When Field + Farmer sent me a box of their dips to try out, I wasn’t familiar with the brand or the ingredients. All I knew was that they were plant-based. As I dipped tortilla chips into the spinach artichoke dip, I thought wow, this is really good, but I don’t dare look at the ingredient list. I suspected it might be like other vegan foods where you find a long list of things like coconut oil and potato starch and other junk I really don’t need to be eating.
So I was sure surprised when I screwed up my courage and saw cannellini beans listed as the main ingredient. Followed by other recognizable things, such as artichoke hearts, spinach, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice and chia seeds. You maybe shouldn’t eat a whole tub of this and call it lunch, but you might want to.
Field + Farmer products
Field + Farmer makes ten different kinds of dips, a half dozen salad dressings, snack bars and juices. I tried five of the dips—buffalo, caramelized onion, ranch, spinach artichoke and vegan queso—and the lemon garlic basil dressing and marinade. All the dips tasted good and were full of beans. Most of the dips worked well for dipping chips or raw vegetables. The vegan queso was thinner, so made a drippy dip but worked well as a sauce.
Growth of a company
The company evolved out of an indoor urban farm called Farmed Here in the Chicago area. As a waste reducing measure, they turned leftover basil into salad dressing. As they say on their website, “The dressing was a huge hit, the brand grew, and we realized that we could have a greater impact and support other farmers if we shifted our focus from growing produce to creating fresh clean-label, plant-based products.”
In 2019, the brand changed its name to Field + Farmer to emphasize the importance of the people who grow our food. Nearly half of the produce the brand uses is grown locally, near their facility outside Chicago. As a B-Corp company, Field + Farmer runs a zero-waste facility, uses “seconds” when possible, supports local suppliers and donates to groups that support small family farms.
Field + Farmer is still working on its distribution. While they shipped me some specially to review, when I look on their web store finder feature, my nearest outlets are 343 miles away in Boise or 442 miles away in Reno. Nor do they currently ship to Oregon. Good thing I’m a famous vegan so I get special treatment. But they ship to more than half of the states in the US. Check here to see if your state made the list. Orders over $60 get free shipping, so stock up on these delicious bean-based dips
