Introduction 2024:
I wrote the original “Principals” page, a treatise, in 2005 when I recognized that AXE, my restaurant, was an extension of how I lived, rather than a business, separate in ethics and actions. This notion contrasting my observations that individuals claimed to live ethically but made other choices for their business. Choices that reflected in bottom line gains or share holder interests.
The treatise wasn’t an opportunity to boast, but rather a chance to inform and possibly even educate. Not only about the delicious food that AXE restaurant was creating but also how it functioned as a restaurant, how AXE considered materials and products with keeping waste at a minimum.
Many years have passed since that original treatise was composed, I sold the restaurant assets and moved to Northern California. My sights were on finding land to cultivate for personal use and who knows?! I spent time looking around and checking out the small farm community. I’m not a farmer but I have a deep appreciation for farmers and look for ways to support small/family farms in addition to eating solely from those toiling in soil.
My wish is that our governments, worldwide would commit to supporting small farms and ultimately the communities that surround them. I believe it would bring to focus what is true for our temporal lives. What is more grounding than engaging with what nourishes us daily, than the foods we eat? However, in reality it’s not government’s agenda to be small/family farm focused. I encourage you to act accordingly. Buy from farmers, in your community, growing high quality foods, and cultivated without chemicals. It’s up to us to support and encourage the act and art of farming.
Today, I’m adding to the original 2005 treatise. I have started by included some of the groups and organizations I’ve discovered and support. As I find my way forward in Northern California I will share more along the way..
Kitchen Table Advisors
Real Organic Label
Steward Investments
Original treatise:
AXE is and has been committed to creating and sustaining a healthy, wholesome, and diverse population and planet. We are doing this by supporting local sustainable agriculture and earth-friendly businesses, with how we use these resources in mind. How the foods are grown, resources are gathered, how it gets to us, and ultimately what we do with the waste that makes up the whole experience for you and for us.
We set a standard and take responsibility for our choices by letting our principles be our guide. Not as a Business plan separate from ourselves but as directives that are consistent with how we want our experience on our planet to be.
I’d like to let you know what AXE did as a restaurant and producers of food so that it may inspire and/or inform you:
We buy sustainable seasonal products directly from local farmers – find your neighborhood farmers market at www.ams.usda.fov/farmersmarkets/map/html
We deliver our kitchen scraps for compost back to the farm or home garden, contributing to the creation of healthy soils
We buy our bulk staples from an sustainable foods distributor, such as: grains, flour, dried beans, oils and vinegar (if we weren’t using our housemade)
We sourced sustainably produced wines and beers
We use a reverse-osmosis filtration system to purify our water – which is the only purification system that removes fluoride from our drinking water
We use bio-degradable cleaners
We use post consumer waste paper products
We recycle our trash
We do not use any plastic wrap and buy bulk to minimize single-use plastic containers
Over the years, AXE had a lot of fun with holiday dinners (Valentines), theme nights (Guest Chef Night, Summer Movie Night under the Stars, Halloween Wig Night, Oyster Nights), and various fundraising events (Chez Panisse Foundation/Edible Schoolyard Project, Campaign for Old-Growth, Tsunami Relief with Surf Aid, Katrina Relief and Dr. Vandana Shiva). We are proud to have raised well over $100,000 combined for these causes.
We will continue to support the efforts of other organizations that we believe strongly in such as:
Chez Panisse Foundation/Edible Schoolyard Project
Organic Consumers Association
Ecology Action
NRDC – National Resource Defense Council
Friends of Navdanya
Our climate and as a result our planet, are changing rapidly (due to, in large part our choices). Please consider your actions and their effects, just maybe there is time to turn things around. It begins with each and every one of us. Since AXE restaurant was established in Los Angeles, here are some useful resources for community in the Los Angeles area and beyond:
C-Change LA
Plastic Pollution Coalition
GMO Free LA
LA Department of Water and Power –
Kiss the Ground
The Seed Library of Los Angeles
LA River Corp-Greenway 2020
Find a Spring
Los Angeles Food Policy Council
It’s important to have an understanding of your natural and not so natural environment. Where are you, really? Here are some questions to help you get to know the infrastructures that supports you, the most important being, mother nature:
Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap.
How many days until the moon is full and new?
Describe the type of soil around your house.
What are the primary subsistence techniques of the cultures that lived in you area.
Name five native edible plants in your bioregion and their seasons of availability.
From which direction do winter storms generally come in your region?
Where does your garbage go?
Where does your sewage go?
How long is the growing season in your area?
Name five native trees in your area.
What is the land use history by humans in your bioregion within the past century?
What primary geological events/processes influenced the land forms of your bioregion?
What animal or plant species have become extinct in your bioregion?
From where you are reading this, point to the North.
Name one of the first spring wildflowers to bloom in your area.
What kinds of rocks and minerals are found in your area.
Were the stars out last night?
Name some beings (no-human) which share your space.
Do you celebrate the turning of the winter and summer solstice?
Wow many people live next door to you? What are their names?
On average, how much gasoline do you use in a week?
What form of energy costs you the most money?
What is the largest wilderness area in your bioregion?
What are the greatest threats to the integrity of the ecosystem in your bioregion?
What is the name of the creek or river which defines your watershed?
What geographic and/or biotic features define your bioregion?
What exotic plants or trees can you name in your bioregion?
What particular place of places have special meaning to you?
A few more thoughts… Before you pull out your wallet, you may want to ask.
Who profits from this sale?
Are you buying this product from a national chain, or buying locally from an independent business, coop or family farm?
Where was this item grown or made?
How far did it travel?
Were farmers or workers rights protected?
Did the producer receive a living wage?
Is it certified organic or fair trade?
Is the company making or selling this item socially responsible?
Is this product genuinely ecological and healthy?
What would be an organic, local, and fair trade or fair made alternative?
Thank you for your interest in AXE, may have you enjoyed many meals with us and continue the ride in any direction it may go!