missoula good food store

It has certainly grown a lot since I was in missoula 12 years ago.  It's sorta like a small whole foods.  I miss the whole foods meal-per-pound thing.  I know the good food store has something similar, but the one at whole foods was way bigger.  So there was a lot more selection for a meal. 

Remember how tiny the store used to be, I think I remember it being in a little shop on Russel St once.

That was when they had soft serve ice cream in the middle of the store between shelves.  I remember always wanting to go shopping with my mom as a kid just so that I could get ice cream.

I had been filling out the little comment cards, asking for them to stock stuff and it never made a difference.  One day I was gonna fill out another one and there was a guy at the counter, so I told him.  He said that if I give some sort of contact info it would make a big difference.  So I gave him my email address.  Now they have organic bbq chips and stevia sweetened root beer from virgils. 

And it showed up in about four days.

Pretty damn cool.

Yes, definitely more like Whole Foods now than the small shop it used to be, but I will always prefer GFS because of the customer service and selection of local products, which I rarely see in any whole Foods. It also makes me kind of proud to know that a community the size of Missoula can nurture a tiny backstreet grocery into a store whose size and popularity can compete with corporate franchises.

I really look forward to the Farmer's Market Quesadillas they have this time of year.  You never really know what's inside but it's always something delicious.

Their locally-made tamales are excellent as well. The Good Food Store also gives out samples regularly of tasty treats that are easy to make yourself and healthy alternatives to the typical snacks. It's definitely my favorite place to shop in Missoula.

I haven't had a good tamale since my last trip to San Diego.  I'll have to keep my eyes open for those haha.

I just found out the Good Food Store has free film screenings and lectures.

The link for upcoming events is here: http://www.goodfoodstore.com/UpcomingEvents/

They also hold cooking classes, which I don't think are posted on their website, but there is one tonight!

First Friday Cheese Tasting: Cheese Pairings for the Local Harvest
Friday, October 1, 5:00 pm, $5
This year's Harvest Moon might just be a full wheel of cheese. At least that's how the GFS cheese mongers prefer to see the season shift from summer heat to autumn harvest. Join Cheese Buyer Jennie Gregory and Deli Manager Rebecca Canfi eld-Perkowski and taste how they match a global selection of their favorite cheeses to a local buffet of autumn's bounty. We'll also send you home with a goodie bag of tonight's featured cheeses and a few suggestions for the perfect beers and wines to pair with them.

I miss the GFS.  I since have moved on to Colorado...first Boulder and then Durango.  One would've thought Boulder would have something at least on par with GFS, but not so (IMHO).  There is always Whole (Paycheck) Foods for the well-healed Boulderites, or tiny little Vitamin Cottage, but having a mid-sized, non-chain store with decent prices, friendly people, deli and juice bar just can't be beat.  I still proudly wield my GFS tote bags...holding up strong 2 years later.

I've always liked whole foods.  Kinda surprised there isn't one in missoula. 

The good food store is where I buy 98% of my groceries.  And I do like .... just being there. 

And there are lots of things I like about whole foods too.

In Paul's podcast, 028, he and Jocelyn review the movie, "Fresh." They then get into talking about how to improve the Saturday market, and how farmers could collaborate with the Good Food Store. His is the link: https://permies.com/permaculture-forums/3211_0/missoula-eco-forum/missoula-farmers-market

I moved out of Missoula this past winter,and I was happy to go,and I don't miss Missoula.But I do miss the Good Food Store,the Orange street food farm,Kettle House,and Le Petit Outre---Sour dough baguette's------------------------

Glad to see this topic was started. I have very fond memories of the soft serve ice cream growing up. I thought I would love being out of Missoula but I miss it.

Wrote a blog about this:

http://www.makeitmissoula.com/2011/09/organic-lard-is-health-food/

Paul and Jocelyn cover more listener questions in this podcast. Some things they talk about include Paul's food rating system, (similar to Jack Spirko's Agritrue), eco-labeling, nurture vs. nature, recycling, legality of things like the clothes line, and pirating copyrighted material.
Paul talks about the Good Food Store.