Thank goodness our afternoon involves a little sunshine because a morning and a half was about as long as I can go without windows!! We had a great time and learned a lot.
The mid-morning tea break was a nice sneak of sunshine and warmth – it’s so cold inside!
All of the speakers were so inspiring – including the unicycling clown who started us off!
We had a presentation on customer service and another on fundamentals of running a great business. Then breakout sessions. I went to one by Pablo of Great Harvest Warrenton and Alicia of Great Harvest Temecula on making decisions that reflect the value of local food, slow food and all things local. They are both doing amazing things in their communities! We hope to keep our store as local and true to our personal food values as possible.
I was starving by 12:30 lunchtime – which was coupled with the annual awards ceremony
Salad to start – with delicious candied nuts!
We all dove into the breadbasket. Still not GH amazing, but these rolls were really good! Especially with butter.
Today’s lunch was plated – a roasted chicken with a side of rice and green beans
I would have eaten the chicken, but I do try not to eat industry meat if I can, so I inquired to see if there was a vegetarian option. Sure enough there was!
I was served a really awesome selection of roasted veggies with some tofu all in a sweet soy sauce. It was great! So glad I asked.
Dessert was tempting me since I had down at the table! A delicious ganache ball – like a giant truffle!
I’ve learned from experience at these seated lunches to only eat a portion of my dessert – or I stand up from the table feeling stuffed. Most of my decisions these days are conditioned based on how I feel. So glad I put my spoon down because now I have the energy to do something active on the beach. But also glad I eat half because it was a great dessert!
Awards! We aspire to be on the stage someday 
Going to put on our play clothes and talk about POS systems with Jeremy from GH Nashua on the beach!
I’ve had several owners approach me today to tell me that YOU GUYS have gone to their stores and mentioned me! So exciting to spread the GH love! If you have a favorite store, give them a shout out comment and I’ll send them your way!
That looks like a great veg option — it’s always nice when the veg option looks as good as, or better, than the meat.
I couldn’t help but notice that dessert in your very first salad picture. I would be pretty happy with eating half, IF I were able to take the other half with me for later 😉
Woah that truffle for dessert looks to die for! I’m impressed you managed to only eat half!
That’s so great that you are able to network and meet other GH owners 🙂
I get a bit restless when I’m stuck inside for long amounts of time too! Enjoy your beach chat and have some fun!
That giant truffle looks so good!
So is this an annual GH conference — and is it for just a certain region of the US?
Annual – from the Northeast to Alaska!
Medford Oregon GH is great! I swung by after reading about GH in your blog over a year ago, and now I’m a huge fan!
I love that you asked about a veggie option for your meal b/c you dont choose to support industry meat…and they had one. And not only that, but it looks like a GREAT veggie meal. Yum!
And being in windowless rooms for most of the day….gah! I know that feeling. Just makes the sky and the ocean!! seem that much prettier later on 🙂
Um giant truffle? Pretty sure I need that!
Birmingham, MI – owners are Tina and Kevin Yancey. They are great!
Surprised they offered tofu as the veggie option, that’s awesome!
Looks like a fun conference!
I go to the Great Harvest in Pasadena, California and I loooove it! Everyone is so nice and the location itself is perfect. Tables and chairs outside make it seem more like a little cafe 🙂
I USED to love GH Atlanta, but they closed a few weeks ago! I’m hoping they just moved & didn’t go out of business! They always seemed to have a good amount of customers whenever I was in.
The location on LaVista/Briarcliff? I used to live over there? Moved back north – I’ll be sad if they closed!
The vegetarian options actually looks tasty! I feel like veg entrees at conferences can be a little bland.
I really wish I could just eat half of my dessert! Sometimes I definitely feel WAY too full after devouring my entire dessert, but I just can’t stop myself!:)
GH Warrenton! Love themmmmmm!
Wow what a delicious veg option! It’s normally just lasagne….or that’s it over here. You scored!
We LOVE the GH in Bellevue, WA, but last week we were traveling and stopped into the one in Eugene, OR. Pretty disappointed with the way we were treated. 🙁 I’m glad we don’t live there because I wouldn’t have gone back.
Oh no 🙁 Sorry to hear that!
Redmond, WA! Cinnachip is the best! 🙂
The Chapel Hill North Carolina store, It is great,
I love that dark brown bread with butter….that’s almost like dessert for me! Have a great afternoon on the beach…it looks SO bright there in your photo:) Cheers!
