Organic Food on the Coast
by Mary Knippel
Palmetto Organic Grocery Photo by Mary Knippel
What does New Leaf Community Market, a decades-old natural food store, have in common with Palmetto Organic Grocery, a brand-new organic neighborhood market? They share a commitment to providing the Coastside with locally grown fresh and organic foods that not only help support our community, but ultimately benefit our global environment.
According to a press release from The Organic Center, a 6-year-old non-profit organization that distributes scientific research on its Web site, the greatest risks from pesticides in our diet come from eating conventionally produced fruits and vegetables. Now that the winter months are approaching, The Organic Center cautions consumers to pay special attention as imports account for a larger share of perishable produce on the market. They advise choosing organic for optimal health for you and the environment.
Half Moon Bay’s New Leaf Community Market, a new business but one with many familiar Coastside faces ready to serve you, has been selling organic produce for 22 years and buying local for the same amount of time. New Leaf buys over 100 different produce items from over 40 local growers on a year-round basis. The local region includes San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey counties.
Spring Hill Jersey Cheese Co. taste testing at Palmetto Organic Grocery.
“The organic industry is not a trend,” Mark Mulcahy, New Leaf Community Market’s produce coordinator, told me when I stopped by the new store in Half Moon Bay. “It is here to stay. … We’ve had two decades where people have changed their eating habits and that has become the norm. Today, the organic industry is growing by 13 percent where conventional grocery products are flat. … People expect better foods and look for more gourmet foods. Now as the economy turns down and people are not going out to restaurants, they are shopping for fresh organic produce and other products. One of the best ways you can live your values is what you choose for your food.” If you don’t find a product at New Leaf Community Market you think should be there, just ask the store to stock it; New Leaf will be happy to order it for you.
In 2002 organic standards were defined by a federal law that outlined how products must be grown or produced in order to be certified organic. Specifically, they must be grown without use of pesticides and other synthetic chemicals such as those which are easily detected on conventionally grown fruits, vegetables and grains. Now wherever you go, whether you are in California, Nebraska or New Jersey, if the produce carries an organic label you can rest assured it was grown in accordance with the same standards. That fact has helped increase organic sales quite a bit because of the accountability. Organic foods have also been found to have higher levels of vitamins, minerals and beneficial nutrients than conventional foods.
Featured local farmers at New Leaf Community Market. Photo by Mary Knippel
“My brother-in-law, Rustam Magomedov, and I built an apartment building in Pacifica with an office downstairs,” Arkadiy Goltser, contractor turned grocer told me in an e-mail interview about Pacifica’s Palmetto Organic Grocery. “A year went by and nobody wanted to rent the space, so we decided to use it for our own business. We talked about opening a laundry or a coffee shop, but I wanted to do something different. In Russia when I was a child, most of our food was organic, and that is how I want my 2 1/2-year-old daughter to eat here. I feel good about selling food to other families that I buy for my own. The idea is to make organics affordable for people who want to eat healthy.” The store not only offers fresh organic produce, but a sliding fee scale as the freshness decreases. It welcomes special orders and delivers to Pacifica residences and businesses.
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