“Know where your food comes from.” It’s one of the mantras for organic salad bar chain sweetgreen, which emphasizes naturally delicious local foods on the menus of its 15 (and counting) restaurants in the D.C. metro area.

To kick off 2013, sweetgreen is focusing on a winter favorite, kale, and the New Jersey farm—Ploch Farm in Vineland—that grows a majority of the kale used in sweetgreen’s restaurants. sweetgreen’s “Meet the Farmer” videos have been a popular marketing tool used by the chain not only to promote the businesses and foods of its local produce partners, but a very effective educational too for existing and new restaurant customers curious about the origins and quality of their meals.

Ploch Farms is located in the heart of New Jersey’s agricultural sector, Cumberland County. Located in the City of Vineland, the largest city in Cumberland County, Ploch Farms Inc. is a major producer of culinary herbs and fresh market vegetables and has been family owned for over three generations.

In sweetgreen’s first “Meet the Farmer” video for the new year, John Ploch and Ryan Ploch talk about their passion for farming and growing the best winter kale, featured prominently in sweetgreen’s new January salad of the month.

Expect new sweetgreen locations this spring in Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston.