A couple months ago while in Boulder,CO went to a fairly new grocery store called Sunflower Farmer's Market and was very impressed. This weekend went once again and was even more impressed as I had time to check things out real good.
Here is the link to their very cool website. There are something like 28 stores and I'm told there are three planned for Santa Fe,NM.
The point of this which I think is very important is that by coincidence the next morning in the Boulder Daily Camera there was this article (read it in the camera but they now link to their own article that's in the denver whore post) about Sunflower and their own farm where they are raising their own organic produce locally.
True it may not be much now but what I saw in the store for organic was some of the best I've seen anywhere and also priced very right compared to here which I cannot afford. The piece stated it may be the first time a store has raised their own but there could be others I'm sure.
Yesterday I was told Sunflower has recruited three of the best produce people Safeway has in the area.
Whether this is a first or not is mute as what's important here is that people want this stuff bad and it appears Sunflower is going after this. Why it hasn't been tried before I'm not sure but I think this will work quite nicely and we will see more of this. There are many advantages and the one is you can control quality.
How I wish there was one here as I would not step in the others. The little guys rock so bring it on Sunflower!!! You betcha.
We have a similar store, 50 miles away, called Fresh Market. The distance prevents us from doing all our shopping there, but patronize it whenever possible. Very consumer friendly and the perishables are fresh, varied and lots locally produced. Unlike our local Wal-Mart Supercenter, which, for example, sells peaches from California, and we live in Georgia, The Peach State. They make a big deal out of any local produce they sell, which is not very often. The best way for us to get locally grown fruits and vegetables is at a Farmers Market or side-of-the-road stall. We have to travel 20 miles to get locally fished sea food, Wal-Mart sells shrimp and grouper from Asia.
ReplyDeleteI want some of that fresh fish. Way too expensive here and I don't think trout tastes that good or else I'd have one of them occasionally.
ReplyDeleteOregon has many growers and farmers markets. Additionally, we have New Seasons which carries local, certified organic products of every kind. They even encourage vendors of local and sustainable products to set up shop in their parking lots and explain how to prepare these sometimes exotic food items. As for fish we have lots of coastal fisherman selling oysters, crabs, etc. We have so much to try here it's hard to sample everything. The wine, beer and distilled spirits market is great.too. No corn liquor or "shine" to speak of so you may be dissappointed, OTC. However, some Asian markets carry specially prepared insects and worms; yes, I could even have them ship you praying mantis in a delicate, pickled fish sauce. No high fructose corn syrup, tho.
ReplyDeleteI shop at an organic store in Bloomington called Sahara Mart. There are now two stores in Bloomington and a coop also called Blooming Foods. I just buy less and eat less but what I do buy costs more. It's one way of affording organic. In the summer I go to local farmer's markets to buy my produce. I particularly like the Amish markets.
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