If you’ve shopped at the Concord Food Co-op, you’ve probably noticed that we don’t sell mainstream products like Coca-Cola, Hershey, or Kraft. Instead, we pride ourselves on only selling products that meet a clear standard of quality and are good for you and your family. We only sell products that comply with our list of Banned Ingredients.
The Banned Ingredient List, found on our website, contains over 170 ingredients. This list includes high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors, synthetic preservatives, and more. We don’t just avoid certain ingredients. We also choose to look closely at how our food is grown and made.
Ingredients extracted with chemical solvents or produced by treating animals cruelly are not sold at the Concord Food Co-op. Our cooperative principles guide us to care for our communities, which means we believe that how our food is made impacts us. Instead, we prioritize local producers and growers that are within 100 miles of our store and share our values. We focus on ethically sourced and fair-trade foods that are made with the highest quality ingredients and practices. You may ask, how, and who decides this? It’s simple: our buyers carefully review every product. They look at how ingredients are processed and how they’re regulated in the U.S., EU, and Canada. This thoughtful process helps ensure your cart is full of high-quality, fresh, and local natural foods curated with you and our planet in mind.
So where do organic products fall into this decision process? We believe in the power of food to make a better world for us and our planet. That’s why we value organic food. Organic food is more than a farming protocol. For produce to be considered “Certified Organic”, it must be grown on soil that has had no prohibited substances, such as synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, applied for three years prior to harvest (USDA). Additionally, it cannot be grown or handled using genetically modified organisms (GMO).
Buying and eating organic products goes beyond the food itself. Certified organic agriculture and growing practices support a range of environmental and social values by avoiding toxic or persistent pesticides, synthetic growth hormones, or petroleum-based fertilizers. In short, organic foods help ensure that the food you eat is good for you and for our global community.
We aim to carry certified organic products. However, we also prioritize local growers and small businesses that may not have the certification but follow the practices. There are a lot of choices you and your family must make each day. The Co-op is here to make your grocery shopping choices easier by eliminating ingredients that don’t serve you. The food landscape is constantly changing, but we remain committed to selling natural, local, and organic products made with only the best ingredients.
