Local

Not only is it socially responsible to eat local, but it is incredibly delicious here in Middle Tennessee. The last few years have seen an explosion of creative farmers raising colorful heirloom ingredients. Dinner Belle will source as many local ingredients as possible and all the meals revolve around the harvest seasons. All local sources will be listed in each Dinner Belle recipe.

Organic

There are wonderful, certified organic farms here in Middle Tennessee. There are also many farms that use organic practices but are not yet certified because the certification process is too expensive for smaller farms. Dinner Belle visits farms that are not certified or has a representative visit to make sure they really are using organic practices. We try to use organic ingredients as much as possible and never use any non-organic produce on the “Dirty Dozen” list; however, we may occasionally use a non-organic ingredients from the “Clean Fifteen” list.

No Processed Foods

Instead of foods made with refined flour or sugar, Dinner Belle uses only whole foods like rice, potatoes, corn and whole grains like barley, farro and quinoa. The only sweeteners we use are local honey, local sorghum, or unrefined cane sugar.

High Protein Meatless Meals

We encourage you to eat a few meatless meals every week. It is good for your health and more sustainable. Unfortunately, factory farming has made many Americans accustom to eating meat at almost every meal, but high-quality meat cannot be produced in that volume.

Pastured Meat

The hilly Middle Tennessee landscape actually makes it more conductive to raise meat here than to grow crops. We only offer meat from free-range animals that have been treated humanely and never given hormones or steroids. Cows are grassfed, but may be finished with organic, GMO-free grain. Chickens are never given antibiotics. Pigs and cows are never given antibiotics unless in an extreme, isolated circumstance where it is inhumane not to treat them.

Less waste

Instead of plastic, we package your food in reusable Mason jars or compostable casserole dishes made from plant fibers. Each week Dinner Belle sterilizes the returned glass packaging for use again.