I love that they offered a vegetarian option! That’s great. Enjoy your afternoon. You three have got to be so excited now!
i agree – when traveling/working i try to eat based on how i feel but i still wanna enjoy everything offered. you want to be able to relax and have fun but also be energized enough to experience it all!
whenever I’m home in greensboro, NC I stock up on GH goodies. I love that they put the dessert out from the beginning of the meal.
I’m loving the Great Harvest in North Charlotte!! I wouldn’t have stopped in without your influenc Kath! Glad you’re having a good time. I need chocolate now 🙂
I love the “eat half of dessert option” – experience the taste without the guilt or full belly.
Gotta love both the Ridgeland, MS and Jackson, MS Great Harvest locations! I go there a couple of times a month to stock up on my favorites (you only need a couple because they last so long!).
GH in Neenah, WI, my hometown, is AMAZING! I recently moved, but whenever I am home to visit I stop in, and I even have my dad send my loaves of Honey Wheat. Such great customer service!
We don’t get there as often as I’d like, as it’s 50 miles away, but GH in Anchorage, Alaska rocks! Also in Bozeman, MT (where my sister lives) was my first introduction to this fabulous bread. 🙂
Oh man, I would have had a hard time only eating half of that amazing looking dessert! Props to you!
They shoulda had the conference sessions outside!! So much precious vitamin D gone to waste 🙂
Your intuitive eating practices are inspiring. I’m glad you mention them on the blog, because I think we can all learn a thing or two about being more aware. 😀
LOVE both Great Harvest’s in Austin! You are the reason I walked in their doors almost a year ago 🙂 So glad I did! I’ll never buy grocery store bread again!
After discovering your blog I was all set to visit the Shorewood, IL. store but discovered it had closed. Next time I am in Naperville, IL I am going to swing by that GH.
Such a wise decision to listen to how you feel instead of just eating what’s in front of you…my mom is a nutritionist and I learned that from her a long time ago, but it’s weird to feel social pressure for not finishing a huge meal or a dessert, like people think you are depriving yourself when really you’re just trying not to feel over-stuffed… many people could learn from eating habits like yours.
That was awesome that they had such a yummy vegetarian option. That looked better than the chicken!
Wow, I had no idea there was a GH in Nashua. I grew up in Nashua and I’m still about 30 mins away just outside of Boston. I’ll have to pay them a visit. This is so exciting because I never know where to buy fresh bread and my bf’s parents being Polish are super picky about their bread. This could be good 🙂 *stoked*
You are totally going to be on that stage one day!
Good for you for not giving in to the “entire” desert. I probably would not have been able to resist the temptation and would have been sorry later!
wow looks like an awesome time!!!
That dessert looks amazing! Just like a giant truffle 🙂
I love the idea of eating based on how you know it makes you feel later. I’ve been able to incorporate that idea into my life lately and it’s making a big difference. No more of that lethargic stuffed feeling after meals. I try to eat foods early in the day which I know from past experience give me the energy I need. I am feeling so much better.
The dessert looks SO good! I could eat about 3 of those right now 🙂
Tell the one in Columbia, MD to carry the GH GF option!! I tried to go there after reading your blog, but I can’t eat anything but the GF option. I hope you’ll be carrying it at your store too!!
Yay for vegetarian options 🙂 I have no willpower- I would have inhaled that dessert 🙂
oh wow, sounds like you’re learning a lot! i would’ve been ALL OVER that chocolate ganache. 😉
I’ve been eating GH longer than I’ve been reading your blog! Shout out to Idaho Falls, ID!
I forgot to mention – YAY to GH for serving a delicious vegetarian option.
Shout out to Lansing, MI area! 3 stores in the area! Love them!!!!
Shoutout to the Great Harvest Bread store in Missoula, MT! Still working on a loaf right now. ^_^ Yum. One comment I have for all of GH stores is to make nutritional information more readily available to the customer please!
We love the Great Harvest in Charlotte — Rea Rd. location!!
Everyone there is fantastic. I was just there on Saturday. 🙂
~
Do you know that’s where Matt worked for two years!?
Yes!!!
Sadly, I was not a reader of your blog at that time. I WAS a Great Harvest customer even then; I just didn’t know who Matt was! 🙂
~
Wow– looks like a great conference already!!! Glad you’re getting some fresh air– I also hate sitting in those stuffy conference rooms for too long!
I’ve never been to GH, but my church brought me a loaf of bread when I first joined them and OMG it was the best bread I have ever tasted. So so good. i will have to find a store nearby and re-stock!
My church does that too! I’m so glad that other churches also follow the same tradition. I thought only my church did it!
That veg option for lunch looks amazing- I am so going to try and recreate that!
