Trader Joes booted out of NE Portland by activists.

[Jesus Malverde]

When Trader Joe’s announced Monday it would not build in Northeast Portland, neither neighbors nor the leading voices against the grocery store were celebrating.

People who live near Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard and Alberta Street say the grocer would have brought life to a lot that’s been vacant for 20 years.

The activists who called for the city to stop the development in what was once the heart of Portland’s African-American community, refused to claim victory.

Both sides feel they’re back at square one.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/02/trader_joes_decision_to_pull_o.html

[OregonBlue]

1. I understand the African American communities' concerns about gentrification but this empty lot is

am eyesore. The neighborhood could use more healthy development. Seems everyone loses on this one.

[jwirr]

23. Not to mention one of the food issues is acessibility to fresh goods. What are the activists working

for?

[Aerows]

65. Obviously not for food security

You wonder when groups work at cross-purposes to their purported goals.

[Cleita]

39. Not to mention that Tr. Joe's is the best grocery deal going.

I always spend less there than I do at the big stores in spite of all their deals, coupons and other gimmicks. In spite of the fact that some stuff may be a little more than at the other stores, when you put the whole cart together it's actually less.

I don't get it. Could the activists be working for the Koch Bros. since TJs carries none of their brands?

[warrant46]

78. HEY HEY ---2 Buck Chuck

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine

Charles Shaw is a brand of "extreme value", bargain-priced wine. Largely made from California grapes, Charles Shaw wines currently include Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Shiraz, Valdiguie in the style of Beaujolais nouveau, and limited quantities of Pinot grigio.

These wines were introduced exclusively at Trader Joe's grocery stores in California at a price of $1.99 per bottle, earning the wines the nickname Two Buck Chuck. In 2009, an international version of Chardonnay from Australia was introduced in limited stores. Prices in states other than California have been increased to as high as $3.79 per bottle.As of January 16, 2013, a bottle of Charles Shaw retails for $2.49 in parts of California.

The Charles Shaw label is owned by the Bronco Wine Company, headed by Fred Franzia, formerly of Franzia Brothers wines.

[Warpy]

54. I lived on the unfashionable side of Beacon Hill in Boston

where runaway slaves lived before the Civil War, working most commonly for the families on the fashionable side of the Hill. It wasn't cheap and the place was beyond odd, but it was incredibly convenient.

But I digress. You could still, if you looked hard enough, see the original alleys and hiding places used by ex slaves who were being searched for and there is an African American museum there.

Most of the city had suffered from gentrification in the 80s. I walked around Beacon Hill just before I moved out to NM and was gratified to see that my old neighborhood was resistant to it.

Let's hope the community manages a deal with the land owner to turn the lot into rented urban gardens, something that will benefit them more than retail space surrounded by asphalt will.

[Aerows]

66. What about the people that can't afford to move or don't want to move?

Denying everyone a chance at having a great grocery store in their neighborhood could be the "specter of gentrification", or it could just be progress?

[NYC_SKP]

2. What a mess. I get the impression that maybe the most vocal opponents didn't speak for the majority

It's easy to make claims of corruption and attempted gentrification, but if, in the end, that lot just sits empty and the neighborhood has to live with it's decaying state, who are you going to blame?

I don't blame Trader Joes, who said:

“We run neighborhood stores and our approach is simple: if a neighborhood does not want a Trader Joe's, we understand, and we won't open the store in question,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Oregonian.

[MurrayDelph]

10. If they don't want it there

TJ's should come to the Oregon coast. It would sure beat my monthly trips into the city to pick up stuff.

[Aerows]

68. I don't blame them either

If the neighborhood would rather have a decaying lot, well, let them have it and deprive the community of a new grocery store.

I don't blame Trader Joes, or the residents that would have probably welcomed the opening because it would have brought jobs with it, too. I blame those short-sighted enough to think every attempt at branching out is "gentrification" rather than simple progress.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Must End Gentrification to Advance Economic Equity

As President Obama noted in his State of the Union address, economic inequality has reached an epic height in our nation, shutting the doors of opportunity for millions of Americans. In urban centers we see this growing inequality through gentrification. Too often the "development" of urban centers means the displacement of low and moderate-income long-time residents and new housing and amenities for the rich. A first step in ending the growing economic inequality, which is deeply tied to ongoing racial inequality, is to stop this displacement.

