What would breakfast be (or lunch for our coffee die-hards!) without the perfect cup of coffee?!  When Brown Bag thinks coffee, our list is short: M.E. Swing Company (MESCos), otherwise known as Swing’s Coffee!  Swing’s coffee is a DC institution and has been since it was founded in 1916 by M.E. Swing and his son, Edward Swing.  In 1920, the family opened its now historic MESCO Coffee Roasters building at 1013 E Street, and the smell of fresh-roasted coffee filled the air there for 70 years.

The Swing family roasted their coffee using large, German roasters up on the third floor of their E Street building; and today, Swing’s is still fond of German roasters. Now, Swing’s uses huge, Probat roasters to do the job in Alexandria, Virginia, and the tradition continues there.  In their own words, “All [Swing’s] coffees are sample roasted to ideal color and flavor, then craft-roasted just as it was at 1013 E.”

The Swing family saw the company through 90 years of ups and downs, and they never wavered in their commitment to quality and flavor or in their hands-on approach to roasting.  In 2006, after over 60 years of service to the company, Patricia Swing (grand daughter of M.E. Swing), passed the reins to Mark Warmuth, who not only took ownership of the company, he took the Swing’s commitment to roasting the best coffee and he continued moving the company forward.

Now, Swing’s boasts a menu of around 20 different coffees, from decaf to espresso, as well as single-origin coffee and blends, but in their new coffee bar in Del Ray, they sell cups that are exclusively single-origin beans.  The MESCO Blend was given a patent in 1918 and is still one of DC’s most popular coffees, but it’s not the only trick this company has up its sleeve.  Warmuth is determined to keep this tradition-rich company current and vital.  “Right now, I want to showcase some of the good stuff we’re doing with single-origin beans, because it seems to me that the biggest criticism we get as a company is that all we do are blends,” Warmuth told the Washington Post in response to questions about the Del Mar location.

If their reviews are any indication, then Swing’s has succeeded in both coffee cups—blended and single-origin: “Some of the best coffee we’ve ever had. As much as we love the original Swing’s location and their perfectly blended coffees, this Alexandria location’s commitment to /unblended/ [single-origin] coffee is a welcome change of pace.”

Luckily for you, Brown Bag can help you out with your Swing’s addiction!  Come by and enjoy a cup with your favorite Brown Bag breakfast!

Whenever Brown Bag can buy fresh and local, we do.  It’s important to us to support the community that we live in and the planet that we live on.  Our commitment to buy fresh and local has been one of the precepts on which we founded Brown Bag; so, when we discovered Capital Seaboard, we were thrilled!

Capital Seaboard has been supplying amazing seafood and produce to the eastern seaboard for 80 years now.  It’s owned and operated in Jessup, Maryland, and serves Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.  They supply their customers with a broad range of produce (as well as organic produce), but not only is Capital Seaboard a trusted name in the Mid-Atlantic region for delivering fresh, quality produce, they also share Brown Bag’s core values.  In their own words:

We are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to provide you with the freshest and most eco- friendly manner of produce and seafood distribution.

We are researching new and innovative ways to reduce and reuse energy within our factory and trucking fleet. Our goal is to leave this world better than we found it. That is why our recycling program returns 80% of our packing materials to improve the environment and reduce landfills.

But Capital Seaboard isn’t all fruits and veggies.  They also sell amazing seafood.  A couple of the local suppliers they buy from are: Shooting Point Oyster Company on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and JC Walker Clams, whose company headquarters are in Willish Wharf, Virginia.  They’ve also partnered with a very innovative and forward-thinking company called CleanFish.  CleanFish is going even beyond fresh and local, they look at new ways to raise fish sustainably, and they believe in what they call a “new paradigm:” producers linked to chefs and consumers to make a cleaner future.  If you don’t know anything about CleanFish, check them out!

Clearly, Capital Seaboard has a lot of good going on, and Brown Bag is proud to be part of it.  We believe in serving our patrons only the best and freshest food, and supporting our local environment and communities is as important to us as preserving our planet as a whole.  Think globally, act locally.  Our partnership with Capital Seaboard is just one of the great partnerships we have with a supplier.  There are more to come!

It’s not!  The Mambo Track Annual Natural and Organic Product Survey for 2013 shows an increase in: spending on organics, sourcing food products, seeking out non-GMO, and buying sustainable ‘Farm to Table’ food products that can be traced back to the area they live in by health and eco-conscious shoppers.  Happily, it looks like healthy consumers are checking more than just ingredients on the label.

Of those surveyed 7 in 10 sourced products by reading package labels or in-store signage, while 6 in 10 checked out brand or product websites to get more info on their origins.  Looking for what you want locally is reaching beyond produce, as well.  Seafood buyers report looking for eco-seafood labels and Wild Seafood Certifications on their seafood picks.  “Eco shoppers have moved beyond ingredient lists and are now focused on tracing the source of their food supply from Non-GMO to locally/regionally produced and Fair Trade. Sustainable meat/poultry and seafood is gaining interest due to third-party certifications and heightened media coverage,” says Karen Herther, co-founder of Market LOHAS leading the Mambo Track Research.

Taste, nutrition and ingredients were reported to be important factors when choosing a brand, but lest you think price concerns have gone out the window, let us set you straight: Healthy, cost-conscious consumers are sticking closely with store and private label brand natural and organic products, and coupons are holding strong with 8 in 10 respondents saying that they will continue or increase their coupon usage in the next year.

Seven in ten or more respondents report buying their natural and organic products at conventional supermarkets, local health food stores, Whole Foods, and regional specialty food outlets, and that’s good news!  It’s heartening to see that more and more mainstream supermarkets are beginning to stock natural and organic products, and we can only imagine that as the number of consumers buying these items increases, it will become easier and easier to find the natural and organic products that you want at your local grocery store.  Dare we dream that prices on these items may come down?

Brown Bag is committed to healthy eating and locally-sourced products whenever they are available.  The closer to home you find your food, the smaller your carbon footprint, the more good your do for your community and your planet.  We agree completely with the statement, “Think globally, act locally.”  Won’t you join us?  Check your labels; research the companies whose products you buy; head over to your local farmer’s market and support local growers!  Come see us at Brown Bag where we’ve done all of this work for you, and enjoy your lunch or breakfast knowing that your meal is as healthy as it is eco-friendly.