The Hippie Food Saga

Before coming to Ogden, we lived in the Champlain Valley of New York State, where we were spoiled by CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture farms) and locally raised meat (shout out to DaCy Meadow and Ben Weaver!) The down side of the area was the general remoteness to everything else you might need in the way of healthy groceries, fresh produce in the off-season, bulk Earl Grey tea and whatnot.

We might travel to Middlebury, Vermont, which had its very posh co-op, which is sort of a member of the now-nationally-recognizable successful co-op trope, with the open HVAC ducts, the earth-tone accents on the architecture, and a penchant for gourmet items. It was an hour away, and the roads weren't the best, even in summer.

I just read that Utah is the most urban of all the western states, with 85% of its population living in urban areas. 80% of the total population lives along the Wasatch Front, stretching from the southern burbs of Salt Lake City to the northern reaches of Ogden and North Ogden and North North Ogden. Past that, there is a mysterious land called the Cache Valley which apparently has some great farms, but I haven't made it up there yet.

I figured with a million or so people living along the 100 mile stretch of Interstate 15 between Provo and Brigham City, one might find a decent co-op for the outdoorsy-hippie-collegey types, but so far efforts have only turned up this disappointment.

On the upside, Ogden has a store called Good Earth Natural Market on Riverdale that scratches some of those itches, and, of course, there is a Whole Foods in Salt Lake City (which probably muscles out the co-op opportunities). We also found Cali's Natural Food Warehouse - which has its own unique brand of awesomeness, but be prepared that it is not like a typical grocery-store experience. It's really pretty much a small warehouse. The woman at the register the day we went was wonderful and helpful, and they have some cool stuff in there.

Unfortunately, we were on the prowl for some grass-fed-living-large-well-loved-died-of-mild-surprise beef, poultry, or bison - which have proved elusive...though I got a hot tip from the Paradise Valley Orchard that the mythical Cache Valley has a farm which might satisfy our meaty desires...