The corrosive effect of gentrification can be found throughout the nation even in the "liberal" whitest city of America Portland, Oregon. Portland is known internationally as a leader in urban design with many boasting of its bike-friendly streets, accessible 20-minute neighborhoods and quaint local business culture. In fact, this year, Portland was named the best U.S. city by the real estate company, Movato.

Unbeknownst to many, however, Portland is also a case study in gentrification, a glaring reminder that urban economic disparities will persist as long as the structural inequalities of our economy remain.

Other cities riding the cusp of the latest development trends have experienced the same results. In Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, inner city neighborhoods that were once majority black have been inundated with plans for redevelopment. The upward redistribution of wealth through public-private partnerships, have rewarded real estate speculators, exporting long time black residents and bringing in higher income predominately white residents

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dedrick-muhammad/must-end-gentrification-t_b_4687167.html

San Francisco every year has less and less African American residents.

By 1970, 24 percent of the Haight-Ashbury was African-American. Today maybe 1 percent.

That this would be happening in one of the most "liberal" cities should be troubling.

[truedelphi]

53. San Francisco Bay Area is all about the One Percent.

And if you are not in that group, you most likely feel like an outsider.

Even a couple making $ 70K a year has a struggle. (Unless they are not making home payments or paying rent.)

I didn't realize, until I moved away, that the food prices themselves were such a rip off.

[CrawlingChaos]

87. God, is that ever true

I am (was) a lifelong Bay Area native. When I was young, I felt lucky to live there. I went into the city constantly, exploring all the colorful neighborhoods. As an artist, I participated in many exhibits there and it was an exciting, vibrant place. Now it has become a private enclave for the rich - a shrine to grotesque displays of conspicuous consumption. What the rich new inhabitants of the city fail to realize is that all the people who made the city interesting - artists, musicians, writers, activists, etc. - tend to be broke and have been squeezed out, by and large. As a result, the city has lost so much of it's luster. I recently moved and currently have no desire to go back. Frankly, I have little interest in watching an entitled rich kid try to park their Tesla. The thrill is gone.

[former9thward]

4. A tiny minority of the residents got their way.

They screamed and yelled and now there are no jobs. There was no vote taken by the community. Vacant land that could provide jobs, tax revenue and support for the community will now stay vacant. Disgusting.

[Coyotl]

11. Have you ever been to this neighborhood?

[former9thward]

14. Yes.

I was up in Portland for 6 weeks last summer doing research on a history book that was just published. I stayed a little north of there and traveled though the neighborhood on a daily basis. Also I was born in Portland and moved right after college. I know the town well.

[frazzled]

5. What a mistake

I'm a big advocate of public input on development projects, but I've seen as many good projects get killed like this as I have seen bad projects get built.

It seems to me PAALF was wrong on two counts: first, the loss of African American residents they were bemoaning had already taken place. Still, there is a 25% AA population in the neighborhood, and to suggest that a Trader Joe's would be "gentrifying" and further push them out is an insult, imo, to African Americans.

I shop (not exclusively, but often enough) at a Whole Foods that was built, maybe six or seven years ago, on the edge of the South Side of Chicago, on Roosevelt Road. It's not like they were going into the heart of the ghetto—the store would draw on young, mostly white people moving into the South Loop as much as people from the near South and West sides it also serves. But it was a relatively bold move at the time as far as upscale grocers go.

That Whole Foods store is always crowded, and the shoppers are at least 50% African American, if not more. They buy organic vegetables and meats and all kinds of vitamin shit and Greek yogurt just like everyone else. They have craft beer and protein powder and rainbow Swiss chard in their carts. In fact, the store is so popular it survives where the giant Dominick's grocery chain across the street died recently.

Trader Joe's is hardly as "gentrified" as Whole Foods. It would have really helped that neighborhood. Sad that it couldn't happen.

[ananda]

6. Perhaps Trader Joe's had too much of a white face on its attempted entry.

..

[Jesus Malverde]

8. The activist didn't know who they were negotiating with

[bravenak]

56. You should explain that comment.

It sounds nasty as written and I don't think you meant it the way it sounds.

[PowerToThePeople]

7. I had to google map it

I spent a lot of time in NE Portland growing up (Parkrose Heights area). At least I thought that was NE Portland. I am trying to find my way around via google street view, but nothing looks the same as it did when I was a child....

