Meet Daniel & Jasmine of GREENBERRY!
Daniel McAllister describes the response to his product line with a telling anecdote.
“A chef came to us and told us he had a nightmare that he was unable to get our products,” he divulges.
This might be the ultimate compliment to Daniel and his wife Jasmine who own and operate Greenberry, a living foods producer, right out of their Sunnyside home.
Living foods are foods that have not been cooked and therefore contain their natural enzymes. A wide variety of plants fall under this description, but Daniel and Jasmine grow sandwich sprouts, micro-greens, sprouted beans and greens, and micro-herbs.
Daniel is a touch coy when asked how they got their start in this line of work. “It started with chocolate,” he says.
The chocolate connection refers to his and Jasmine’s experience while attending a local health foods show in 2010. There, they met Bridgette Longshore of Giddy Yoyo, which sells raw chocolate as one of its primary products. Bridgette directed the curious couple to the work of a series of health experts who advocate raw or living foods as dietary pillars.
Daniel and Jasmine espoused the principles of Dr. Gabriel Cousens, David Wolfe and Dr. Brian Clement. And after two years incorporating these principles into their diets, the couple delved into growing their own food at home.
With some trial and error around lighting and watering, their homegrown sprouts, greens and beans began to flourish. Word got out in the area, and in 2012, Daniel and Jasmine were invited to sell at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Farmer’s Market.
Since that time, the pair has grown their business into a year-round operation. It is full-time work for the couple who balances raising three young children with the need to supply a long list of customers. This list is now made up of local restaurants, individuals and community-supported agriculture programs.
Their product line is on display each Wednesday at the Farmer’s Market. You can find sunflower, alfalfa and clover sprouts, pea shoots, sprouted lentils and chickpeas, radish micro-greens, micro-basil, micro-cilantro, and much, much more.
