Good Food for Real People

With little time to breathe, I am moving on to the next challenge…not only do I have yet another job, but “walking the talk” is about to impact a small town. I’ve recently been hired as a consultant to help redefine the image of the only grocery store in Victor, ID.

At the moment the Victor Valley Market serves as a convenience store that tries to please everyone by selling everything from Budweiser, cigarettes, Velveeta and Doritos to fresh scallops, natural meats, $50 bottles of wine, gourmet spices, and Kumbucha. Sounds great- but it’s all being done in 500 square feet. The market has exhausted a handful of managers over the past few years and is currently running by semi-organized chaos and the dedication of a few mostly-reliable (if there’s not a good concert going on) “generation Y/ MTV” employees.

The sprawling town of Victor is the gateway to Teton Valley. Recently sited by the AP last month as the “fastest growing resort community in the country,” Teton Valley is called home by Mormon potato farmers with roots dating back to the 1890’s, artists, old hippies, ski bums who work in Jackson, Wyoming, retired billionaires from Texas, and a vibrant Hispanic community. The market lies on the corner of a major intersection and currently serves tourists, construction workers, local families who don’t want to drive to the major grocery in the next town, fishing guides, and neighborhood kids. The business savvy owner has a passion for good food but in the end he wants to make money- thus the resistance to getting rid of Velveeta.

Here’s the question: Is it possible to make money selling good food? Is it possible to sell good food that hard working people can afford? Does good food sell? What is good food?

Look at the questions again…what is so outrageous about good food being affordable? How can we even question that good food would sell? What is wrong here!!!

What is good food? In my mind it is (listed in priority):
Good taste
Nutritious
Good for the environment- sustainable
Local
Shared with friends and family
Affordable
Tradition/culture
Producer/corporations are socially responsible

Which brings us back to the word “ecogastronomy.” I guess I’m on the right track. Now all I have to do is find a way to make money selling GOOD FOOD TO REAL PEOPLE. Is it possible to follow a philosophy that if it doesn’t taste good, if it isn’t healthy, if it isn’t affordable, if it isn’t worth sharing, we don’t sell it? Can people trust us?

My challenge for the current owner is: why not go for it and really stand for what you believe in? As long as he sells junk food to make money, people will continue question his integrity. I think it might be time for him to “walk the talk.” My mission is to find a way for him to make money- more money- doing what is good, healthy, fair, and socially responsible. And I have to prove that it is possible in a small town, with a diverse community, in a rural state, in the shadow of the Tetons.