[linuxman]

9. Well...

Don't complain about "food deserts" or a lack of jobs.

Trader Joe's isn't the fucking Ritz Carlton.

I've seen a few low-income areas where the only food that could be purchased was trucked in and sold out of the back of vans. I don't know if it's that bad there, but it could be where they are headed.

[Coyotl]

12. The problem is that it is close-in to downtown. Used to be in racist Oregon

that the neighborhood was avoided like a plague, including by city services. Now, they have to fight the takeover of the wealthy seeking to find property near the city center.

[Jesus Malverde]

16. Here is an interesting quote...

The Trader Joe's development will increase displacement of low-income residents and "increase the desirability of the neighborhood," for "non-oppressed populations," PAALF wrote.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/12/portland_african_american_lead.html

I believe they set out with the noble goal of including some low income housing into the development package. That was why they framed their arguments this way, however this tactic seems to argue...

that "oppressed populations" should stay in less "desirable neighborhoods".

or that

we should keep neighborhoods less desirable, for oppressed populations.

If the community glue is poverty and oppression, those that fight poverty and oppression are destroying the community. - There has to be a more positive win win approach.

[Retrograde]

20. Paved with the best of intentions

There were similar arguments about California's recent redistricting, that traditionally minority districts being diluted, ignoring the fact that what had been traditionally white districts were becoming more integrated.

IMHO, there's a touch of paternalism about self-appointed community leaders: after all, if young people in the community get jobs at Trader Joe's and use that as a stepping stone to, say, an already gentrified neighborhood, who's going to be left to listen to them?

[Adrahil]

18. Precisely. Trader Joe's? Gentrification? Gimme a fuckin' break! NT

[Beaverhausen]

21. I know, right? If it was Whole Paycheck, I mean Whole Foods, that would make sense

but TJs is way cheaper for most items than most grocery stores.

[FrodosPet]

25. A pickup with a freezer full of meats, available on EBT

For the people brave enough to work in the City of Detroit, there is some serious cash to be made selling steaks, chicken, and seafood door-to-door. Include a little "salad", you are going to bank some "Bridge Card" money.

At least until the feds show up.

http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/Police-and-federal-agents-raid-welfare-fraud-on-wheels-158028985.html

[WillowTree]

13. It would be interesting to know.......

.......what percentage of those who were so vociferously objecting to the project actually still live in the neighborhood. From the story, it doesn't sound as if that percentage is particularly high.

Which would be sad.

[TheMathieu]

15. The activist is not always right. nt

[Thegonagle]

17. TJ's response here is the best: You don't want a TJ's?

Fine. We'll go where we're wanted.

They gave up on a potential location in Minneapolis recently, and they gave up surprisingly easily.

In this case, it wasn't a gentrification issue, it was a parking/traffic issue because TJ's always seems to build the absolute smallest parking lots.

But their response was similar: Don't want us here? Fine.

[Springslips]

19. TJ pays well; living wage.

And their food is discounted, brand names in a store label. That neighborhood missed out; perhaps TJ could promise to hire management and most of the staff from the current members of the neighborhood.

This is not a Wal Mart moving in.

TJs has a yuppie feel yo it; my guess is that this is about identity and stereotypes than a well researched concern. Again, what do Zi know about that neighborhood?

On gentrification: what ever happened to rent control?

[n2doc]

22. I wish they would come to Savannah n/t

[MissB]

24. The whole picture is kinda buried in the article- or, at least $2.4 million worth of a picture.

Some folks didn't like the idea that the PDC (Portland Development Commission) made the deal on the land behind closed doors without public input. Giving a rich guy a $2.4 million break on the land cost is not a small thing.

I enjoy TJs as much as the next person. The development may or may not have gone on if the closed door thing hadn't been an issue.

[Travis_0004]

31. I would argue the land wasn't worth 2.4 million.

It had been vacant for 20 years, which means countless businesses probably looked into the land, and decided not to build there. So Portland decided to cut them a break on the land (which was overpriced anyway) and get jobs and healthy food into the community.

In the last 20 years, that land had brought in 0 in tax revenue. A trader Joes would have brought in tax revenue to help the city out. Instead the land will just sit vacant, perhaps for 20 more years.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Steve Duin had a good, balanced piece on the matter:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf/2014/02/steve_duin_the_polarizing_vort.html

At first glance it's hard not to see this as a case of nose-cutting and face-spiting.

