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Green Heroes: Cup and Top Café, Florence.
When Helen Kahn opened Florence’s Cup and Top a little more than two years ago, she had a clear vision of what a truly community-based café meant. “It was always the intention to make it as local as possible, using local foods and showcasing local artists and illustrators,” Kahn says. “I do it to support the people who are producing the art or the food, and for my customer base, because for the most part the customers who come into the café are interested in that sort of thing.”
A major component of the recent revitalization of Florence Center, the Cup and Top distinguishes itself as both family-friendly (check out the sweet kids’ playspace in the back of the café) and earth-friendly. That ranges from the basic – aggressive recycling of paper, glass, cans and plastic; discounts to coffee drinkers who bring in reusable travel mugs – to the more creative, like offering used coffee grounds to customers for their home composting and hosting a magazine swap, started by customer [and recent featured artist!] Leni Fried, that encourages people to bring in their old magazines rather than throw them away.
“The environment’s going to hell, and I don’t want to be part of the problem, Kahn says of her focus on reusing and recycling. “It just makes complete and obvious sense to me – I’m in a position where I can make small changes, so why wouldn’t I? You see how much waste there can be, especially in the restaurant industry, and I just wanted to reduce the stream as much as possible.”
The Cup and Top is part of a trend, especially evident in the Valley, of local businesses that make it a priority to support local farmers and food producers. A member of Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, the café is one of 37 restaurants that CISA counts in its Local Hero program. The Cup and Top serves organic breads from Haydenville’s Bread Euphoria, hormone-free milk and cream from Hadley’s Mapleline Farm, eggs from Wendell’s Diemand Farms, bagels from Springfield’s Gus & Paul’s, dressings from Goshen’s Appalachian Naturals, and maple syrup from Dufresne’s Sugar House in Williamsburg. The café serves tea from Hatfield’s Tea Guys and fair-trade organic coffee from Orange’s Dean’s Beans. And in season, Kahn buys produce from local farms, farmers’ markets and farm stands.
Kahn’s focus on local doesn’t end with the menu; the Cup and Top turns its walls over to a rotating exhibit of works by local artists and hosts shows, for kids and adults, by local musicians. The café also sells CDs, books, and greeting cards by local artists and writers. “There’s such an enormous pool of talent in this area. What you see on the shelves is just the tip of the iceberg,” Kahn says.
Kahn appreciates that customers appreciate the Cup and Top’s local and green focus. “I’m very happy to see these values are shared by my customers,” she says. “I’m glad to see they take notice of this, and I hope they come to the café because they support it.”
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