Where is the FOOD?

I can appreciate that I may have been spoiled in the past when it came to choices for eating. I lived in Providence for a year where there were 3 Whole Foods in one small city. I had a stint as a local foods buyer in Maine where I could order whatever produce and specialty items I wanted and talk to the farmer who grew it. I spent 7 months living on an ashram where we ate 100% organic vegetarian meals. Much of our produce came from our own gardens and I participated in a lot of the cooking. I knew what was going into our meals. And most recently, I spent 3 months living in Boulder, Colorado. Now if anyone doesn't know about Boulder let me sum it up in a few choice words: healthy, organic, sunshine, smiles, athletic, yogic. I could seriously walk into every 3rd restaurant and find gluten-free beer on tap, organic salads made with goat cheese from a farm 5 miles away, and grass-fed beef burgers (if I had wanted them). And if I had a sniffle-I had over dozen herbalist apothecaries to choose from. It was a health-nuts dream come true. But it's NOT reality. For the special few who can afford to live in a town like Boulder and then also afford the price tag of those healthy menu items, reality it might be. But for most, that world it is simply out of reach.

This reality has come crashing down on me as I have returned to the area where I grew up-greater Philadelphia. Within the 30 mile radius of the densely populated suburban region where I am currently residing, there are 2 Whole Foods markets, and maybe 4-5 small 'natural' grocery stores. This may seem like a decent amount but I can tell you-it's not. I find myself needing to go between 3-4 different stores to get all of the different items I am used to be able to find in one store. Decent eggs from this store, flax oil from that one. The same box of cereal at one store might cost $3.59 and at another $5.99. When you start to notice this it's hard to justify buying the more expensive 'version', hence furthering the need to traverse between multiple shopping locations. And let me clarify that it's not just that I need to have 'organic' foods. It's that I need to have food, as opposed to 'food-like products' AKA chemicals. My body is very sensitive to artificial preservatives and additives and I notice right away when I start to eat packaged foods that the headaches creep in, my anxiety goes up, and my attention span dissipates.

I recalled the last time I was in the area going into a certain grocery store. It is a large chain and they had a nice little organic section where I could find some of the items I am used to buying. Today I waltzed in after a stop at the bank thinking I would pick up a few tasties for the weekend-some Gouda and organic apples. Maybe some spinach and pecans, some organic goat cheese (I was hungry). Imagine my shock when one of the stock boys told me that along with the recent 'renovation' of the store they got rid of the organic section!!!!!!!!!!!! He said I would have to look amongst the other inner-aisle goods (see the Food Politics site or read The Omnivores Dilemma for more on that) to find their organic counterparts. This proved tough. Over in produce 4 organic apples cost $4.99! And they were on a Styrofoam plate covered in plastic wrap!?!?! Does anyone else see how backwards this is? I was in grocery store hell. I couldn't find a darn thing to eat in an entire store dedicated to food. Or wait...is that what they are dedicated to? NO. The truth is they are dedicated to money and to providing whatever it is that fills their pockets. (Read Marion Nestle's amazing book What to Eat).

I left the store with a jar of almond butter (they didn't have organic-even if I could afford it at around $15/jar), rice cakes (no organic option), a box of Corn Chex (only gluten-free cereal I could find) and a bag of frozen sweet potato fries. Since tomorrow is Saturday I can get my produce from a farmer's market. (But what about in November?!) Some good that comes of all of this is my further burning desire to open my own natural food store and apothecary!