[Jesus Malverde]

29. Interesting article...This is more about people vs. corporations.

"What happened in the past is happening today. How many African-American entrepreneurs are on Mississippi (Avenue) between Fremont and Skidmore? How many African-American entrepreneurs are there on MLK between Broadway and Columbia? Even on Alberta, on this short street, how many will you find between MLK and 33rd?"

I think it's a mistake to focus on race for what is a universal phenomena of small businesses going out of business and being replaced by corporations. This is the same damage that has destroyed any american main street through walmartization.

Good read thanks.

[Renew Deal]

27. This was a huge mistake on the part of the "protesters"

Last edited Tue Feb 11, 2014, 12:07 AM - Edit history (1)

There are no politics crazier than local politics. This is the kind of crazy stuff that goes on. People can be so short sighted.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. Yup

It is also the most interesting

[ancianita]

28. An employee said to me in no uncertain terms that Trader Joe's is in no way a health food store.

After I'd pointed out that everywhere but wine, produce and cosmetics, the shelves were full of heavy salt/sugar foodstuffs and hipster snacks.

TJ might pay well, but it wouldn't offer good food to the neighborhood.

I still don't know how I ever got the impression that I could get whole foods from that place.

[DonViejo]

35. Fresh fruit and vegetables, coffee, tea, milk, orange juice, other fruit juices...

fresh meat, fresh bread made daily and seafood are not healthy?

[ancianita]

47. Sorry for the late response. I understand that people have different standards, and that mine might

be stricter than most, but it was surprising and disappointing that the aisle clerk said that with such conviction. In a food desert, any store would be a help.

I used to buy novelty food items at the TJ on Chicago's North Side years ago, and didn't really pay attention to the food ingredients then.

Having changed my eating after reading Pollan's "In Defense Of Food," I saw wrapped quantities of vegetables -- nowhere were there open bins for selection, so, not so not fresh, in my view; I saw a very, very small selection of wrapped meats mixed with smoked deli meats -- sodium nitrate-filled stuff, not so fresh, either; I saw the juices containing high fructose corn syrup, shelf foods with salt, sugar and chemical preservatives. So yeah, I was disappointed.

I'll take a second look at the one I'm near in Florida, but during my last visit I didn't see anything but milk, wine and organic hair products that I'd buy.

If an Aldi store were to be built there -- owned by the same family as Trader Joe's, I hear -- I would side against the protestors.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. Maybe it is what your TJs carries

mine carries locally sourced, in this same county, fruits and vegies. (so does Ralphs by the way, or the food market I shop at) They also carry some locally sourced milk, given there are only five milk farms left... as well as locally sourced organic eggs. Hell, some come from the same farmer I buy mine at the farmer's market, for the same price even.

Their bread, before I had to stop eating it, is the same bread you find at the local stores. Hell, some of it comes from the same local bakery. They have some fantastic bread by the way. (When I still could eat it)

Their gluten free is mostly the same brands, I find at the store these days. They had them well before the stores though.

While I hear you, remember, not all stores carry the same crap. Hell, my local ralphs has different merch (and higher quality) than the one we used to shop at 1.5 miles from where I type. It is the neighborhood, purely. The one in La Jolla, you stepped into another world.

Yes, they also carry smoked product, which before refrigeration was the top food preservation technology around, after salting and curing of course. I like Pollan, but if we ever lose refrigeration we will go back to those methods, no choice mostly.

And they carry imported luxury goods. I mentioned that Belgian chocolate in another post If I were to bake...

It feels odd to defend them, since I rarely shop there, and one is really not that far, and they have parking, LOTS OF IT. I just prefer to shop at the farmers market for my vegies, and other food products. I cook mostly from raw and fresh. So I have little use for the inside corridors of any food store.

[ancianita]

61. I understand variations within a chain. It's marketing. I just think that this neighborhood wants

more than TJ's will offer, and that TJ's recognizes that.

[Bluenorthwest]

80. No HFCS products in TJs, tons of fresh fruits and veg, fresh meats, no perservatives in the

foods, myriad vegetarian and vegan options. From their website:
"all Trader Joe’s brand products share the following attributes: they contain NO synthetic colors, NO artificial flavors, NO artificial preservatives, NO MSG, NO added Trans Fats, and NO genetically modified ingredients."
Tons more ingredient information here.
http://www.traderjoes.com/products/dietary.asp

Far better than the Safeway Market a few blocks from this site and far less expensive than the Whole Foods that is a mile away.

