Some shelters dish out organic Thanksgiving to homeless

— -- Thanksgiving meals served at some homeless shelters this week will come with a gastronomic halo that few might expect: organic and locally grown foods.

While such better-for-you food will only be served at a fraction of the nation's shelters, the trend toward serving the homeless organic, local and fresh foods is on the grow even as consumers are embracing the same nutritional goals.

"If I have a guest coming to my house for Thanksgiving, I'm not going to open a can of beans for them," explains Steve Badt, director of kitchen operations at Miriam's Kitchen in Washington D.C. "A homeless person who is my guest deserves no less."

There's really no added expense, since all of the shelter's food is donated, Badt says. "Why can't a soup kitchen run like a high-end restaurant if it's not costing anyone else money?"

Miriam's Kitchen will be serving 150 homeless its first all-organic or local Thanksgiving dinner. Even the dozen turkeys, donated by a local Whole Foods store, are organic. .

The shelter, with a tradition of serving fresh foods, will receive three jars of honey collected from beehives near the White House garden, says Sam Kass, White House assistant chef. "The first lady feels strongly that all people deserve access to healthy food."

Other do-gooders have similar ideas:

•At the Greenpoint Reformed Church in Brooklyn, N.Y., dinner served the day before Thanksgiving will include locally grown and organic fruits and veggies. "If that's how I feed my own children, that's how I prefer to serve other people's children," says Ann Kansfield, co-pastor.

•At the Organic Soup Kitchen in Santa Barbara, Calif., 80% of Thanksgiving weekend meals served to 1,000 low-income folks will be organic, executive director Anthony Carroccio says. "People living on the street are very fragile," Carroccio says. "The last thing they need are extra poisons from conventional foods."