NATURAL FOODS
JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE
The Medford Food Co-op opened in 2006, and the business has steadily grown to the point that supporters are considering expanding into a new space.
IT’S NOT A
NICHE By Damian Mann
for the Mail Tribune
A
Shoppers enter the Medford Food Co-op on Riverside Avenue in Medford.
It’s gotten easier to shop locally for natural, organic foods in recent years
36
rarity in Jackson County a few decades ago, natural food stores have become a staple throughout the valley. The Ashland Food Co-op led the way in 1971 when several local families started a food-buying club that evolved into the region’s only certified organic retailer. After its first successful year, the store became a cooperative in 1972, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary this past Valentine’s Day. “The idea started because a group of local families had a hard time sourcing whole organic foods,” said Tracy Kaiser, marketing and
education manager for the Ashland Food Co-op. If anything, the store has gotten more committed to organic and local foods in the intervening years. Unlike other grocery stores that commingle organic and nonorganic produce, the Ashland co-op shuns this practice. “When the sprayers come on, the water from nonorganic produce can contaminate organic produce,” Kaiser said. Only rarely does the Ashland co-op offer nonorganic products in its produce section, and then only when a product is unavailable otherwise. The kitchen and bakery contain 90% organic products, though it’s difficult to source organic spices or items such as Tabasco.
| Our Valley
0508_A_36_OV____.indd 36
4/23/2022 12:31:50 PM
