Like any other city, Novato is equipped with many chain supermarkets like Safeway and Lucky’s, but as of January 25th, Novato residents got a taste of something new, Cooper’s Public Market. Cooper’s Public Market, owned by Dennis Cooper, started when his wife was diagnosed with cancer a few years back. Dennis wanted to buy her all organic food during her recovery and wished there was a one-stop-shop where he would be confident that the food he was buying was organic and local. Tired of traveling around several different farmers markets Dennis decided to create a fresh, organic, and local market for himself.
As stated on their flyer, “Cooper’s Public Market is a small family owned indoor market that sells products made or grown within a 30 mile radius of Novato.” When you walk in, the store feels like a modern farmers market. The market is decorated with pinterest worthy rustic signs colorfully labelled with chalk. Cooper’s Public Market carries a variety of products ranging from pastries to lotions. They have produce, breads, honies, salts, salad dressings, milk, eggs, ice-cream, pastas, soups, cheese, wraps, and much more! They also sell beautiful photographs of prime scenic locations around Marin. In addition, they have their own espresso bar where they sell “Equator Coffee” from the famous Bovine Bakery located in Point Reyes. Cooper’s Public Market is not only dedicated to what their customers putting into their bodies, but on them as well. They sell natural skin and hair care products made by the company “Pure Skin.”
When I asked them how the consumer benefits from paying more for organic and locally sourced food, Sarah, a worker at Cooper’s Public Market who says she does “a little bit of everything,” stated, “When you buy organic and local food, you know you left a smaller footprint on the Earth because there’s no commute coming back and forth with it.” (According to www.takepart.com/foodinc/action, the average food product travels about 1,500 miles to get to your plate.) It’s also reassuring to know that your food wasn’t grown with pesticides. Sarah also thinks that the community needs to know what’s in their food, especially meat and poultry.
Sarah said that, “Although our business started off to a slow start, we get more and more people in each week, mostly by word of mouth.” She believes that the local/organic food movement is steadily growing in Novato and especially in Marin. The Novato Farmer’s Market is seasonal and only comes once a week, but with Cooper’s Public Market fresh, local, and organic foods are available daily and year round.
Hours: Location: 1425 Grant Avenue, Novato
Monday-Friday 7:30-6 For more information about Cooper’s Public Market,
Saturday 9-6/Sunday 10-4 visit their website at cooperspublicmarket.com
No comments:
Post a Comment