A New Way Of Shopping
Written by Mireille Ledoux
I think that most of us will agree that grocery shopping can be a repetitive bore. My first shoot of this episode was at Jungle Jim’s International Market. So off I go to Fairfield Ohio to meet Jim Bonaminio, the fearless leader and creative spark plug behind one of America’s largest and most unique grocery store. This is no ordinary supermarket, it’s an amusement park.
We met, I said “Hi Mr. Bonaminio”, he said “ Oh no, call me Jungle” and I knew right there that this food adventure would be a lot of fun. A minute later I was taking a ride in his monorail, the store’s latest acquisition. I must admit it’s an unusual way to get to the grocery store!
This business man, part time clown, took me on a trip around the world and I never left his store. Walking around the aisles with him made me realize that Jungle is not only a marketing strategist but a sort of United Nations Ambassador. With USA’s constant increasing immigration population , here is a man and a store that say’s “welcome to all”.
I have to admit that when I shop for food, I don’t really care where food comes from and how it’s grown . I tend to forget that food must be produced by someone, somewhere, rather than miraculously appearing on the supermarket shelves.
But that was before I met with Liz Neumark on her 60 acre farm in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley, on a sunny day in October. Liz, the owner of Great Performances, the leading New York City catering and event company, is so passionate about local and organic produce that she started growing her vegetables and fruits on her own farm to guarantee year-round locally grown produce to her clientele. The farm’s crop, 27 varieties - from arugula to watermelon - are served at parties and casual events within 24 hours of being picked. Talk about fresh food.
Liz Neumark has influenced my shopping habits, I started reading the “imported from labels”, something I rarely did in the past. I want to support local farmers when possible and reduce unnecessary carbon monoxide emissions caused from tomatoes and asparagus travelling half way around the world to get to my plate.
But the most thrilling experience for me was to stand in the Grand Ballroom of the historic Plaza Hotel in New York City, where Cary Grant was kidnapped by international spies in Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest”. The hotel was also the setting for Truman’s Capote Black and White Ball. The ball’s guest list included Audrey Hepburn , Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra.
There I was in the kitchen with Liz and an army of black bow tied waiters watching produce from a local upstate farm being prepared and served to a glamour glittered filled crowd of New York city socialites. They were being served a 100 mile menu from a woman on a mission.