Organic Taste Experience

Situated about half a mile from my house is a well-known organic grocery store called Earth Fare. I've never had an interest in stopping there...most of the food I currently eat is overly processed and farther from "natural" than most of today's entertainment industry. In fact, most of what I eat could probably last days, maybe weeks without being refrigerated or sealed thanks to preservatives and unnatural yummies.

So when Mike and Whitney suggested we go there for dinner, they didn't see me, but I turned up my nose in the back of the car. Nothing about organic food interests me...not the smell, taste or look of it. I was craving something deep fried and processed and was starving from skipping lunch today, but in the nature of not being a Negative Nancy, I agreed that we could check it out. When Whitney gave me an out, saying "if you don't see anything you like, we can leave," I walked in with the intention of not finding anything appetizing and getting my deep fried happiness afterall.

Whelp...if I could afford it, I'd eat at Earth Fare everyday and make it my regular grocery store. The "Healthy Supermarket" (their words, not mine) had a more-than-appetizing salad bar, a handful of MTO sandwhiches and salads, and every type of cheese I could ever imagine. And it was all organic. The store doesn't sell anything that has artificial preservatives or artificial flavoring and most products don't even have artificial coloring. We walked around for a bit before deciding that we were in fact eating here and made our way to the salad bar.

I settled on the "Say Cheese" which is a grilled cheese with organic American and Cheddar cheeses. I got a side of fruit, made a little side salad and grabbed a bottle of Earth Fare brand raspberry lemonade. Mike and Whitney each had a salad and Mike had sushi while Whit chose a cup of Italian wedding soup. Everything, of course, was organic and crazy delicious.

After dinner, we decided to take a walk around to see what other goodies we could stumble upon. I ended up getting two bottles of wine made with organic fruits and ingredients and a six pack of Carolina Blonde, a light-colored beer from Winston Salem, NC. They grabbed some chocolate milk, a bottle of what I think was a malt liquor beverage and a bottle of wine. Expensive, but worth it, because I just fell in love with the Sangria I picked out.

Not only does the store provide organic foods but they support an organic lifestyle as well. There were a variety of cosmetics and cooking accessories that were made out of recycled or natural materials. The wine bottles all have twist off corks instead of the real corks, because cork trees are endangered and the containers we used for dinner were all biodegradable and recyclable. They don't even offer plastic as an option for your grocery bags. Mike informed me later that they don't like giving you bags at all. They'd much rather you bring your own every time.

It's a little pricey, as eating healthy can often be, but if nothing else, I will be going back for more wine and maybe another grilled cheese. I'm almost mad at myself for being so against it at the start. Here I am preaching about trying new things and expanding my horizons and I was upset about having to eat at an organic grocery store. Lesson learned, and next time I won't be so annoyed by something outside of my comfy little box.

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Time for another shout-ou:

Here is their website if you're interested in checking it out: http://www.earthfare.com/

Their home office is located in the southwest corner of NC near Asheville. Yay for supporting the local market!