This is a comment left by boardmember Sam Moore in response to Nate’s recent “Company Shops Market Isn’t An Organic Food Store: A discussion of local vs organic” post. I thought it was worth highlighting as a post on its own. – Sarah Cook
I am writing you from the OE meeting (Organic Exchange) where the organization is moving beyond organic into sustainable textiles: locally produced, recycled fibers and fabrics, 
new LCA-based uses for apparel materials is the same message you just gave in this piece (Company Shops Market Isn’t An Organic Food Store: A discussion of local vs organic).
We need to engage so many facets of our local agricultural and conventional producers. Our market can do this and not one of the big food chains can even get close.
Here in downtown Seattle, the message for slow food and local food is ingrained into this community. Pike Market simply rocks. I am in apple heaven.
Sam Moore
Hi everyone:
Another update from the OE Show. In a couple of weeks take a look at Anvil Knitwear’s web site. They have taken the history of their T Shirts and developed lesson plans and information for children that can be directly traced to the shirt. This is similar to what our local textile hero TS Designs is doing and some other companies as well. Anvil is now the 6th largest purchaser of organic and transitional cotton in the USA and is now committed to buy USA organic product before buying offshore. They are also Oeko-Tex certified for much of their product line, which is great for my business.
Out here in the Northwest, everything is becoming about sustainability, local production, human powered transport, and alternative energy. The taxi we rode in from the airport was NG powered. Having never lived in an urban environment, it is a nice change from our home at patio nirvana in Elon, but we will be glad to get home on Saturday.
There were about 300 people at this conference from all around the world representing the organic fibers industry and many of the major brands. I wore my company shops shirt one day and got many questions about what we were doing and how it was going. If we can get this money raised and get to work on the store, perhaps we will have a nice vibrant scene in downtown B’ton, but I doubt we will throw salmon around like they do at the Pike market.