GMO-Free Portland!

of them fall out. Get a fork! They have Veganaise which is always non-GMO. Usually there is organic mustard by the seating area. And they know how to cook a burger at this store! Tell them how you want it done. And if you think these people look like they are having fun, and are genuine, you are right. They are hired because they are good at their jobs and part of that means fitting with one of the aims of the store described as, "that positive energy you feel in a store when the people shopping and working there are enjoying themselves." Their welcome page makes me feel good to read now that I know with absolute certainty that it is true. I have to say though, we think our store in Happy Valley is the best- but maybe if you go to a store often enough that you know the employees and they know you, you will just naturally have a good experience. This is our home store. We shop every other day between Freddy's and New Seasons. We were forced to slow down and spend time shopping, cooking, and most of all learning -and actually, life is more fun spending quality time with these things and skipping all the activities we would do if we had more time from eating conveniently. Like what? Watching a $20 movie with 1/2 hour of commercials first when its such a nice day? Its what our daily regular moments are like- that makes our lives- not the grand moments we've socked away for by skimping on joy. It is a joy to buy new kinds of yummy organic produce and try all the fruit samples- or to just stroll through the fresh and cut flowers room smelling everything. Have you ever really looked at a delphinium closely? One flower stalk will stand in its vase slowly fading to lighter shades of blue and violet until its completely dry and delicate- a translucent piece of pure sky. But my truest joy is that our dog likes sitting outside at the store with us while we eat. Nuff said.

Another great thing is the restaurant area itself. Above is a "community table." On a crowded day when there's a popular acoustic musician singing in the corner it fills up. The signs also say "grab a seat" and something about meeting your neighbors. Above there is a sign for the cooking school which lies just beyond in the back of the pic. There is a really nice couch seating area and its all open when school isn't in session (or movie night which you can pop in for if there are still seats!) there is a class taking place with a dinner you have made after it. What a great date! They have a big stainless steel, state-of-the-art prep and cooking area. We haven't tried it yet but I've seen people enjoying themselves through the window from my table outside. The July schedule has a kids cooking potstickers class! The prices are typically $20-$30 which is steep for us but if you subtract the cost of a multi-course dinner the class costs very little. That said, we don't have that much to spend in a chunk period. But it is going into our Rolodex of fun- made so we don't have to think during stir-crazy moments.

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When I'm not having the hamburger or hot fresh wild-caught salmon fillet (yes- it is divine), I might have a bagel and cream cheese with ham. This trick works if you need cream cheese and ham at home because you're buying the whole packages to have your sandwich. Its cheaper than dining out. That is one of the advantages to eating and shopping together which they make easy by letting you pay for things as you check out that you already ate. Okay I sound like I am taking advantage. No store could like me behaving this way, right? Wrong! Read what they call the fine print! Just don't forget and recycle your drink can. (I nearly did that!) Here's how it is:

Yes!  Now we are taking on the same fight in our way. New Seasons is adamant about the fact that they will NOT carry cloned meat in their stores. We will go on about cloned meat and link to it later. For now, I will just say that the inefficiency of the process is horrid animal cruelty on a giant scale and I don't trust the safety of the meat one bit with all those mutations. They link to our Senators' emails, asking us to write them about it. The right to know what we eat which is such a huge priority to we no-GMO's and ethical-food buyers, it is wonderful to see a store standing up for it for us and them. Check out this page!  They do sell a lot of deli meats in the packaged aisle that are organic. So I bring them all I want to go on my hot toasted organic bagel they'll make for me, or maybe some other bread from their organic bakery. While they put my sandwich together, I grab some chips or fruit, hot Fair-trade Guayaki Yerba Matte or an organic Steaz energy drink - ooh no- make that the Oogave cola! Come to think of it, I don't know if I will try all the drinks that I could have there in my lifetime. Strawberry milk? Drinkable yogurt. But lets go back to the cola. This is the first cola I've had that tastes like a fountain cola. Another thing they have that is amazing is Divine Fair Trade milk chocolate. But you don't want all that sugar do you? How about a small non-GMO papaya topped with a little strawberry yogurt? They have sinks, a microwave, real silverware, plates, glassware, and sustainable to-go containers right there. Some days I buy some fruit, go wash it off and sit outside with it at a sunny table with my dog and his Frisbee full of water. (Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose!) And by the way, I was snapping pics with my phone, talking GMO's and food with some of the coolest people ever. I know a lot of employees a little bit- and they are all wonderful folks. But its not every day a customer asks you to do a photo shoot, however quick it may be so thank you, models.
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