The Jackson Whole Grocer by Diane

August 19, 2007

Today is technically a drive day for us, but as we said goodbye to the majestic and breathtaking Tetons and were driving through Jackson, we stopped into The Jackson Whole Grocer, the store Bob Arndt, our host from yesterday’s farmers market, owns. I haven’t mentioned this in any of our previous posts but we have a filmmaker (Steve) on tour with us to document what we’re doing so we can produce a short film on what we’re calling The New Face of Food. We interviewed Bob at the farmers market the day before and wanted some footage of him in his store just doing what he does.

I must say, I was really impressed with his operation and what he’s doing in Jackson. You have to remember, Jackson is fairly isolated – no major interstates run through it – so getting food in can be difficult, and he runs a large (for there) supermarket. When I first asked him about his store and the kind of food he had in it, he said it was around 60% conventional, 40% sustainable/organic. My first reaction was rather pretentious and went along the lines of ‘what? You dare sell conventional food? How could you?’

But when I walked into the store, I saw how brilliant the concept of The Jackson Whole Grocer is. Yes, you can find Miracle Whip, but I also found Nayonnaise (soy mayonnaise) that I’d been looking for for over a week. They sell Duchy Originals (Prince Charles’s organic line) and Tazo teas, but also Lipton. Bob said the reason they do that is because the store was previously all conventional, and his customers wanted to keep buying some of the products in there. The best part is that it’s all mixed together, so there isn’t a separate organic/sustainable section.

Bob also said that this was the way they were helping people transition to eating more sustainable and local products. When customers come in to buy their usual items, they’ll see the more sustainable option next to it. This will get them accustomed to seeing these other foods and will make the odds much higher that they might purchase the more sustainable option in the future.

It was great to walk around with Bob. He seemed to know most of his customers, and he’d go out of his way to answer questions and help people choose the right item. To explain his philosophy on the store, he took us to the milk section where he sells conventional milk from Idaho (which happened to just go rBGH free), sustainable milk from a local dairy, and an organic milk option. He takes into account price, location and sustainability and balances the three.

Bob also explained his relationship with customers. If someone wants him to stock a particular product, he’ll call the company or distributor to see if it’s possible. He wants to provide the items his customers buy, so he’s open to trying anything. He sees his inventory as a constantly evolving process, where things will be phased out and new things brought in. It sounds like a lot of work, but it falls within the philosophy of the store, which is to let shoppers have an enjoyable experience when they’re there.

And, I have to say, I certainly had an enjoyable experience myself. If you ever get to Jackson, Wyoming, you have to stop in The Jackson Whole Grocer and tell Bob that Diane sent you!

postscript: I’m writing this as we travel across almost the entire state of Wyoming as we head to Laramie for tomorrow’s event. As I look out the window, I see a large mountain range in the distance and a wide open range of sage and grasses in front of me. I’m not sure if this is considered the High Plains or high desert or exactly what it is, but you wouldn’t think there’d be much life around. But we just passed by a pack of wild horses (I was told they were wild at least and they looked wild) and some deer like animals that are more like gazelles. Guess I should do a little research on the geography and animal life in these areas…. But, that aside, it’s a beautiful, even though rather stark drive. There’s something breathtaking about all this open space, ringed by mountains way off in the distance. And the sky is so big, the clouds barely fit in it. I highly recommend everyone road trip this country at some point in their life. And come fall, you’ll be able to use our Eat Well Guide travel feature, where you can map out sustainable places along your route!

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