Rainbow Grocery & General Store

About

Located under the freeway on Folsom, off Thirteenth Street (yes, there is one) you will find Rainbow Grocery and General Store. At first blush, walking in here is a blast of aromatherapy. They keep the herbs and teas up front and they are sold in bulk. Anise, lemon, cinnamon, chamomile and then some, displayed behind plexi-glass tubs. A lot of their stock is sold that way, bulk means no packaging, that equals lower cost and less pollution, get the drift?

Birthed in the Mission in 1975 by a group of flour power children who wanted something better in a supermarket, a few changes in locations and bylaws produced "a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to earth friendly food products." These kids are strictly vegetarian. Very green and on a very large scale. Goals that include buying locally and thinking globally, a living wage for their people, community support, discounts, bicycling and recycling. Tofurky for twenty? Towards the back, in the case.
- by Victoria Joyce