THINGS LA SHOULD HAVE: Seward Co-Op, Minneapolis

SoCal is supposedly into hip things and health food and stuff like that.  Didn't they invent Trader Joe's?  Aren't they all yuppies who do yoga and eat frozen yogurt?  Isn't Los Angeles a capital of FOOD and HEALTH JUSTICE?

NO.  Even though Los Angeles votes for democrats sometimes, they don't even have CO-OPS.  What is a CO-OP?  A co-op, or cooperative, is a business owned and operated by a group of people or community for their mutual benefit.  Co-op grocers usually sell local and organic products, and care about consumer health and environmental sustainability.  What is more FOOD JUST than that?  Very little!  Growing up in St. Paul, MN, generally regarded as one of the best places in the world, I assumed that co-ops were a common fact of life.  This isn't true.  In fact, there is only one co-op, Santa Monica's Co-opportunity, in the entire LA area.  What's up with that, SoCal?  I'd think you'd be into natural food markets.  I thought you were the most liberal state in the world.  You even voted for Mondale in '84...oh wait, you didn't.

In Minneapolis and St. Paul, we have not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but SEVEN co-ops.  They are all neat, but the one I'm most partial to is Seward Co-op in Seward, Minneapolis.  Only about a mile and a riverspan away from my house, my family have been members since Seward got trendy and opened their new Franklin Avenue space in 2005.  Seward is an awesome place...come with me as I check it out.

 Seward sells, whenever possible, produce that is local and in-season.  Though they make some exceptions, they almost never sell non-organic, non-USA-grown fruits or vegetables.

 What's that nasty looking brown thing in the lower right, Seward?  Who knows?  They're always selling things I've never heard of.

Ma "The Best" Tuthill pretends to weigh her mushrooms in order to make a more interesting picture.

Things don't have to come prepackaged?  WOW!  Seward has an infinite number of bulk options, including oils, cleaning supplies, tea, spices, and the best vanilla oat-cluster cereal I have ever had.  I don't understand why everywhere in the world doesn't do this.  It's cheaper, greener, easier, and let's you know exactly what you're getting when you buy your food.  Why is there so much evil in the world?

Peanut butter comes from peanuts!  This is probably the coolest thing at Seward.  I had no idea the process was so simple.  Seeing this makes things like Skippy even more terrifying than they already were.

  

Meat JUSTICE.  Brat JUSTICE: maybe the rarest type of JUSTICE. Maybe the best type of JUSTICE.

 Herban Cowboy, an awesome mens' (and now womens'!) grooming line, deserves a post of its own.  Seward's grooming section is filled with other great products as well, including the nearly impossible-to-find Burt's Bees lip balm circular tin. 

Seward's hot deli is fantastic too, and make one of the best burritos in the Twin Cities.  This isn't saying much, but if I were to rate it on a scale of good to great, I would give it a muy bien.

Short summary: Seward is awesome!  Co-ops are awesome!  Get on it, LA!  What are you doing with your life?  We had a state shutdown and two failed Republican candidates, and we have seven of them in a twenty mile radius! You guys passed the Dream Act!  You elected Jerry Brown!  Surely you can pull together a co-op or two...

Oh, neat!  Arroyo Food Co-op, founded in 2008, is trying to get enough membership donations to get a store opened somewhere in Pasadena.  This project has a lot of potential, and FOOD JUSTICE HOUSE advocates for their cause.  We encourage anyone who's interested in what they see here to join the fight toward a better LA, a better, California, and a better world.  Co-operative food: It's JUST the right thing to do.

Fight on!

-Ben "The Best" Tuthill