How to Shop Local at Kirkwood's Newest Grocery Store

With the blossoming of the organic and local food movement in recent years, shopping local can seem overwhelming. Questions arise of how local is 'local' and what does 'organic' really mean?

Kirkwood's Local Harvest Grocery makes being a conscious consumer easy. Not only is 50 percent of the store stocked with locally sourced products and all products come from organic and sustainable sources, but local items are clearly marked whether they came from the St. Louis Region, 150 miles or 300 miles away.

"There a couple reasons we do what we do and one of those is the economic element," co-owner Patrick Horine said. "Eighty-five cents of every $1 spent in the store stays within 150 miles of St. Louis."

Of course Local Harvest's commitment to being local means customers will not be able to find the variety of produce year round that is carried at big grocery store chains. The majority of produce at Local Harvest will be seasonal and produce will be purchased domestically with a few exceptions for staple goods, like bannanas.

Easing into Eating Local

Local Harvest Kirkwood is a full service grocery store with everything from pet food and cleaning supplies to liquor and a wide variety of local meats.

Co-owner Maddie Earnest acknowledges the perception that shopping local or all organic can be more expensive, and she offers advice for people exploring buying locally.

She says she always asks people what's most important to them.

"For some people it's that they want to support the local economy and small farmers. For other people, they're concerned how an animal was treated...and then with produce, did the grower use a lot of pesticides?" Earnest said.

Once people determine what aspect of buying local is most important to them, then they can ease into the process, Earnest said.

"You can choose certain products and maybe you don't buy all of them, but maybe you decide meat is the most important to you and you're going to spend more money on that but eat it less often," she said.

For shoppers, the benefits of buying local are increased health and knowledge of where the food comes from and making a diffference in their community, Earnest said.

"I think a lot of people want to be supporting their region and that the last few years people have seen the importance of that," she said.

Carrying on a Kirkwood Tradition

Local Harvest moved into the space formerly occupied by McDonnell's Market that served as an independent grocery store since 1963 at 12309 Old Big Bend Road.

"I love the idea of reinventing an exisiting historical space and a space that's been really important to the residents of Kirkwood," Earnest said.

About a year ago, a family from Kirkwood who shopped at the Local Harvest in Tower Grove was interested in investing in the business approached the owners with the idea to open in Kirkwood, according to Horine.

When Local Harvest was finally ready to expand to Kirkwood after opening its Morgan Ford location, the timing coincided with the closing of McDonnell's Market.

Horine said a lot of donors and visitors to Local Harvest were from Kirkwood and Horine knew the area especially well since his wife, who also is an owner, is from Kirkwood.

Earnest and Horine couldn't be happier with the space and joining the Kirkwood community. In addition to being a local landmark, the location also makes it easy for those outside of Kirkwood to visit Local Harvest Grocery with its proximity to Interstate 44 and Interstate 270.

"Kirkwood has been really welcoming and open and seem like a good fit for us in terms of our mission. It seems like a lot of people in Kirkwood have a very similar value system to us," Earnest said.

Local Harvest is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. With so much inventory, the best way to learn more is by paying a visit to Local Harvest Grocery in Kirkwood.

In addition to buying groceries, customers can visit the business for breakfast, lunch, dinner or brunch and enjoy food to-go or at the grocery's cafe area that offers a lovely view.

Check out our photo album on Kirkwood Patch Facebook for tons of images from Kirkwood's newest grocery store.

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• Kirkwood's Local Harvest Opens Today