Wow, so it's been a while. A lot has happened. And sadly, I have no pics to show you of this, so you will just have to take my word for it. For this story here I am about to unfold, I would not blame you for doubting....
So since we are crazy, we decided to just pack up and move to Portland, OR. For no other reason than it is where we want to be. We don't know anyone here, no job prospects, it just seems like the city we want to live in. So here we are. We got an apt, we're slowly exploring the place. And there is a Trader Joe's grocery store about half a mile from the house. I remembered it more fondly than it deserved I suppose, because I was rather disappointed. It is mostly food for lazy vegans. A lot of prepared food, frozen entrees, sauces, etc. The produce was lacking and overly packaged(who wraps whole ears of corn in plastic? Seriously...). So I was a little disappointed, I needed more....And I found it.
Geli found a co-op store not far from our apt(1.5 miles). So today, (after getting lost downtown for almost an hour in a zipcar on the way to pick up our dead camera) we biked to the store after returning the car. Awesome short bike ride(I love my new bike! More on that later, when I can take pictures again!) later, and we were there. As soon as we got there, I knew it would be awesome, but nothing could prepare me for the awesomeness that awaited inside!!!!
At first we saw the usual in a small co-op. Vegan goodies, baked goods, bread, sauces, mayos, etc. Then I started noticing this one was different. You can get bulk vegan "butter"?! Odd, but really cool. Bulk(a granel, in spanish I think) vegan "cream cheese"?! What is going on...and it went on. Almost anything could be bought bulk. I am not kidding! Braggs sauce, spices, vegan "jerky", tahini, all kinds of vinegars, molasses, sugars, and get this...shampoos, soaps, conditioners, laundry detergent, loose leaf teas! You could even cut your own bars of soap! Many varieties, bulk soap people!!! And Geli was rushing me the whole time cuz it was getting dark and our bikes don't have lights yet, but I could easily have spent three hours looking around and buying cool things, and that is not an exaggeration. And it is a small store, only a little larger than a convenience store. But it was soooo loaded with awesome groceries. like 99% organic, as local as possible, and mostly veg*n! The produce looked amazing, so many new things I hadn't seen. We bought red bananas, from Mexico, which look mega weird and so I had to try them.
Another really cool thing...no plastic bags. Paper bags(probably recycled) for most of the bulk things, they sell some reusable glass jars for cheap for things like the vinegars and stuff, and some different kinds for the spices, and they have some free reused ones too! Way cool....I never thought I could get so excited about a grocery store...but there you have it. I can't wait to go back! haha
P.S The weather was a perfect 70 degrees F today(21 C), partly cloudy. Just thought you would want to know :D
you were outrageously excited about that co op store, it was awesome though!
ReplyDeleteI was going to write a positive comment right up 'til you mentioned the weather...now I hate you with all my guts, haha. It's so cool that you're loving your new home city, I can totally picture you getting all excited about the store.
ReplyDeleteI imagine you like a kid in Toys r us in that store lol, and I agree with Sergio, damn you and your almost perfect weather, we are dying here with almost 40 C.
ReplyDeleteDAMN... so it's better than the milwaukee co-op. I must see this to believe it!!
ReplyDeleteYou will see it! It p0wns the MKE co-op!
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