[ancianita]

89. You win for now. I'll look more closely at the labels and get back on this. nt

[Jesus Malverde]

36. They have their fair share of recalls.

They also create a lot of their foods overseas where the quality might be marginal.

I think on the whole their frozen food is probably on average a little healthier than safeway frozen fare.

I think if you did something like a healthy per square foot ratio.

a local place like http://www.rainbow.coop might be first.
then whole foods.
then trader joes.
then safeway and the rest.

TJ's would fall in the middle.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. Before gluten free became a "fad" it was one of the few places

With gluten free pasta.

The business started as a wine outlet, in California iirc. But it sells fresh fruit, Vegies, meat, chicken, fish.

You could potentially go to TJ and buy raw to be prepared food, no problem.

And no, gluten free pasta is not a hipster luxury to people with the actual allergy.

Oh and they sell a great soup that is actually quite low in sodium, that is a great to go to when need something fast.

I have one nearby, why I don't go often, except for soup at times, is that the supermarket is a tad cheaper.

Oh and yes, they have some imported Belgian chocolate that is incredible and actually cheaper than the market.

[Cleita]

41. I love their soup and it's so good. n/t

[ancianita]

49. Winn Dixie, much closer to me, and much cheaper, has all this. Most food chains do, now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Key word: *NOW*

they did not have any of this a few years back at the supermarket. It became a "fad" even though there is solid medical need for it. Hell, I started the diet strictly four years ago, and finding gluten free anything in California, the land of fruit and nuts, and fads, was next to impossible. Of course living in California also made it easier due to a few ethnic foods that are gluten free by their very nature.

Also the gluten free offerings at Trader Joes and those at Ralphs or Vons are priced the same. If there is any difference is when either of them has the actual item on sale. In fact, the gluten free soy sauce is cheaper at TJ. It is not worth the trip though, unless I am going there for something else. Oh and some of the brands are the exact same brands. which tells me, the price is not really set at the stores.

I thank the foodies for it by the way, as annoying as they are at times. And trust me they can be VVVVEEEERRRRRYYYYYYY ANNNOYYYIIIINNNNGGG.

[ancianita]

60. I get the historical bona fides of Trader Joe's. The class of people who made them famous are not

the people struggling in this area, from what I gather. I understand how there's brand loyalty and all, and how supermarket chains have competed to get that market. But I also understand how the appearance of perceived 'gentrified' brands brings a tax, rent and social pressure on poorer neighborhoods that want to have affordable nutritional food. Since as long as I've lived there -- forty years -- these fights have gone on in Chicago neighborhoods.

As far as the larger picture goes, I'll wager there's a reason behind why TJ's doesn't fight for poorer markets. The owners know about the stakes of the long standing fights to keep one's place, even if that means neighborhoods cope with living in a food desert. I'll grant that TJ's has the decency to not complicate long existing issues that local protestors might know more about than we do.

Finally, the West Side and South Side of Chicago have Whole Foods and Costco, because the markets were too big and compelling. But for a while there, those neighborhoods were food deserts. I enjoy going to either place and seeing all colors and classes of the local people shopping. While food stores can bring in the urban removers, they can also promote growth and health of locals that doesn't threaten their housing affordability.

I'm happy to be corrected if it can be shown that the protestors are wrong, but I think they have a long term handle on the strategies being used in this situation, and how their own tactics move them closer to their own goals, not someone else's.

[nadinbrzezinski]

63. It is about local conditions

and TJs does not fight to stay where they are not wanted. Walmart, on the other hand... god they are a nightmare, and low pay too. Which TJs is not.

Here TJs has strange alliances with local providers and a lot of the stuff you find on the edges of the store, like Ralphs, is from local provenance.

Here they might be able to get to North Park, (which is suffering gentrification) but also suffering from neighborhood gardens. Local stores have become also an outlet for some of the surplus product of them.

[ancianita]

70. I wish I knew more about Portland. Only spent a week there once. But the complexities of food

quality, distribution and local control are important anywhere. And maybe TJ's has something to prove to new markets. I hope I learn more about American food politics in days ahead.

A candidate could get somewhere in this country running on food politics. Not solely, but you know...

