This week Francis over at Food and Fort Worth posted on a review in U.S. and World Report‘s  “eight commercial chain restaurants that get it right “. I thought of adding to the considerable string of comments about the various eateries, but I actually didn’t have too much to say, since we almost never eat at big chain restaurants — the reason is I believe that in general their food is insipid, overpriced, and unhealthy. I’ve never completely gotten over a story from The Learning Channel about the top ten ingredients in chain restaurant food, which discusses the amount of fat, salt and not sugar but high fructose corn syrup used in their products.

At the same time, we watched in the last month as our beloved City Market, in Bluebonnet Village, was assumed into the Albertson’s chain and the gourmet food items and local workers we had come to love disappeared. I’m afraid to say it but  yes, there is a connection.

Big Food, as in restaurant chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Albertson’s, has become too big. It has gone beyond providing a large-volumn alternative to local stores into the realm of driving local stores out.  This has the extended effect of driving local workers and local suppliers out. Our beloved OB Macaroni was in a bin at the “new” Albertsons last week, being sold off for pennies. Why should they continue to stock the products of a local supplier when then can send back to Battleground, Washington or where ever they go to to bring huge lots of whatever the rest of America is eating to Texas?

Where will we get O.B Pasta now? A local institution for about 100  years, O.B. Pasta is just as good as premium chain store brands, is cheaper, and is local. College Girl and I feel despair as we see their business and the business of other local food suppliers endangered by the over growth of the chains.

Is there anything that can be done? I’m not sure. As anyone who reads this blog is probably aware, I’m kept entirely occupied with trying to learn to be a second grade public school teacher to contribute to the support of my own children, and help the ones in my class too. But I have to say the truth: when I heard City Market was going down, an idea began to form. This idea was to find out about whether we could form a local food co-op. These types of stores have flourished in other communities and provide an opportunity for cooperation between local buyers and vendors.  Fort Worth does not have one that I know of.

Does anyone else out there feel a desire to bond together to purchase food wholesale from local suppliers?

Is it possible? Of course. I have started reasearch about this on the Cooperative Grocers Information Network site. Is anyone else interested in cooperative food purchase as a way of keeping it local? Pete? Kevin? Anyone?