Something Different, something New, something utterly Delicious and full of Life – Peace Meal Cooperative, a vegetarian deli now open on Bullard Street in downtown Silver City, NM, has all this to offer and more! Peace Meal specializes in dine-in and take-out vegetarian, vegan, and live raw foods prepared from organic and locally grown produce, nuts, seeds, and grains. The deli features a smoothie and juice bar, and a wide array of freshly prepared sandwiches, salads, snack foods, and soups that span the vegetarian, vegan, and live foods genres. With a mission toward local sustainability, Peace Meal is passionately committed to using only the best organic and locally grown produce available, something that no other restaurant in southwest NM offers. Every menu option is beyond tasty, but equally important, the intention behind the food is health, nutrition, and wholeness of mind, body, and spirit for all. Imagine the quality of product and service of a restaurant where every server, chef, and cashier is an owner of the establishment. This is what you can expect at Peace Meal. The deli is incorporated as a worker-cooperative, which means that the restaurant is owned by the people who work there; each worker-owner shares an equal portion of the responsibilities of running and operating the restaurant, with equal start-up investment, equal hourly wages, and equal profit-sharing benefits. For the customer, the worker-coop aspect of the restaurant translates to quality enthusiastic service, uncompromised integrity of the deli staff, and a creative and fun ambiance. Peace Meal largely fills the need in the community for a place to purchase a meal that is prepared entirely with organic ingredients (i.e., grown sustainably without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers), many of which come directly from local farmers. While Peace Meal is committed to serving organic vegetarian foods only, the menu features nutrient balanced juices, smoothies, and deli entrées that constitute a complete meal, with ample protein coming from nuts, seeds, legumes, sprouts, green leafy vegetables, and sea vegetables.
Peace Meal’s worker-owners are convinced that even staunch meat eaters will find Peace Meal’s vegetarian, vegan, and raw menu selections scrumptious, satisfying both the palate and the belly. Peace Meal’s menu is conducive to a growing population of people with special doctor-recommended or voluntary dietary restrictions to wheat/gluten, dairy, processed sugar, refined salt, red meat, and animal flesh. Those adhering to a strictly vegan diet (no dairy or eggs) will have plenty of entrée choices. Peace Meal also provides multiple menu options for those preferring raw live foods in which nothing is heated over 118oF, thus preserving all the inherent enzymes of the food that aid in digestion and nutrient assimilation. For those who prefer to cross the lines between organic vegetarian, vegan, and live foods, Peace Meal is the restaurant from heaven!In addition to healthy food, Peace Meal is committed to sustainable practices that are healthy to the people that work and eat there, to the environment, and to the entire Earth. The interior of the Peace Meal deli is painted with non-toxic solvent free paints and surface sealers. Environmentally friendly cleaners and cleansers don’t leave toxic chemical residues in the air or on eating surfaces. Rather than sanitizing dishes with a chemical cleanser such as chlorine that is both toxic to inhale and ingest, Peace Meal sanitizes with a pure water bath heated to 171oF. Take-out containers are selected to facilitate recycling that is currently available in Silver City. Peace Meal’s refrigerators are twice as energy-efficient as conventional commercial refrigeration. The restaurant is flooded with natural air and light from many windows. Excess heat from kitchen appliances is removed and air exchanged via an energy efficient exhaust fan. Furthermore, Peace Meal commits to minimize food waste by selling excess and 2nd –day items at discount.
Peace Meal was birthed by a group of six gourmet cooks and health food enthusiasts, each of whom was interested in opening their own restaurant but didn’t want to take on the financial risk and time burden of opening a conventional sole-proprietorship. The worker-cooperative business model enables each of the worker-owners to achieve the dream of running and owning their own restaurant, while feeling the support of their co-owners and the community as a whole; Peace Meal really belongs to the community that it will serve.