Good call on the veg option – I bet it tasted better than the chicken!
Do all the other attendees love that you’re taking pictures of your banquet food?
I use to visit the Dallas, Texas store in Snider Plaza because your blog made me crave GH but they closed and now we don’t have a Dallas store. I am planning to drive to visit the Flower Mound store when I have the time, their website looks really friendly. Enjoy your trip.
wow – what a lovely lunch spread!
Love the Newark Delaware store! Great people!
Please say hello to the folks from Great Harvest – Elm Grove, WI (near Milwaukee) – they have the BEST cinnamon loaf bread (it looks like a giant cinnamon roll, my stomach is growling as I type this) and are so friendly every time I stop by!
I think the closest store to me is Temecula. That’s still a ways, but I would make the drive for some Naturally Nutty and bread!
I love GH Vienna, VA. The blueberry muffins are my favorite weekend treat. I love all of the bread there too, it is tough to make a decision!
I love, love, love the GH at Clackamas (Portland, OR). They are so nice, the bread so wonderful, I really look forward to going anytime I can. Not sure if the owners are down there in Florida but if they are, make sure they know I stopped in on Saturday and the staff working were just as friendly and competent as the owners are when they take care of me.
Of course, the Kings Drive location in Charlotte is my favorite (and closest) GH. They were almost completely out of everything when I stopped by on Saturday, so they must be a lot of people’s favorite! 🙂
We just went to GH on Saturday. The only reason we even heard about GH was through your blog… we’d seen them at farmers markets but didn’t know that there was an actual store close to us.
We love Tom + Sally’s GH in Linden Hills (Minneapolis, MN). We bought pizza dough and some whole wheat bread this time around, and always try to bring some GH bread (the fancier ones:) to relatives when we visit out of state… kids LOVE the cinnamon chip.
We love our GH in Des Moines, IA – now 2 locations owned by the same fantastic people! I have mentioned your blog to them – hopefully they look you up!
Great job with that self-control! It seems like great opps are really coming your way and we share in your excitement 🙂
Kath, I’m wondering what camera you use for your photos. I’m not sure If you put it up somewhere in a tab, but I couldn’t find it. Thanks in advance!
Canon XSI DSLR with Canon 35 mm f/2.0 lens 🙂
I’ve finally located at GH store in my area and I’m going to make a trip soon!
The closest one to me is about 50 miles 🙁 but I love visiting the GH in Wayne, PA when I’m visiting family!
Love Great Harvest in Wayne, PA! I had many an after-school snack sample of cinnamon sugar bread when I just a kid 🙂
Non-GH bread at a GH conference? That seems silly.
The picture of the delicious giant truffle is making it hard for me to not eat sugar. Dang, I’ve got food envy!
GH in Fresno Ca is AWESOME!!
My shout out: GH in Mentor, OH! Those guys are awesome, and so’s the bread (and sandwiches)!
Shout out GH in Akron, OH! And hello Mentor!
When I used to work for Starbucks it took me a few weeks to not laugh whenever anyone said “POS” … and then someone told me it meant ‘point of sale’ 🙂
i definitely did a double-take when i saw that. i laughed, then started reading the comments to see if someone would mention its actual meaning 🙂
Love the GH in St Paul, MN. The Cinnamon Swirl is my FAVORITE!
Love the GH in South Pasadena, CA!!! Owner Patricia is a sweetheart.
I love whole roasted baby carrots, delicious.
I have two GHs I really love – one in Minneapolis (Tom and Sally’s) and one in St. Paul (St. Paul Bread Co).
Can you talk the St. Paul folks into making High 5 Fiber on Fridays instead of Mondays so I can actually get some??
Glad you are enjoying your conference!
Can’t beat GH Charlotte [Kings drive location]!! Love it so much! I hope to make another trip to C’ville once your store is open to check it out!! Here’s hoping!!
We have a GH in Boulder (CO) but I’d never even really noticed it was there until I started reading this blog and looked it up. So I can’t say it’s my favorite yet but I definitely plan on checking them out. If you run into the Boulder owner(s) you can tell them you’ve sent a new customer their way! 🙂 I also discovered they sell bread at the local Whole Foods, so that’s super convenient as well!
I’m going down to C-Ville to visit my sister (she’s a PhD candidate at UVA) and run the C-Ville Half Marathon on April 9th. When is your GH opening?
And I’m so excited that you wrote about Jeremy from Nashua – I live in Nashua and didn’t know that there was a GH in town! I can’t wait to go check it out 🙂
I love my GH in Upper Arlington, Ohio – if they owners are there….say “Hi”.
