Monday, June 30, 2008

The Best Food Shopping in The World














No recipe today dear readers. It wasn't that I was lazy this weekend and didn't cook because I did. Despite the fact that it was 100 degrees on Saturday in June for pity sake. I just couldn't muster up the energy to do anything new or different that would entail turning on the oven.

Today, on this lovely Monday that I have off, my dear friend Gladys and I hit the freeway and went to the Whole Food Market some 30 miles away. Worth every expensive gallon of gas it took to get there. I Love, Love, Love shopping at that store. Around every corner there is a wonderful product to see, prepared take home food to decide over, or a beautiful piece of fruit or vegetable to covet. Unfortunate for those of us in Salem who appreciate the finer things in life that we must drive so far to obtain them.

Whole Foods is one of my guilty pleasures that I must either do alone or go with Gladys. The Husband just cannot see the point of it all and on the few occasions that he has reluctantly agreed to go (read between the lines: was nagged and nagged until he gave in), he did not appreciate all they had to offer and in fact, went up and down the aisles making caustic, rude comments about the prices and the clientele. Well, his passive-aggressiveness paid off as he knew it would and he is no longer included unless he changes his evil ways, baby.

Today's trip was not for anything in particular so we just perused the store, putting lovely things in our baskets, some of which are pictured above. I appreciate that there are so many local offerings, particularly produce, and that it is so well identified. I am trying very hard to purchase things that are grown locally (within a 50 mile radius) if possible.

For the past few years we have purchased our pork from a co-worker who raises his own pigs and our beef from his father who has a few head of cattle, all locally grown and butchered 10 miles from here. We know it is raised humanely, without chemicals or hormones and it helps support the local economy. I also try and buy my eggs from co-workers who have their own hens whenever I can. What a difference these fresh farm eggs are from the store-bought eggs. The yolks are such a vibrant orange compared to the pale yellow of store bought.

During this time of year too, I try to get to one of the local farmers markets on a weekly basis to buy the freshest of produce. This is such a bountiful time with the wonderful strawberries, cherries and other fruits. They just don't have the same quality when you buy them from a big box store and they have been shipped from Argentina and have been sitting in cold storage for a few months.

Back to Whole Foods. I also appreciate the values and philosophy of the store and their obvious awareness of the environment and how they do their part to help, such as no longer using plastic shopping bags, donating money to local causes and the other green strategies they use throughout their store. Their employees are also always totally customer service oriented in my experiences with them. It is always such an enjoyable experience to shop at Whole Foods stores.

1 comment:

Whack Patti said...

Mmmmm....food....and lots of it!