New Pi taste-tests northward expansion with a sophisticated palate

My former colleague, Cindy Hadish, has a great gardening and food blog, HomegrownIowan.com. Over the weekend, she posted coverage of New Pioneer Food Co-op's ongoing vote on whether to build a third store.

Cedar Rapids and Marion are possible locations, and member meetings were held in both cities. Please read the whole post, but this excerpt caught my eye:

My wife works in Iowa City and signed us up for a New Pioneer membership, although we shop there only occasionally. We haven't voted yet on this expansion issue.

But I think the way we think about food has changed considerably in the last 20 years, and not just in college towns and big cities. And I don't think it's really a question of "sophistication" or frequent flier miles.

It's that consumers, for various good reasons, are demanding more choices. Lots of choices. That's why the kooky organic and vegetarian stuff that used to be shoved off to a corner of the supermarket is now taking up an expanding share of prime time shelf space in mainstream stores such as Hy-Vee and Walmart. More and more people are thinking more and more about where their food comes from and what happens to it before it gets to their plates. Supporting local growers has also become more important.

If New Pioneer came to Marion, we'd shop there. We'd also shop at Hy-Vee and Fairway. We'd go to farmers' markets and to New Bo. New Pioneer would not be some exotic granola novelty from Iowa City. It would be a another choice for people who eat, which is a popular pastime on this end of the corridor. With utensils, even.