Hi Kath,
Great blog! Just curious as to why you don’t eat industry meat and how you get around this when dining out, grocery shopping, etc?
I avoid it because I think our food systems have gotten too far away from nature. Reading Michael Pollan’s books was a eye-opening experience. If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them. I don’t buy any meat that isn’t local and/or organic when I am out shopping at the grocery store. Yes, it’s more expensive, so we eat a little bit less of it to make up the cost difference. When dining out, I usually choose fish or a vegetarian option – or I eat meat if I know more about where it came from (which is thankfully easier to do in Charlottesville!) Occasionally (like last night, for example) I do eat meat when dining out that I don’t know the source of, but if I have any choice I try to choose something else.
ahhhh that looks like SUCH a fun sit-down lunch! Glad y’all are enjoyin’ yourselves so much 🙂
That truffle looks like it’s straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
ps. I think they should have imported some GH bread to have with your lunch…
I wish their was a GH in Pgh… glad you are enjoying Marco Island, it is BEAUTIFUL
I’m surprised they didn’t serve organic chicken at the luncheon!
Wow, that weas lunch?! It’s so fancy!
GREAT HARVEST FAYETTEVILLE!
Only one in town and I love it.
By the way, I’m super jealous that you’re in Florida at the moment and enjoying amazing food!
That tofu looks delicious! It has inspired my dinner now! lol
The dessert looked great – but if I ate even one spoonful of that much chocolate? I would be hiccuping all afternoon 🙁
The veg option looks so good!
I went to GH because of you! The closest one to me is in Champaign, IL and they are amazing. Love them. Also was at an event last fall in Geneva, IL and their GH brought in breakfast – I wanted to marry that pumpkin scone, omg.
AAaaaaaaaaaah I wish I had a favorite Great Harvest…I can’t find any around us in San Diego but I’m pretty sure there is one in KY when we move back! I’m excited to try that crazy bread!
I love that you don’t eat industry meat! I think that’s a great compromise. I have been struggling to find the happy medium between not eating meat at all and making sure its meat from animals that have been treated humanely and not shot up with antibiotics, etc. Think I might give that a shot!
Enjoy your conference! I have never been to a GH, but it looks like there is one in Phoenix where I am moving!
You are certainly being fed well at this conference. So important! 🙂
Great Harvest Wayne!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the cinnamon swirl roll things they make. AMAZING
Burlington, VT Great Harvest, they are amazing because they offer gluten-free loavess every Wednesday!
Burlington, VT Great Harvest, they are amazing because they offer gluten-free loaves every Wednesday!
We are blessed with 3 GH stores here in Portland. I love them all and decide which one I am going to based on my errands for the week. I am with you on the concerns of industry meat but I am starting to be even more concerned with GM soy beans and the products that use them. Enjoy the Florida sunshine!
I love your theory on putting the spoon down. The big picture is always more important
We don’t have a GH here in upstate NY. Someone please open one in the Hudson Valley! 🙂
That luncheon looks amazing! Love the dessert. Yum!!
I heart the Tulsa Oklahoma Store! I drive all the way from Oklahoma City and bring back bread. My first visit they only had low-carb Dakota and I’ve been hooked ever since. Love’em!
Our gh in atlanta just closed. So sad! Maybe you can send some friends our way to open a new one!
CHARLOTTE UPTOWN! I heart Great Harvest.
I JUST wrote a post about the importance of choosing non commercial meats.
We learned so much excellent info in school yesterday, and if we all came together and demanded better food for ourselves, it would be more available and less expensive.
It’s starting slowly.
Thank you for keeping the ball rolling, people listen 🙂
I have absolutely no doubt that you will be standing up there for years to come accepting awards. You and Matt both have what it takes to make your GH the best one ever!
I admire your intuitive eating ability Kath. That’s something I’ve been working on for a while now. You inspire me on a daily basis 🙂
GH Olympia, WA! Just stocked up on 9-Grain yesterday. They’re new and awesome…hope they are there enjoying the sunshine – it’s nasty here!
Re POS machines:
Please try to make sure your Great Harvest store accepts EBT. It would be great to make such a great store accessible to people who use food stamps!! Since loaves of bread aren’t meant to be eaten on the premises, Great Harvest bread would be an allowable food stamp purchase. People using food stamps (technically now called SNAP) want to eat wonderful local bread, too!
That’s so awesome that you’re so dedicated to not eating industry meat! I tried eating only local/organic meat for a while, but it just became too difficult for me. I wish I had your dedication!
