So what if my paycheck is made from 100% post-consumer product ...

what good is it if a trip to Whole Foods requires relinquishing a whole paycheck?

Here's my first point. There are two Whole Foods Markets in the Greater Cleveland area and they are both located in affluent areas. One location is in Cleveland Heights and the other is near Beachwood/Woodmere. Same thing with Trader Joes. There is one in Crocker Park and again, Woodmere. (*note that the Trader Joes and Whole Foods Market are both on the same street less than a mile apart in Woodmere.)

But this is not a new social phenomenon, in fact, it's not even a phenomenon. It's just how things work. The affluent have better access to organic, "healthy," and questionably labeled "sustainably produced" produce. I only say "questionably," because growing/harvesting something sustainably is one thing, but shipping it and selling it are another. If the produce is coming from California, how sustainable is it really to send it to Ohio? But we all are not too willing to sacrifice choice. Strawberries in Ohio in the winter...

But I digress.Not only do these areas have the access to better and fresher food, they have the money for it. They have money for a $16 jar of raw organic almond butter. But I see daily, living in the Flats downtown, people walking to the corner gas station to grocery shop. Literally, I have seen people coming out of the gas station with bags about to burst full of, as to be expected, the typical dietician's nightmare of partially hydrogenated soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup.

I once heard Whole Foods was committed to not selling anything containing hydrogenated oils (trans fat)- and that seems to be true. And they also are on record saying that items with high fructose corn syrup are the exception rather than the norm, as in conventional markets. But how good are places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods for cities like Cleveland that have many areas that have been dubbed "food deserts" where the closest grocery store is miles away.

I also realize that Whole Foods sells some local produce. As does The Mustard Seed (CRAZY EXPENSIVE). Two reusable grocery bags full of stuff at Mustard Seed costs me about $65, Giant Eagle about $30. I know this and I am completely comfortable with those numbers. I'm a college student and being at the checkout counter at Mustard Seed with my typical two-bag-fulls is like going through public penance and then being kicked in the gut after it's over.

But alas, there are good points, and some are to be found even in the expensive stores that sit safely in affluent areas (especially Mustard Seed, which sells the most, from my observations, local produce).

Cleveland has some awesome urban agriculture going on. There are many urban garden plots running-where you can buy into (or work on) a bit of garden to gain access to fresh produce cheaply. Most of these gardens are also in poorer inner-city neighborhoods. I know of 5-6 within one mile of me. Actually, one sits in my "backyard" in the parking lot of Rock Bottom in The Flats. Another is on West 25th a little after I-90. Not to mention, there are community supported agriculture (CSA) projects flourishing in Cleveland, like City Fresh which stimulates local agriculture by offering it easily and cheaply to people who opt into the system. People can buy a share in the CSA and pick up their weekly/monthly produce at "fresh stops" all around Cleveland. Lastly, there is a group called Fresh Fork that connects local produce to restaurants. And I think Fresh Fork was started by some Case Western Students (one of whom I went to elementary school with). Check out both sites, learn more, and support them since the economics of deciding whether or not Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and The Mustard Seed are as great as people make them out to be, are even beyond my reach. (And I even made it a point to study this stuff...)Lucky's Cafe in Tremont also has an urban garden and features mostly, if only, local and in-season produce. Yummy.

To learn more about whatever I'm talking about: Urban Learning Gardens

Ok, so Cleveland has tons of urban gardens, but so do many other places. Not enough to keep me here...