Earthbound turns the Web green
Where to find it: www.ebfarm.com
Who runs the site: San Benito County’s own Earthbound Farm
Organic, the world’s largest producer of organic greens, as well as
a host of other sustainably grown foods. Founded in 1984 on 2.5
acres in Carmel Valley, Earthbound grew quickly as consumers fell
in love with prewashed, organic salad greens. Today, the company
employs some 1,200 full-time and seasonal employees.
Earthbound turns the Web green
Where to find it: www.ebfarm.com
Who runs the site: San Benito County’s own Earthbound Farm Organic, the world’s largest producer of organic greens, as well as a host of other sustainably grown foods. Founded in 1984 on 2.5 acres in Carmel Valley, Earthbound grew quickly as consumers fell in love with prewashed, organic salad greens. Today, the company employs some 1,200 full-time and seasonal employees.
Who is likely to use the site: People interested in employment with San Benito County’s largest employer, anyone interested in the company’s history, or cooks looking for new ideas for preparing high quality produce.
Pros: The site is beautiful, the best locally based Web site we’ve encountered. It loads quickly, bringing up lush looking pages packed with information. The hundreds of recipes alone make the site well worth a visit. Online shoppers can purchase many products direct from the farm. Navigation is very intuitive. To get to recipes, for example, Web surfers can click on a recipe box on the navigation bar near the top of the home page or a photo of an index card tab. The site is frequently updated, encouraging visitors to return to check the latest newsletter, employment opportunities and recipes. It even offers identification charts for herbs and pumpkins and squash.
The site includes farm tours, a scrapbook, and an “ask Farmer Mark” advice column. Recipes are organized by ingredient, by celebrity chef or as a series of cooking tips.
For those of us who live in San Benito County, with its long history of small family farms, a first encounter with www.ebfarm.com is likely to produce a high “gee whiz” quotient. With rich soil, abundant water and a benign climate, big ag has clearly discovered the unique value of San Benito County’s pricey farmland.
Cons: Did we mention that this is the best locally based Web site we’ve seen? If there are any nits to pick here, it may be that you should plan your first visit for when you have a chunk of time. It’s that good. Sure, some of the photos are a little dark on some monitors, but on the whole the site is bright, informative and fun. Some visitors may also find some of the site’s information to be a little strident in the area of food safety. Earthbound figured prominently in the 2006 nationwide E. coli bacteria panic, so all the material about clean greens may be an artifact of that.
