Everybody knows about Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. The emphasis of these grocers is on good quality, healthy stuff, including produce, meats, preserved and bulk edibles. These are corporate giants, in their own way, and purchase decisions are made in offices distant from the point of sale. Here's what's different about our local co-op: This is one store in one location only. It has a board of paid and volunteer staff, who personally visit with and negotiate with local farmers and manufacturers of canned and package product.
There's a list of suppliers posted at the entrance. Skagit Flats Farm, Motherflight Produce, Skagit River Beef, Samish Bay Cheese, and many others... and you can ask about any individual item. The clerks are well-educated on what comes from where. Most have even visited the sites. "Community" is the theme.
Anyone can shop here. If you wish to, you can buy a membership which makes you sort of a silent partner. Membership fees help pay for structure, and in return you get a small dividend at the end of each fiscal year. I joined up several months ago, and I don't know what my dividend will be, but I don't really care about that. I'm happy to contribute to a amirable cause. I'm "one of them" as I push my cart through the aisles of good looking and great tasting inventory.
Members get special deals on some things. I haven't explored that, because I already believe I'm getting great value. Prices are most definitely lower than Whole Foods. Produce is way fresher than Trader Joe's. If anybody has "garden fresh," the Co-op does.
There is an eclectic feel to the display, and the customers are full of character, too. The avant-garde, the aging hippie, and the conservative in the three-piece suit all shop here. The community spirit allows us to say, "Nice day," "Have you tried that hummus?" and other small talk with each other. Customers say "Excuse me, please" as they navigate the narrow aisles, and "Can I help you reach that high shelf?"
You can eat as weird as you want, or as ordinary as you want. They make amazing things out of tofu and grains for the vegetarian diet. There are raw dairy products for the adventurous, but I'll stick with the natural yogurts that have a touch of pasteurization. The meat department is small, but you really only need the chicken whole or cut up just a couple of ways, and beef roasts can be cut up into stew meat, steaks are steaks. It's all top quality.
The whole package makes meal planning more pleasurable. Appetite is summoned and creativity arises. I've never cooked with morrel mushrooms, you might say, maybe I'll bring a few home and experiment. Peruvian yellow ginger... what can I do with that? Go to the co-op's website, and they'll tell you how to use all of their amazing variety. www.skagitfoodcoop.com/ Watermelon chorizo? You can find the recipe at "In the Kitchen With Jill."
The Co-op's investment in community farming and packaging doesn't stop at it's doors. They promote all kinds of businesses in Skagit County that feature local goods. You can view The Local Food Buyer's Guide posted at the Co-op, or you can visit that organization's website here: http://www.slowfoodskagit.org/. They include some of links to some of my own favorite restaurants like The Nell Thorne in La Conner, Trumpeter Public House in Mount Vernon and Rhododendron Cafe in Bow.
Checking out is personable and friendly. The checkers have names you'll remember without even looking at their name tags after several visits.
The Co-op doesn't eliminate Costco or Safeway because it doesn't have absolutely everything, but I find myself shaping my kitchen around what's available here. It's just that much better and that much more enjoyable.
