Know your roots

Know your roots.

It’s printed on the back of the business cards here at Old Saratoga Mercantile, but it’s more than a catchphrase.

It was one of the driving forces in deciding to open the store. 

I want to know where my food comes from. Was it grown or raised here by my neighbor, using the same practices I would use? Or did it come from a giant commercial operation, using sprays or methods to unnaturally, but with a much higher profit, plump up the product? Was it tossed in a truck to make a thousand-mile journey before it landed, weeks later, on my plate?

I think a lot of people want to know, too, but don’t have the time to do the research.

Most people can’t walk through the grocery store and read every label, google every farm name, research countries of origin before you determine your purchase.

I can, though, do research on our local farmers and producers. I can visit their farms, sample their foods, meet their families, talk to others who use their product—and when I’m done, I’ve compiled the beginnings of my inventory list here at Old Saratoga Mercantile.

It’s been almost four weeks since I put that open flag up, and I’ve got a growing list of local vendors who I’m lucky enough to have met and secure their goods. Here’s what we’ve got today, I’ll continue to update everyone as we naturally grow, just like the food we offer here.

Cake by Alissa

Noelle Jackson Soaps

Pleasant Valley Farm

Battenkill Valley Creamery

Earthly Remedies by Erin

High Noon

Moses Farm

Argyle Cheese Farmer

Nettle Meadow

Klein's Kill Fruit Farm

Yancey’s Sugarbush

Goose Island Potatoes

Grillo Essentials

4 Grove Candles

Saratoga Peanut Butter

Heidelberg Bread

D&J Farms

Puckers

Saratoga Spicery

Vital Eats

Second Chance Fibers

Rupert’s Rising Breads

Parvisani