Getting the Courage

A big thanks to Jodi, the Bulk Foods Manager at the Lancaster Winco, for making this post possible.

We finally have flour and sugar again!

Shannon and I went shopping just the other day to pick up a couple very basic supplies (really, who runs out of flour and sugar AT THE SAME TIME?) and discovered that if you ask the Winco people where the bulk food comes from.... THEY CAN TELL YOU.

Yes, I realize how idiotic I sound right now.  It should be patently obvious that they'd be able to tell you.  The country of origin has to be marked somewhere on the packaging, right?  (Well, mostly.)  And if the packaging isn't right in your face, it has to be in the back, right?  (One would hope.)  And if the packaging is in the back, who better to read it for you than the people who work at the store and are allowed to go in the back?

Still, I'm a shy person, and it was hard for me to just go up and ask "Hi!  Where's your sugar from?!"

So in the end, I made Shannon do it.  He's much better at these things than me.

Turns out our flour comes from Idaho (thanks, Loren and Mindy!), and our sugar comes from sugar beets from Goergia.  Sweet!

We also went to the veggie store today during lunch to pick up some fruit.  I was excited about getting another pineapple, but the ones they have now are from Costa Rica.

Sad.  Days.

The mangos are also still from Mexico, the and the kiwis, grapes, and just about everything else was from Chile.  Lame!  In the end we grabbed some avocados (yay California!) and went to the checkout.  While we were there I took a deep breath and asked the man where their apples come from.  And you know what he said?  You know what he said?!  "Washington and Hood River!"  And I was super happy, because I wanted something other than avocados to come home with me.  And then he walked out from behind the counter and took us out to the apples and looked at every single kind they had and told me where each one came from, and then did the same thing for the pears, and then cut off a piece of Fuji apple for me to taste, and it was so good I grabbed four and added them to my avocaodos.  And while we were checking out we talked about the different kinds of apples, and where most apples come from, and he mentioned Argentina and New Zealand are starting to ship (so I'll have to watch out), and we packed everything into our little bag and I went away much happier than I would have if he wasn't so awesome.

So this just goes to show, boys and girls - ask and you shall receive! :D