NEW BALTIMORE BUSINESS FLOURISHES DOWNTOWN

By: Alex Klempay

Since its inception in 2013, The Little Mustard Seed Café and Shoppe has been serving farm-to-table meals. The menu at the café is varied, but with one goal: to provide customers with the freshest, most delicious, organic and gluten-free meals and beverages – and, perhaps, for an unexpected reason.

“My daughter was diagnosed with food allergies to gluten, dairy, corn, and soy,” said Kathy Cox, owner of The Little Mustard Seed. “I started making everything from scratch trying to find substitutions,” Cox added. “The more people that I would talk to about her food allergies, the more I found out that there were a lot of people out there like her.”

For Cox, the decision to open a café wasn’t a difficult one. “It was either go back to teaching or open a store… and here we are three years later.”

Nestled square in the heart of downtown New Baltimore, The Little Mustard Seed’s unassuming façade makes it easy to drive by – but don’t.

In addition to the already diverse options on The Little Mustard Seed’s menu, including anything from hand crafted sandwiches to freshly prepared pizzas, daily specials are also shared daily via the café’s Facebook page. Daily specials include an array of items, such as cinnamon rolls, jalapeno black bean soup, snickerdoodles, lavender lemonade, and much more, all made with organic ingredients.

“I have been eating organic for almost 20 years,” Cox said. “I believe that God has created everything perfectly for our bodies, and we shouldn’t mess with it.”

Making delectable dishes and drinks isn’t all that The Little Mustard Seed has to offer – they also sell body care products, toys made with 100% recycled plastic, and jewelry, to name a few.

“The shoppe was for the organic body care products that I started selling when I was a stay at home mom,” Cox said. “When we opened we had more space devoted to the shoppe, but quickly realized that the café was much busier.”

Despite being a hit within the health conscious community, Cox currently doesn’t have plans to open additional locations.

“Our focus is on our current location and the non-profit organic farm that we are starting,” Cox said. “We received our 501(c)3 status for RONS Farm-AC and are looking to purchase land to start the farm on,” Cox added. “We will use organic, year-round growing and use the produce for the community and for the café.”

If that weren’t enough, the café also donates 10% of its proceeds to support charities around the world.

“My faith is super important to me, and giving back to those who are less fortunate is equally important,” Cox said. “Currently, we donate to children’s funds around the globe to fight hunger,” Cox added. “However, we are also starting the farm to combat local hunger and to employ socially disadvantaged individuals.”

Cox believes helping those in need is beneficial to everyone.

“I have always had a heart for the underdogs, and want to use the farm to show our society that people can overcome their disabilities through their abilities.”

In visiting The Little Mustard Seed Café and Shoppe, you can feel good knowing you’re giving your body a healthy, all-natural meal, while also supporting a local business that truly cares about local and global communities.