“Smoothie” is a vague description of the actual… beverage? Food? Just how do you classify a smoothie? Maybe that ambiguity is what led to the dubious name because a smoothie isn’t really either and it’s almost both.
The only certainty of a smoothie is that it’s a blend. Crushed fruits have been on a menu since ancient times, but the advent of the drink mixer in 1919 and its more powerful offspring, the food blender, brought enjoying crushed fruit into another realm. The smoothie of today was just a creative thought away. Mixing fruit, yogurt, milk, veggies, peanut butter, chocolate — you name it — into a delicious, refreshing and often nutritious treat can be traced back to the invention of the blender.
The smoothie made it through a few decades without a pop-culture name, and some evidence blames the name on hippies. “Smooth” was a popular word in 60s and 70s counterculture, and it was used to sell a lot of items to those folks standing against materialism. So one of the earliest commercial smoothie entrepreneurs branded his icy fruit and yogurt with a name sure to appeal to the flower children. And it worked.
Whether you’re an old hippie, a young hippie, a reluctant hippie or not a hippie at all you can find a delicious and filling smoothie made with nutritious ingredients right here in the River Valley. The place is Health Food Garden in Russellville.
Health Food Garden smoothies are made with 100 percent real fruit and fruit juice, and organic milk and bananas. No purees, concentrates or added sugars, and no artificial dyes, flavors or sweeteners. Just the good stuff served by friendly and innovative folks.
Tie-dye and flip-flops aren’t required but they are welcome.
Smooth and Salubrious
