February-March 2015

Page 1

Market Medley Mississippi Market Member Newsletter February-March 2015 Vol. 40 No. 1

JUST THE ESSENTIALS Liz McMann, Consumer Affairs Manager

W

hen you run into your neighborhood store to pick up a few things, what do you get? “Just the essentials,” right? While many of our member-owners do the majority of their grocery shopping at Mississippi Market, we also have shoppers who stop in just to get a few things because they are in the neighborhood, not because they are looking for the best local or organic foods.

Mississippi Market aims to be a welcoming and convenient store to all co-op shoppers. We are here for everyone in the community. We know that in order to truly be a helpful resource in the communities we serve, we need to keep our prices as low as we can on the essentials. Even with all the resources we offer to help with grocery budgeting (our classes, recipes, LIME program, Deals programs), eating the best organic and local food is still out of reach for many people. Sometimes people never set foot into a co-op because they worry that they cannot afford it. Yet, while we do our best to lower the natural food

industry’s prices by encouraging new small businesses and organic farmers, we don’t expect prices for organic foods to drop dramatically anytime soon. So, we’ve decided to take some action to make sure the essentials—basic natural foods—are affordable and accessible to everyone who stops in to the co-op. I just talked with a woman last week who stopped into our West 7th store to just quickly get some milk. She lived in the area, had never been to the co-op before, and wanted to know which of the milks tasted most like just regular milk, nothing “fancy.” While I

could have easily tried to talk her into spending more on organic milk, it felt good to be able to offer her a locally sourced, hormone-free milk that is priced comparably to that in any grocery store. She agreed, “This isn’t any more expensive, and it’s from Minnesota!” This is exactly what the Essentials program is designed to do. Look for the symbol noting Essentials through the stores. These products are simple, natural foods at a very affordable price. Everyone can enjoy the savings! 1


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