[nadinbrzezinski]

72. I live in San Diego

where we are in the middle of a political transition, where the old hands realize they are losing control.

So the politics of food has become very important Now public gardens.... hell even El Cajon got into it, and lord knows they are pretty right wing.

[ancianita]

74. You can unite a lot of media driven differences behind food politics. It gets votes out. nt

[Vattel]

83. You are so lucky to live in San Diego. I used to live in Encinitas. Paradise, I miss you.

[Retrograde]

38. As healthy as any other grocery store chain

You have to be selective: you can load up on the salty/sugary foods, or you can buy vegetables, fruits, meats, grains, soups, etc. TJ's frozen seafood and chicken parts are handy to have on hand, especially when you're pressed for time.

Avoid their sushi, though: it's abysmal.

[ancianita]

48. I thought so, too, until I took a closer look at their shelves. I am selective.

I just don't think that TJ's has the caché or brand pull that whole foods shoppers look for anymore. It's probably just me.

I like the store's employee relations, and I enjoy browsing through its stuff, but I think its marketing implies that "nutritional" foods are part of its philosophy, but not from what I could see, so I think it promises more than it delivers.

From what I could see, Trader Joe's offers entertaining shopping.

[Cleita]

40. I get plenty of fresh and it's affordable.

Sure there is pricey produce but there is also seasonal and local offerings that are very cheap.

[JI7]

44. depends on what you get, there are healthy options that are more affordable

than many other places.

[defacto7]

30. Let me get this strait,

Some people got upset (jealous) that the city wanted to sell the property to a successful job producing business for considerably less than it's market value instead of giving cash or property out of the city budget to entrepreneurs unknown? Jobs are not easily come by, but a relatively responsible grocery business in a less than posh area, I would think, was a gift to that community.

[Jesus Malverde]

32. Almost right.

They would sell the land to a successful business (Majestic) who would then lease it to the job producer (TJ's).

Essentially correct.

[defacto7]

33. Thanks.

I almost got it right.

[MindMover]

42. Trader Joes can come to my neighborhood tonight ... just spent my $100 yesterday ...

and will spend it again in 2 weeks ...

I absolutely adore TJs and will forever grace there doorway as long as I have enough money to carry me to the next TJs ....

I just finished my Italian pizza tonight and it is the best frozen pizza I have ever eaten .... YUM, YUM, Yummy ... washed it down with my gluten free citrus beer ...

and had my TJs hollandaise sauce plastered all over my egg and muffin this morning ...


LOVE YOU Trader Joes and please build a store closer than 30 miles away from me ... please come to the Rockford, Illinois area ... and I will be forever grateful .... and Amen ...

PS:::: To NadinB, gluten free is not a fad ....very far from a fad::::;;; in the very near future, wheat grown and processed in the USA will be shown to contain molecular structures that contribute to medical issues ...

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. It is and it is not

if you get my drift.

Yes, the wheat has created real medical issues (GMO and all that) but wheat belly IS a fad. Hell, I cut all gluten from my diet for medical reasons and I have yet to lose the promised weight.

I believe that as Chrohns and celiacs continue to increase we will have to find the reason. The increase in Gluten due to genetic engineering likely will be it, and likely we will have to go back to ancient types of wheat. Oh yes, after a lot of screaming and kicking from the food industry... they are not unlike the tobacco industry.

But trust me, when you have a kid who has zero knowledge of nutrition explaining why wheat is not good for you, and has no idea what gluten is, it is a fad. And when you try to explain it to them, they argue that you have no clue, (never mind you are living with the actual medical condition), yes it is a fad.

That said, I love the foodies who have adopted it. It is a new market to exploit so quinoa is affordable. So thank you.



Then we have the folks working in the medical field who will not vaccinate their kids, or take meds for diabetes... food markets. I love them, but damn some of the conversations are at times, I just go buy my food and get the hell out anymore. Between the pharma will kill us, the government is in all we do (yes strong libertarian component), and the anti-vaccine types...

[Blue_In_AK]

51. No Trader Joe's in Alaska,

and no Whole Paycheck, either, for that matter. I'd like to see TJ's open a store in Anchorage.

[bravenak]

57. Me too.

We have that one store that I have never been to. I like new sagayas and the natural pantry, though.
I think they opened up a new natural pantry recently. My husband eats weird stuff like Quinoa, and grainy stuff, and couscous. I like trader joes teriyaki bowls.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Hey, Quinoa is not weird... and it is a full protein!!!

