☯ California Bankers sour on Organic Farm Loans ► 'Lemon Loan' Foreclosures loom on farms

July 18, 2012 - PRLog -- Local farmer and restaurateur Tara Hamilton, normally unflappable, is frustrated. Her 20-acre organic farm successfully grows fruits and vegetables, she runs two organic restaurants, and she passionately gives of her time and resources to the community. The problem? These endeavors aren’t profitable enough to qualify her for a $120,000 mortgage to save the farm.

“The financing we used to establish a diverse organic farm requires high interest monthly payments A traditional mortgage at 4.5% would eliminate our debt, and reduce our payments to $1,000 which is manageable.” says Hamilton

In 2007, after their 5th child was born, Tara and her husband Mark became passionate about the role of an organic diet in disease prevention and transitioned from their full time printing business to organic farming. They started with a traditional Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, converting the family bus to a mobile grocery store and making weekly deliveries to subscribing customers.

Revive Cafe was born from public demand for a place to enjoy whole, healthy food in a restaurant setting. The small cafe/farm store in downtown Fresno is popular as a farm-to-table destination. They serve dairy-free smoothies, fresh pressed juices, and raw, vegan desserts and entrees made with local, seasonal ingredients grown on the Hamiltons’ farm and other local organic farms.

Organic Fresno Eatery and Market was opened in April to expand the farm-to-table reach to include cooked vegetarian specialties. The restaurant enjoys a devoted and growing clientele.

The two businesses have been featured in local media and the Hamiltons are actively involved with the community. They teach a weekly “un-cooking” class featuring local fruits and vegetables and produce a 30 minute show that airs locally to teach the community how to prepare entrees and desserts using whole, organic, fresh ingredients.

Over 40, Tara feels in better health than when she was 25. “I became a ‘farmacist’, teaching others about the connection between food and health”. Healthy living brings tremendous changes in how our body rests, heals, processes food and eliminates waste. I realized people were embarrassed to talk about elimination, the same way I was embarrassed to ask for help in saving the farm. Potty Training 101 is a fun, colorful, and lighthearted wall poster for the bathroom that talks about how to maximize your body’s processing and healthy elimination of food.

Wellness 101: The 5 Keys to Good Health is an easy reference chart which highlights the importance of sleep, food, water, exercise and Ph balance in maintaining optimum health. Finally, Hamilton’s e-book “19 Ways to Love or Fail Your Body”, a step-by-step guide for self-assessment and improvement, is designed to help people take control of their bodies and their health.

Asking people to help save a valuable community resource like the Hamiltons’ farm is a grassroots effort to give the public a say in the farms future. Tara hopes the public will do what the banks refused to: fund her organic farm dream so she doesn’t have to sell. “Selling the farm wouldn’t end our businesses because we would continue to purchase from local organic farmers. But our farm-to-table philosophy is the cornerstone of our restaurant and the foundation for educating the public about whole food. If I’m not a farmacist, I’m feel like I’m just setting the table”, says Hamilton.

Hamilton has established a website to help the community participate in saving the farm at http://www.facebook.com/l/8AQHFCM6UAQG7HwPWHDHBEG78RRde5c.... Anyone donating $1 or more will receive, as a gift, any of the three publications: Wellness 101: The 5 Keys to Good Health; Potty Training 101; and the e-book “19 Ways to Love or Fail Your Body”.

For more information the media can contact Tara Hamilton directly at 559.284.3976.