Yes folks, that's about it. Given all the hurrah about the new Sunflower "Farmers" Market, I decided I should go see it for myself, so I stopped by there on my way home from church today. Me and a lot of other people, because the parking lot was crowded and the store was packed.
We should have been outside with signs saying -- Real Food -- Real Farmers -- oklahomafood.coop , lol.
But when I went in, all I found was basically a Homeland Store, redecorated in the latest West Coast faux farmer style, maybe a slightly larger produce section. they had a nice selection of organic produce (from the US and Mexico), several of the same brands that you see at Homeland. The meat market was nothing to write home about. There were live butchers, but it is all mystery meat except for one tiny corner which had a farm "brand" grass-fed ground beef -- for $5.99/lb and it wasn't even certified organic. I forget the name of the farm, but I thought it was significant that it said "brand" which suggests a certain amount of aggregating behind the label.
They had a big sign on the wall showing off their label identifying "Oklahoma" products. I didn't see any Oklahoma meat, dairy, or produce, one of the brands of eggs had Oklahoma on it, but their certified organic eggs were more expensive than coop eggs.
I take the crowd though as evidence of hunger among Oklahomans for a more natural and more local diet however. But except for the expanded organic section, Sunflower has nothing that Homeland or Akins or the Health Food Center don't have. And the meat markets at Buy for Less, Crest, or the Crescent market are better than the Sunflower.
What Sunflower does have going for it is marketing.
We should maybe think about getting some of that.
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My impression was much the same and I was disappointed that most products were from so far away. My next stop was Homeland, which was nearly deserted.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate local foods and there are certain things I will _only_ buy locally (eggs being one).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have a family of five to feed. Sunflower Market is _much_ less expensive than Homeland and Akins on average, particularly on organic produce. That expanded selection you mentioned? Also a pretty big deal for me since my kids need variety. :)
While I will still certainly continue purchasing what I can from the OK Food Coop and local farmer's markets, Sunflower Market has completely replaced stores like Akins for me. Personally, I'm thankful for choice.