I actually like it, when well prepared. That is the trick with it.

[bravenak]

64. If I knew how to make it then it might taste good.

He makes hot cereal with it. The only hot cereal I eat is grits. I'll give it one more shot if I find a good savory recipe.

[nadinbrzezinski]

67. Can you find fresh cilantro?

Put your quinoa to boil with chicken stock, fresh onion and garlic, salt and pepper and plenty of cilantro. If you do not like cilantro, try basil.

Serve that hot as a side, like rice. In fact, you just cooked it like rice.

Let it cool down and mix it with fresh tomato and cucumber, and chopped cilantro with a nice vinegar\oil salad dressing. I use some really good balsamic. I find the balsamic is key.


I sometimes add it to the stew instead of potatoes and let it cook with the tomato sauce. At times just serve it as a side for a nice curry.

I have never tried it as a hot cereal by the way.



Oh and it took me a few tries. You know it is done when fluffy and when little "tails" come out of it.

[bravenak]

69. That actually sounds good, especially the stew.

Make stew at least once a week in the winter. Thank you for the tips, I have some in my cabinet, I'll give it another try.

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. Hubby does not know he's eaten the stuff

sh...

[bravenak]

77. That's funny!

I've done stuff like that too.

[nadinbrzezinski]

73. Oh and a little goes a long way

by the way

[Blue_In_AK]

85. I was going to suggest something similar to what Nadin is suggesting

I make all kinds of salads with it, or you can cook it like a pilaf with sautéed mushrooms, etc. Try rinsing the grains really well before cooking - it removes some of the bitterness.


By the way, I think the new Natural Pantry is opening next month sometime. I really like that store.

[demosincebirth]

45. It's non-union, just like Whole Foods. I'd drive, and that's me, out of my way to shop at a union

super market.

[MindMover]

46. When the business pays living wages, union is unnecessary ...

[GoneOffShore]

50. Until that business stops paying a living wage.

Then who you gonna call?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

75. It's nice to have a car ...

and nice to afford a baby-sitter.

But if you have to haul some kids on a bus to get to a nice grocery store, and then can only buy as much stuff as you can carry, a decent store in the neighborhood is a blessing. Union or no.

[reddread]

79. Good call, the TJ's back home just offed a friend after 11 years, and two other longtermers same day

They seem to have a strong sense of their own best interests when it comes to health care costs.
Now, how many people give a damn about that sort of employee treatment?

[demosincebirth]

88. Some don't care, as long as it's convenient for them, they'll say anything to justify where they

shop.

[grasswire]

55. you can't really understand this confrontation...

....unless you know the history of black communities in Portland.

When gentrification occurs in one of those NoPo communities, people are pushed to the East side of town where the city has neglected its annexed residents for decades now. Unpaved streets, potholes, no sidewalks, few parks, gangs....you get the picture.

This confrontation is more about the history of hurt than it is about TJ's.

[former9thward]

62. So leave the vacant lot vacant.

Because that is exactly what is going to happen.

[dilby]

76. I was bummed about this.

I was looking forward to having a Trader Joes that was pretty close instead of having to go to the more expensive Whole Foods or Freddies to get some decent produce.

[FarCenter]

81. Not exactly a food desert

According to Google, there is a Safeway about a half mile north. There is also a Fred Meyers somewhat farther away.

There are also a scattering of smaller stores, Hispanic groceries, Asian groceries, some halal places, a coop grocery, etc.

I wonder whether any of the existing merchants were behind the protests?

Locally, when a hotel chain wanted to build on a lot, the objections were organized by a guy who later turned out to be paid by one of the local hotels.

[dilby]

82. Have you ever shopped at a Fred Meyers or Safeway?

Safeway's produce is just bad and Fred Meyers is expensive, not a Whole Foods expensive but a Trader Joe's would have been greatly appreciated in the area.

[FarCenter]

84. Per Google, Safeway gets 2 stars -- which is why I'd think they would oppose TJ's plans.

Since they would not be able to oppose them directly, some indirect support of popular opposition seems more likely.

[dilby]

86. Well I can't bad mouth the safeway, I did date a girl that works in the Starbucks there.

But yeah other than her that store has nothing going for it.