• Ingredients: we pay a premium for ingredients both because we want the most sustainably-raised local produce possible, and because we believe in supporting small-scale, local, ecological, and pasture-based farmers and ranchers. Get more information about ingredients.
• Overhead: rent on our commercial kitchen in West Berkeley, utilities, equipment, website development and maintenance, and a variety of other costs need to be figured into the food prices.
• Labor: The small-scale, traditional processing of foods that we do at Three Stone Hearth is part of what makes our food nutrient-dense. It also makes it labor intensive. As a worker-owned cooperative, one of our goals is to pay ourselves (the five worker-owners) a living annual salary. We are not yet there, but we are working on it. We do pay two dishwashers a good hourly rate. This paid labor is supplemented by a great deal of volunteer and intern hours. If you volunteer your time at TSH, it helps us to keep the prices of the food as reasonable as possible.

It is our goal to keep prices as low as we can and offer the greatest access to our foods as we can as long as we meet the above costs. It is our experience that nutrient-dense foods nourish us in a way that most modern foods don't, so you may find that you need to eat less quantity because you are eating such high quality!!

Keep in mind that most factory-farmed and factory-processed foods are cheap because the true cost of making them is externalized or passed on in a variety of ways. This has many consequences and costs to society, including the following:
· Environmental pollution and toxicity
· Degenerative diseases
· Exploited migrant labor force
· Inhumane treatment of animals
· The loss of small-scale, diversified farms
· Ecological damage
· Corporate control of our food system
It is our goal that when you pay for food at Three Stone Hearth, you are paying as close to the true cost of the food as possible-the true cost of growing it, the true cost of processing it, and the true cost of distributing it. For your own health and the health of the planet and our community, we believe in putting your money where your mouth is, and investing in REAL FOOD!

Can you teach me how to make the food myself?
Interning or volunteering in our kitchen is one of the best ways to learn how to make the foods. We will also begin offering classes on-site in our West Berkeley kitchen in 2007. Classes will focus on traditional processing of nutrient-dense foods.

How can I get involved?
You can intern or volunteer in our kitchen by contacting Catherine Spanger at Catherine@threestonehearth.com or kitchen line 510-981-1334. For more information check out our Community page.

What does "nutrient-dense" mean?
Research (including that of Dr. Weston A. Price) shows that the food we eat in America today contains dangerously low levels of vital nutrients. The food eaten by traditional peoples and by Americans even a century ago has been described as "nutrient-dense" because each mouthful of food was packed with more vitamins, minerals, and enzymes than the factory-produced foods of today. This nutrient density comes from a variety of practices:
· Pasturing animals on biodiverse grasses and allowing them access to outdoors rather than feeding them grains in feedlots
· Growing plants in fertile, mineral-rich soils
· Processing foods following traditional wisdom, which involves understanding and respecting the unique character and gifts of each type of food
· Using traditional fats liberally

Why is eating fats important?
Traditional fats are important sources of energy and nutrients.