MemDayWeekend; Fresh Food in C-U
May 25th, 2008 by erb
First gas fill-up in CU: $50! $4.07/gallon! (Though I’ve seen it as low as $3.99 around town since.) Malaika pointed me to GasBuddy.
This weekend, I went to: Market at the Square, Strawberry Fields, and Common Ground Co-op.
Market at the Square
- Variety and amount: A lot, more than used to at Bainbridge Island farmer’s market (I would estimate 4-5 times larger). Largely seasonal. Didn’t get there until about 11, so there were lots of things I missed out on (like cukes, zukes, and strawberries). There were LOTS of flowers, plants, seedlings, etc. It was pretty big!
- Prices: More than Safeway, but reasonable. I did buy a dozen Large fresh / natural / local eggs, $4. I think Extra Large were $4.50, and some blue-speckled variety were $5.25. The main place that had local cheese was sold out.
Bought a small bag of REALLY good oatmeal raisin cookies: Homestead Bakery (apparently at the Great Pumpking Patch), Arthur, IL. - I bought a 1 lb bag of coffee from a local roaster, Leaves & Beans Roasting Co. Most bags were whole beans, but they had 4 or 5 varieties available in pre-ground bags — not too much. Again, it was 11:00ish and late. Really nice and friendly people, helped me pick out a roast: Dark like I like, but not Too Dark like I Don’t like. Ended up being a FTO Nicaraguan. As soon as I smelled it, I said, “Oh that’s nice — smells chocolate-y,” and she pointed out it was Nicaraguan and grown near or with cocoa beans. After putting everything away when I got home, I immediately brewed a pot!
Am currently enjoying my first good cup of coffee since … May 11? Two weeks ago? (Wolfram has free coffee available, but it’s not that great — not up to Seattle coffee snob standards, anyway! They do offer some sort of espresso machines in most kitchens, but I prefer good coffee to espresso…) - Saw some dogs. Not a LOT — I really don’t feel this is as dog friendly as either of the coasts — but some! Got a pet or two in, with a black lab while waiting to buy some bread.
Strawberry Fields
- Ok, so it’s not huge (like Town and Country or Central Market), but it’s sizable, and has some variety. It’s focused on organic and gluten free and etc. And it’s a chain grocery store. Prices are about what you’d expect, I suppose. Not cheap, but not outrageous (but what do I know?!? Malaika does the shopping!).
- Since I wanted to get shopping done, after the Farmer’s Market, I was torn — I hadn’t yet been to Common Ground, and had no idea how much they would have to offer, or how competitive they would be. So I opted not to buy much, just a few things like Annie’s mac-n-cheese, some non-fresh things: couscous, polenta, korma simmer sauce, tofu, microwafe pad thai (which sucked), that sorta thing.
Then Common Ground Co-op
- I used 1 of 3 “free visits.” Note, when they move to the new location in Urbana come July or August (downtown, near the location of both Market at the Square, and Strawberry Fields — get ALL your good grocery shopping done in one pass!), they will allow anyone to shop, no issue. But members will get special deals, as well as offered classes, as well as advance notice of things/foods/etc, as well as just being part of something good.
- I really liked it. Pretty darn small, but it’ll be 2-3 times larger when they get to the new store.
- Fresh granola, vanilla yogurt, more Annie’s (variety), bread, fresh (local) shitakes, white mushrooms, pears, more local veggies (lettuce, red bell pepper, tomatoes), small bag of organic chips, free trade organic cashews. Two full plastic bags of groceries. Bill: $60. Reasonable
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