San Diego GreenLife

by Val Gysler

Photo credit OB People's

So, for those of you who don’t know, there’s this little store in Ocean Beach—part grocery, part hippie hangout, part organic-food-lovers’ waking dream. If you consider yourself green, and long for something different, it might very well be worth checking out.

The Ocean Beach Peoples Organic Food Market on Voltaire Street in OB has opted out of the mainstream and into something innovative. This is a place where the produce is fresher than the idea on which it’s based.

The positive vibe it brings to the community might be greater than that of any mega-chain grocery store, begging to double your coupons —all the while dicing your morality into something discarded by an Iron Chef.

The co-op has been selling organic food since the Carter administration. Now that sustainable practices and buying local organic food have become as commonplace as an Obama sticker on a Volvo, this little grocer’s following might soon be multiplied exponentially.

I went down to the market on a Friday night in March after hearing there was free live music to be had. Music at the grocery store? It certainly beats that other shopping experience — the one accompanied by elevator-renditions of Lisa Loeb and Black Sabbath.

As I walked up the stairs to the Café, a huge grin washed over my face. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, bounced off the kale in the produce section, all the way to the Free Trade soaps at the opposite end of the store.

The woman playing the washboard soulfully sang her heart out, while the bearded-dude on the guitar strummed his fingers blue. Certainly this was no Radio City Music Hall, but the grocery store patrons may as well have been in its balcony. They were swaying to and fro in eco-conscious seating, in an eco-conscious grocery store.

The hot-food case in the café featured beans and rice, and biscuits and gravy. The cashiers had their dreads tied back in everything from bandanas to beanies, while their hands were tied-up helping customers get their dinners in time to sit and enjoy the music.

Everyone seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. The free grocery-store-jam-session brought out a similarly free feeling in the air, and I must admit, the sentiment was contagious.

After a few songs, I headed downstairs to check out the food—this after all being a grocery store. I was curious to see what, food-wise, set this store apart form the other Whole Food-esque stores.

The produce looked to me the same as any other farmers’ market, or organic-specializing grocery. The prices surely were about the same. As I perused the aisles, I saw the same bulk-food type aisles that a Henry’s or Whole Foods would have — except with organic offerings instead of commercially grown. They, like those other stores, stocked organic lipstick and eco-friendly toiletries.

So what was so different about the OB People’s Market? Well, this store actually sells local produce. The bulk of their goods are organic and the bulk of their profits stay in the local community.

Their website says they are, “owned by the people who use it” and “owners have a voice in what is available for purchase, as well as in the overall organization of their particular co-op”.

I don’t think the same can be said for Whole Foods. Not that I have anything against its rather minuscule amount of actual, local products. That coupled with a certain unnerving feeling that my life must not be going in the right direction if I can’t afford a seven dollar bottle of fresh-squeezed juice. Juice made from berries, flown in, off-season, from Argentina on a Boeing 747. That aside, hell, the place is beautiful.

The often-ridiculed opulence offered by certain organic retailers, has put a rather sour taste in many people’s mouths. People now days want a grocery store that is more interested in organic, locally-grown food, not a major chain grocery that says one thing but sells another.

The Co-Op isn’t just selling local food, however. The whole place is, shall we say, built on a green premise. The building’s design is one of the eco-marvels of San Diego, and is featured each year on the GreenBuilt Tour, which showcases eco-friendly homes and businesses in the county.

People’s was constructed using “non-toxic and sustainably-harvested building materials” and uses natural light to heat the space when necessary. The store features energy-efficient refrigeration as well as the utilization of other energy-saving strategies, all of which have earned them an award from SDG&E’s Savings by Design program.

The co-op experience is not for everyone. Some people don’t want to pay nearly five dollars for organic blueberries regardless of whether or not they have a say in from where those blueberries come. But if you are one of those people who relish in the idea of organic food sold to the people, by and for the people, then OB People’s Organic Food Market is certainly worth checking out.

And if you happen to stop in on a Friday evening for the live music, say hi to the gal on the washboard for me.