Village Foods - Making it easy to eat better in the Brazos Valley

Wednesday marked the grand opening for the new Village Foods. Owner, Jim Lewis took over the store (which was once an Appletree Market) earlier this year. He talked in length with Whole Foods, but after discovering the incredible investment needed to make the store a Whole Foods Market, he decided to take a more mindful approach (see an email exchange we had here). 

Long story short, you get the brand new (and wonderfully fabulous) Village Foods which will be stocking more local and organic products than your typical grocery store. Included in the grand opening was local coffee roaster John Flynn, local salsa maker and bread baker Donna Burton, and the entire Brazos Valley Farmers' Market. And it doesn't end there. Village Foods will continue to incorporate more products as they grow. It was truly a joyous event, especially when you have a chance to see the isles that now line the store. 

A huge bulk isle has been added including anything from grains to spices to snacks; all the freezers have been replaced with more energy efficient versions; the bath and body products isle is FABULOUS and includes local producer TLC Farms; the cash registers print on both sides of the paper (cool, huh?); and the dairy isle is oh la la (carrying more than the Horizon Organic brand which has been criticized for feed lotting - but Village Foods also carries Promised Land milk as well as Organic Valley which is highly rated). Then there's the isle dedicated to people with gluten intolerances, the fact that the Village Foods is locally owned, and of course the fact that the Brazos Valley Farmers' Market will be hosting a weekly Monday market right there in the Village Foods shopping center... 

Needless to say, for those items I still buy in a grocery (a few food items for Dave, meds for the animals, TLC brand soaps, etc), I have a second source (the first being Brazos Natural Foods) that I can feel good about supporting. Village Foods is truly making it easy to eat better in the Brazos Valley. Congratulations, Jim. Here's to many years of good food in a wonderful community!