Eden Foods began in Ann Arbor in the late 1960s with friends sourcing natural food. Youth motivated by a study of a worldwide phenomenon centered upon macrobiotics: eating a diet of whole grain and seasonal local plant foods that are not nutrient depleted and without toxic chemical adulteration. Natural foods were simply not available at the time, so they started the Eden food co-op to bring them in. Their initial $200 orders to Erewhon in Boston and Chico-san in California were well received and caused a local stir. This lead to co-op members traveling rural roads, knocking on doors looking for farmers to grow food using organic methods. Eden buys all food from, and pays farms directly getting more cash to them. Most is grown a few miles to a few hundred miles from home base. In the Midwest we source wild rice, beans, spelt, soybeans, cabbage, apples, tart cherries, strawberries, pastry wheat, and tomatoes. Other North American family farm organic food includes grains from the Midwest and Western high plains; almonds, pistachios, and brown rice are from California; flax and mustard seed are from Saskatchewan; dulse is from New Brunswick too many to list here.
