Our Philosophy

 

We are a very unusual success story for these tough economic times. In a time when many independent stores had closed or had been forced out of business due to competition from big box stores during the 08 recession, we opened as a kind of retro grocery store. Put simply, we buy organically produced food from farmers and sell it to local residents. Even though it’s not rocket science, it is labor intensive, and other grocery stores do not purchase like this anymore.

Making the operational shift in our purchasing procedures puts money back into local farms. This in turn helps build rural communities and provides fresh healthy food for inner city residents. The money pumped into our community helps create a diverse local economy. Because all of our producers use organic regenerative methods, the farms are all environmentally sustainable and are not putting chemicals into the soil, air, water, and food.

All of our groceries in the store are produced organically so that customers can feel assured that everything they purchase is petro-chemical, GMO, synthetic hormone, and antibiotic free. A major benefit of organic food is that it is higher in nutrition and lacks the carcinogens of industrial food.

Locating in downtown Muncie was a strategic move on our part to help downtown. We are the grocery store for the downtown area. Downtown desperately needed us as a part of the pertinent services for the apartment dwelling crowd. Living in a downtown means that you want to be able to walk to pick up things that you need. We offer a complete selection of fresh produce, bread, milk, eggs, meats, and all of the staples plus many other great items like organic pet food and toiletries to complete the selection that residents need. Our locating here has made it much easier for apartment owners to rent their apartments.

The Farm Stand Deli with beer and wine adds an interesting ambiance to the downtown that you want to have for a creative, educated class of people, yet affordable for everybody.  This plan came from our belief that revitalizing the downtown was an important way to eliminate environmental problems like urban sprawl into our precious farm grounds and wildlife habitats.

We also knew that the Downtown Farm Stand would help to create a healthy urban and rural culture and that it would contribute toward real change in our society. We believe the shift from a consumerist wasteful society to a sustainable community with healthy values begins at home. Changing the world begins at the local level. If we didn’t believe that Muncie was a great place to live with great people, we wouldn’t be here. Join us as we do our part to make East Central Indiana an even better place to live!