FoodNuts!

Battle Ground, Washington is a small town just north of Vancouver, Washington.  It has seen a flurry of growth, both good and bad, in the last ten years. It has a main strip, called Main Street (believe it or not) that most of the city’s growth has been focused on. It just got its own exit finished off of I-5, exit 11 (11 miles from the Oregon border), so now it is really on the map.

Like I said, the growth is, as I see it, both good and bad. Malls, parking lots and congestion due to increased traffic , is, in my book, bad, yet virtually inevitable. But growth can also give rise to new things that expand an areas opportunities. It now has a brewpub (a branch of Laurelwood Brewing in Portland), a new library and community center. See, it’s not all so bad!

At the end of Main Street is a little produce stand that opened up around the end of summer, 2009. Its named, surprisingly, Battle Ground Produce Co.

We’ve gone there a lot since it has opened, and each time we go there it seems to get better and the reasons to go there get greater. The produce is great; most of it is locally grown. What can’t be grown locally is of a high quality and brought in from reputable sources (for example, in three days they will have Blood Oranges. These come from the hot areas of Southern California, and it gives me the opportunity to make Blood Orange Marmalade). The bread is from local bakeries, as are the honeys and preserves. They even carry locally made candies!

It was started by Lorne Alacano, who has 20 years experience in the green grocer trade, both wholesale and retail. And believe me, it shows. The shop is clean, immaculate and well stocked.  If that weren’t enough there’s more good news.

The stand is a cross between a green grocer and a wine shop. There is a wine room, full to capacity, with an excellent selection. Focused mostly on wines of the Pacific Northwest, they are of the low price range to about the higher middle of wine overall. They range from red and white dinner wines to aperitifs to desserts.  I am sure that anyone selecting a wine to match a planned meal will not come away disappointed nor empty-handed.

I love the concept of this market, and I hope to see more of them in the future. In marrying the wine and the produce, he has combined what food lovers want: great grocery supply and great wines to go with it, purchased in a single location. He doesn’t carry beer, and I neglected to ask him if this is something that he plans on doing in the future. Ill ask next time and update.

And there’s more; behind the wine room is another, currently under construction area. It will be the home of a classical (old style) butcher shop. Oregon and Washington raised beef and pork and Washington chickens. He has a butcher with 40 yrs experience who is setting it up and will be the man in charge.

My wife contemplates the emptiness of her bag amongst plenty

Scarlet contemplates the alien look of a ginger root

If you live in the area, do yourself a favor and stop in and check it out. It is yet one more reason that makes it possible to stay north of the Columbia. They’re at 925 E. Main St., Battle Ground WA., Phone: 360-687-1718.

Enjoy!

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