and the families who depend on the income from its fair trade purchases. Zhena guarantees only the finest, highest grade essential oils of fruits and flowers used in its hand-blended teas, and only natural flavorings of liqueurs and spices are used. The natural flavors are derived primarily from organic fruits, spices, herbs with a base of either rice or olive oil, or an organic alcohol base. They are certified GMO and allergen free and are 100% natural.

The goal of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea is to end poverty in the areas where the firm purchases its raw materials. The way the firm accomplishes its goals is by rebuilding communities where it buys its materials and choosing to purchase from communities in need instead of trying to get the best price.

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
205 Bryant St
Ojai, CA 93023

www.gypsytea.com