Beehive Cafe

Location: 10 Franklin St., Bristol.
In business since: 2008.
Products: Baked goods, breakfast and lunch menu, organic and fair trade teas, coffee.
Contact: Visit thebeehivecafe.com.
Info: In summer 2010, the Beehive Café initiated the Beehive Barter program. The program not only serves to stem the tide of potential food waste in backyard and community gardens, but it is also part of a larger initiative to connect people to their food. Working with hyperlocal ingredients can present a challenge and requires some extra planning and flexibility. In addition to earning some cash to use at the café, barterers get the added thrill of seeing the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor lovingly prepared and served on the breakfast, lunch and dinner plates at the Beehive Café.

Cafe La France

Location: 100 Gaspee St., Providence.
In business since: 2010.
Products: Locally sourced sandwiches, beverages and baked goods.
Contact: Call 401-273-3010.
Info: Train stations aren't often known for their food, but the one here has an eatery getting attention. Cafe La France serves travelers locally sourced sandwiches, beverages and baked goods. A concept so uncommon that in 2011 it was recognized as the only Amtrak station in the country serving such food. During an award ceremony in fall 2011, the restaurant's owner, Elizabeth Darmstatter, was praised as a "Food Innovator" by the Wholesome Wave Foundation, a Bridgeport, Conn.-based nonprofit that helps connect small farms and communities lacking access to local food. Darmstatter bought the restaurant, which is one of eight independently owned franchises, in 2010 and immediately upgraded the menu. Now her tomatoes come from Confreda's in Cranston, bread and muffins from Seven Stars Bakery, cheese and yogurt from Narragansett Creamery and soda from Yacht Club Beverages in North Providence.

Celestial Cafe

Location: 567 South County Trail, Exeter.
In business since: 2002.
Products: Full lunch and dinner menu featuring locally raised produce and Rhode Island artisan foodstuffs. Brunch on Sundays.
Contact: Visit celestialcaferi.com.
Info: The Celestial Café offers a full lunch and dinner menu — and a brunch Sundays — that is built upon produce and foodstuffs produced in Rhode Island. You'll find beef and pork, poultry, eggs and cheeses, and a constantly changing array of fresh, seasonal veggies, some of which come from farms that are within walking distance of the cafe. The restaurant also offers monthly farm-to-table dinners.

Dirty Vegan Foods

Location: 1133 Fisher Road, Dartmouth, Mass.
In business since: 2011.
Products: Vegan "junk" food.
Contact: Visit dirtyveganfoods.com, 508-343-0433.
Info: Dirty Vegan Foods aims to bring "Naughty food without the Guilt" to the snacking public. Dirty Vegan Foods makes food that looks like the junk food that you loved as a kid, but tastes a lot better and is better for you. Using only natural ingredients such as unprocessed cane sugar and no dairy or eggs, the Dirty Vegan has created a low-carbon footprint version of the Ding Dong, the DVF Cupcake, complete with white frosting curlicue over the top, vegan chocolate chip "Rocky Bites" and the "Winky," which tastes just like its mass-produced namesake, minus the T and the petrochemical film left on your teeth and tongue.

Empire Tea & Coffee

Location: 22 Broadway, Newport.
In business since: 2007.
Products: Tea, bubble tea, mochi ice cream and traditional coffee and espresso drinks.
Contact: 401-619-1388, newportbubbletea.com.
Info: Empire Tea & Coffee is a hub for artistic activity, hosting folk music jams, comedy shows, musicals and a few film series that have sharpened Aquidneck Island’s focus on growing environmental concerns. Owner C.J. Barone is a supporter of the local food movement, using, for example, Aquidneck Honey in his “Aquidneck Honey Latte.”

Liberty Elm Diner

Location: 777 Elmwood Ave., Providence.
In business since: 2007.
Products: Diner supporting local and regional foods.
Contact: Visit libertyelmdiner.com, 401-467-0777.
Info: The diner's menu supports local farms and purveyors, the diner is a Worchester Lunch Car and is part of the Historic Register. In addition to supporting local farms and food producers, the diner contributes 1 percent of all profits to improving the neighborhood by buying disease-free Dutch elms to reline the street that was once lined with these trees.

Small Point Cafe

Location: 230 Westminster St., downtown Providence.
In business since: 2011.
Products: coffee, pastries, sandwiches, waffles.
Contact: Visit smallpointcafe.com.
Info: The green touches at Small Point Cafe are subtle but influence nearly all parts of the operation: local produce and dairy products, reusable mugs and cups, biodegradable to-go items. Coffee grounds and food scraps are composted. LED lighting and dual-flush toilets. A discount for travel mugs. The coffee is organic and fair trade.

The Locals (Neighborhood Eats)

Location: 11 Waterman Ave., North Providence.
In business since: 2010.
Products: Locally sourced breakfast and lunch.
Contact: Visit eatatthelocals.com.
Info: The Locals was borne of owner Andrea Cipolla’s fear that the local food movement was becoming really expensive, if not elitist. “We wanted to create a place where local food isn’t intimidating, is accessible, and isn’t used as a status symbol,” she says. Cipolla understands that serving all local products creates a demand for local products. “If you have Yacht Club Soda and Coke right next to each other on your shelves, the people who drink Coke will always opt for that. They’ll probably never even try Yacht Club. But if the Coke isn’t there, that’s a different story," she says.

Top This Pizza Crusts Inc.

Location: Providence.
In business since: 2007.
Products: White and wheat fire-grilled pizza crusts.
Contact: Visit TopThisPizzaCrusts.com.
Info:  The 13-inch pizza crusts are sold across Rhode Island at Whole Foods markets and at most independent grocery stores, such as Dave’s Marketplace, Eastside Marketplace, Venda Ravioli and Clements’ Marketplace. Top This! pizza crusts also have reached parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey, while a wholesale distributor has expanded distribution to all of New England.