I drive across town to the Berkeley, Ca store on Rockridge. Great place!
Your salad looks so good! I love how you do have your dessert, but listen to your body and stop when you are full. 🙂 YAY!
xoxo
Kathleen
I hate when it is so gorgeous outside, but freezing inside because of air conditioning! That is exactly how every single classroom is, I end up having to wear sweaters in the spring!
Slash giiiiiirl that veggie-tofu plate looks so good! Double slash I used to live in New Hampshire, give the Nashua guy a holler for me!
What a great trip! That dessert looks so delicious!
I’m actually proud of my ability to finish a dessert regardless of how full I am… but each to their own 😉
I’m so jealous of you being in my home town!! Enjoy the sunshine 🙂 It is pretty nice here in Colorado this week…mid 60s!! Now that is my kind of winter!
I LOVE bread – so, I checked in to GH after reading your blog. Unfortunately, the closest one to me was an hour and a half away in Greenville, SC. But fortunately, they (and the bread) are so worth the drive!! Both are amazing! I have started visiting once a month and stocking up on bread – they give me bags to store it in the freezer. 🙂
Love the Great Harvest in Fresno, CA. The owner also started his own pancake restaurants that use GH cinnamon chip bread in their french toast! Yum : )
I’ll “fourth” the praise for the Wayne, PA, location. Its neighbor, at the Ardmore Farmer’s Market, is great, too.
However, I wonder if you could pass along a suggestion. There is NO decent bread bakery in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. There’s a huge geographic area with a fairly wealthy demographic who would just DIE for a Great Harvest. I’m thinking Montgomery County, PA, which is full of tiny, cute towns. (Ambler, Glenside, Jenkintown)
This might sound very strange…I love the Elm Grove, WI location, but I’ve never been there. You see they come onsite to my workplace (Kohl’s Corporate) every few weeks with an amazing variety of delicious breads and pastries. Love, love, love the convenience of being able to buy Great Harvest bread at work! Just wish they came more frequently.
I found out about my gluten sensitivity before I ever had the chance to visit our local GH!
Hey Christin! My local GH actually offers special-order Gluten-free bread once per week. You should inquire to see if you local GH does that same. That would be the PERFECT solution!!! 🙂
I ditched the grocery store bread for GH bread about 6 months ago thanks to your blog! I patronize the Grand Rapids, MI location (actually in Cascade). Everything we get from there is absolutely amazing – even our pups love the doggie biscuits they sell!
We don’t eat industrial meat at home, and try to frequent restaurants with local/sustainably grown meat like you guys do, but I always feel guilty asking if I’m at something like this banquet – like it’s inconveniencing to to ask the place! I should be better about that.
Looks like you are having a great time on your trip!
Does Great Harvest have any plans to open locations in Canada….specifically Toronto area?
Great Harvest Annapolis, MD!!! Love, love, love them! Cannot say enough nice things about everyone who works there or the DECLICIOUS bread. You should drop by the Annapolis location while you’re training in Columbia – it’s only about 20-30 minutes away. Plus, Annapolis is an amazingly cute town!!!
Just getting caught up. Say “hello” to Burlington, VT for me. Love it!
I definitely got hooked on Great Harvest thanks to you Kath! There’s a bakery in Rockville, MD near to where we live. We try to go most Sundays :).
Can’t wait to go to the Nashua location!! I’m always drooling over your bread and need to try it for myself! 🙂
Great Harvest in McMinnville, OR! I fell in love with them a long time ago. Even turned my brother on to them with all the Gluten Free options (my niece and nephews have allergies).
That dessert look amazing! (And huge!)
Hi Kath; Just read this post, and thought I’d mention the GH St. Paul, MN store that I frequent! (Actually, I never thought that MN had a GH, until I was out to dinner w/ a friend who also reads your blog. She insisted that there were stores here, so I went on line to check.) The next week, I trotted over to get some Dakota bread! Love it.
The only problem? Too many tempting sweets! 🙂
Annapolis Great Harvest – Tom and Pam are super nice and friendly, even helped me carry the five shopping bags out to the giant yellow vehicle last summer (buying for Gram and others). Wonderful store and location. Everything YUM! I even took advantage of their recent Groupon offer so will take the long drive back down later in the Spring.
Any possibility of a Great Harvest coming out to California??!! I so badly would love to go to one to try your bread and a sweet treat but sadly there’s none I know of around here in the Bay Area. 🙁
There are a handful in CA – Chico, Fresno, Temecula, but I’m not sure about Bay Area. I think there is one in Oakland!