Jan
25
Why I love the Berkeley Bowl
Wed, 01/25/2006 - 21:45
For those of you who have lived in Berkeley, you know the Berkeley Bowl. I knew about it, but it was always so crowded, and impossible to find parking, that I avoided it. But then, one Monday morning at 10:00 (perfect time to go) I went shopping. And I was a happy camper. I finally found a way to get good, wholesome food without breaking the (at this point tiny little) bank, like I would by going to Whole Foods (commonly nicknamed whole paycheck, or whole checkbook).
There is an entry on Tree Hugger about an article on Alternet - which puts Whole Foods to the WalMart test: can an entry-level employee at Whole Foods afford to shop there, even with the discount? The answer is, of course, no.
It's nice to know that yes, Virginia, it is possible to get good wholesome food, at prices that won't make you broke. Farmer's markets, CSA programs, co-ops (I left the Pioneer Valley just in time for the River Valley Market coop to get going in Northampton) etc., provide a nice alternative to Whole Foods, which is, after all, simply another publicly traded company, and its major mission is to maximize profit for shareholders, not provide good, healthy, wholesome food at reasonable prices. Yes, they pay better than WalMart, but that's hardly saying much, and they remain ardently anti-union. It's nice to have alternatives.
There's a few good farmer's markets in Berkeley, too, including one not too far from PSR which is all organic:
http://www.ecologycenter.org/bfm/
Although Berkeley Bowl workers are now unionized, management, it was a rough road getting there. If you don't know about it already, you might do a Google search on: berkeley bowl union.
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