The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) yesterday cleared the way for local ice cream producer and retailer Little Baby’s Ice Cream to open shop on the 4900 block of Catharine Street, across the street from Cedar Park. If all goes as planned, the shop should be open by April 1.

Little Baby’s has been wooing Cedar Park residents for a while now and even sent them an “open love letter” on Valentine’s Day. The Cedar Park Neighbors civic association loved them back with a letter of support to the ZBA, which late yesterday provided Little Baby’s with the necessary permit to convert the storefront at 4903 Catharine into the company’s first retail shop west of the Schuylkill.

The company got a massive boost in the form of a 5-year, $50,000 loan from The Enterprise Center to expand into Cedar Park.

Little Baby’s Ice Cream is handmade in their production facility in East Kensington. Their dairy comes from Trickling Springs Creamery in Chambersburg, Penna. Here is a great profile on the three musicians who turned their passion for ice cream into a successful business.

Neighborhood Foods, a West Philly urban farm, is bringing its CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) back to Four Worlds Bakery for pick-up and adding one new pick-up point at 37th and Lancaster this year. Here’s a reminder of how CSA works: Customers pay the farmer at the beginning of the season and receive a box of local produce every week.

This year, Neighborhood Foods is working directly with Lancaster farmers to supplement what they grow in the city and are also incorporating Philly-produced jam, honey, bread, and locally roasted coffee, all of which are available through the CSA.

Neighborhood Foods consists of a group of activists, farmers, and entrepreneurs of all ages whose main goal is to unify communities through urban farming and civic action. They offer educational programs for people of all ages, bring neighbors together through events, and make fresh local produce accessible in low-income neighborhoods. All of the income from the CSA goes to support these programs.

The Neighborhood Foods CSA runs from May 24 through October 25. To sign up, please visit neighborhoodfoods.org or email: neighborhoodfoods@gmail.com.

Pssst. Hey, West Philly meat eaters! This Saturday, March 2, there’s a great opportunity to try meat from local farms and help neighborhood schools. Philly CowShare, a West Philly-based company that  sells “shares” of locally-raised, grass-fed beef and pastured pork, is hosting a one-day meat sale at the Calvary Center at 48th & Baltimore, from 2 – 6 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools and Penn Alexander School’s HSA.

The sale offers a one-stop shop where you can learn about participating farms, buy a package of beef or pork to cook at home and even get some recipes! The following items will be available for purchase: steaks, roasts, ground beef, no-nitrate bacon, sausage, pork chops, and sampler packs (pre-orders for sampler bundles are available online). All meat is individually packaged, labeled, and USDA certified.

Philly CowShare helps connect “communities of responsible farmers and butchers with urban communities who simply want to eat well.” The company sells bundles of beef called CowShares and bundles of pork called PigShares that are available to purchase individually and as a group. Philly CowShare challenges the consumer to eat healthy meat and to eat meat more mindfully and wants to make sure that “the farmer and butcher are paid fairly and the animals are raised in accordance with their nature and in harmony with the land.”

To learn more about how Philly CowShare operates, visit their website or Facebook page.

Life in West Philly may soon become a little sweeter. A popular Philadelphia ice cream and frozen dessert shop, Little Baby’s Ice Cream,  has revealed plans to expand into West Philly and already has chosen a Cedar Park location. The property where the new Little Baby’s Ice Cream parlor is proposed is at 4903 Catharine Street, which is the old Fourth River Signworks property.

This Thursday, Feb. 21, the Cedar Park Neighbors Zoning Committee and the owners of Little Baby’s Ice Cream will review the proposed plans to convert 4903 Catharine Street into a takeout ice cream parlor/restaurant on the first floor of the property at a zoning meeting, which will begin at 7:15 p.m. at Calvary Center (48th & Baltimore). Vacant spaces are proposed on the second and third floor of the property. Residents are invited to the meeting to provide their feedback on this issue before a hearing at the Zoning Board of Adjustment scheduled on March 13 at 5:00 pm at 1515 Arch St.

If the proposal is approved by the ZBA and if everything else goes according to the plans, the new shop, titled “Little Baby’s Ice Cream Cedar Park Embassy,” will open in the early spring 2013.

Little Baby’s Ice Cream specializes in handmade, small-batch Philadelphia style ice cream and non-dairy and vegan frozen desserts, as well as handmade cookies and milkshakes.

Mariposa‘s Food Justice and Anti-Racism Working Group (FJAR) is building a library and seeking donations of books, zines and articles relating to food justice, organizing, pedagogy, gentrification, racism, and anti-oppression. Donations of cookbooks and primers about the food system and nutrition for both youth and adults are also welcome.

If you have books you’d like to donate, please drop them off in the store (4824 Baltimore Ave) or contact Mariposa for a pick-up by emailing: mariposa.fjar.library@gmail.com.

The library is expected to open this spring and materials will be available (during designated times) for borrowing by both staff and members.

Douglas Witmer and Daniel Thut opened their first coffee shop in January 2003. (Photo courtesy Green Line Cafe).

The popular business The Green Line Cafe is celebrating its 10th year of “coffee, culture, and conversation from West Philly.” Congratulations to the owners, Douglas Witmer and Daniel Thut, staff and all the fans and lovers of Green Line’s brewed products and friendly atmosphere.

To mark the anniversary The Green Line is inviting neighbors and friends to a party this Friday, Feb. 15 from 4-8 p.m. at its flagship location at the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue. There will be free coffee and birthday cake (while supplies last), door prizes, and a slide show of the history of the The Green Line. You can also help decorate a giant birthday card. For more information about this event, please contact Douglas Witmer: greenline@greenlinecafe.com

Throughout 2013, The Green Line is inviting their patrons to add photos and memories and interact with the web-based anniversary projects on Instagram and www.greenlinecafe.com.

The Green Line Cafe was established in 2003 when brothers-in-law Witmer and Thut opened their first shop at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore on a cold January morning. Since then the cafe has added a few other locations in the area and expanded to Center City last year.

Currently, the Green Line is “growing inward” – the guys are renovating their original basement to include a walk-in refrigerator so that they can supply the city with more of its famous cold-brewed iced coffee this summer.