Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op

One of the oldest natural food cooperatives in California, founded in 1973 and still operating as a member-owned grocery in the Midtown neighbourhood. The co-op stocks an unusually strong selection of locally grown Central Valley produce, and the deli counter prepares some of the best grab-and-go food in the neighbourhood.

Non-members can shop here without joining. The daily specials on the hot bar are a particularly good value for lunch. The co-op also operates a small café attached to the store where the coffee is reliably excellent and the atmosphere is resolutely Midtown Sacramento — laptops, political conversations, dogs tied up outside.

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A story
The co-op was founded in 1973, when Sacramento's counterculture scene centred on the Land Park and Curtis Park neighbourhoods. It predates the Midtown food renaissance by three decades and is part of the reason Sacramento's Farm-to-Fork claims have genuine substance — the co-op maintained direct relationships with Central Valley farms when most of the country was still buying everything from supermarket chains.