Other members participating are:
Dick Sears…Texas Chili Warehouse
Chris Berry…Good Luck Café
Christina Dominguez…Delicious Di’lites
Yvonne Solis Aguilar….Integrated Human Capitol
If you wish to participate contact Nancy for your membership packet and more information about the competition.

Board members of Homegrown El Paso challenge other Homegrown members
join them in participating in a fun event that will
help our membership grow, encourage team work
and
award the winners some great prizes.

This membership will be good until Jan. 1st, 2013
and
will guarantee a business listing in the 2012 HG Business Directory
Rules:
1. Any member may participate ( as an individual or as a business team)
2. You may sign up to participate by contacting Nancy Ontiveros at contactme@homegrownelpaso.com
3. Each participant will receive a packet with:
• Homegrown information that you will want to share with your potential recruit.
• An information sheet with the rules that pertain to your participation.
• A tally sheet to keep track of your recruits and information about how to give HG your updates so they can be posted on the Homegrown website.
• All payments and registration forms must be delivered to Nancy at 200 S. Alto Mesa no prior to or no later than Tuesday, Nov. 1
4. Upon delivery of the new member’s registration and payment Homegrown will send a welcome packet to that company. This year the packet will include a $25.00 gift certificate to Economy Cash & Carry along with a welcome letter, Go Local insert, HG Window decal, HG vehicle identification sticker and information on how to market their Homegrown Membership.

Prizes:

1. The individual or team that recruits the largest number of new members will win a $250.00 gift certificate to the Homegrown Business of their choice (in the event of a tie the prize will be equally divided).
2. All participating members who qualify (must have recruited at least 3 new members) will be entered in a drawing at the end of October for a complementary full page advertisement in the 2012 HG Business Directory. An $800.00 value.
3. All new member businesses will be entered in a drawing for a complimentary, full page ad. in the 2012 HG Business Directory. An $800.00 value.

Any questions contact the Membership Committee: Pat Gorman, bosspwg@aol.com
Ken Schillinger, miwinc@swbell.net Nancy Ontiveros contactme@homegrownelpaso.com

I left Mission Hills just after 6am on my bike and took a tour down Executive and then out Paisano and McNutt to Santa Teresa before riding back to Ardovino’s Desert Crossing for the 7:30am opening of the market.

Since I was on a bicycle I had to be careful how much I purchased.  I had a small pack on the back rack and a messenger bag to fill.  I filled them well with 3/4 lb of purple beans, 2 yellow squash, 2 green squash, 5 peaches, a brick of cheddar goat cheese, a jar of chipotle goat cheese spread, AND a dozen eggs and a whole frozen chicken!

Some of it was organic, some was hormone free and it all looked great!  El Paso’s roads are not very bike friendly, so the ride home was pretty rough.  I was happy to see that my huevos were intact when I got them home (and so was my wife!).

The big breakfast burrito that I had before I left the market got me home and the yellow squash, sauteed with onions and garlic were the best part of lunch.  Later in the week I’ll tell you how the rest of the food turned out.

I also saw some friends at the market and one offered to take my purchases home in her car so I didn’t have to carry them all the way.  It sounded like cheating.  The sense of community that comes from seeing friends and civically active neighbors at the market are also a great benefit of going local.

I did stop in 2 local businesses:  a visit to Little Diner in Canutillo to say hi to the owner and get a glass of tea to go – it’s hot.  And, for later, BEER!  I went to the Cowtown Liquors on N. Mesa. I looked at the prices on the everyday stuff – Budweiser and Lone Star and I’m pretty sure they beat anyone else’s price.

A beer and a buck saved – what could be better.  I promise to spend more money tomorrow!

I think it is sad to see someone as influential as Chris think that way. However I was glad to see that within the comments to his blog most people were pro local restaurants, rather than a chain. This shows that Homegrown El Paso’s efforts are appreciated by some people, and hopefully those people will help Homegrown El Paso and especially El Paso improve.

Chris, this is my response to your comment: I really don’t think that a chain restaurant is something that could bring more people downtown than a good local restaurant. Why go to a restaurant that you can find pretty much anywhere in America, rather than a restaurant that offers a unique and captivating El Paso experience? We, El Pasoans, do not want El Paso to be more like Denver, or New York, or Chicago, or any other city for that matter. There are a lot of things to learn from such cities but we want El Paso to be more like… well, El Paso. We want to keep and reflect the unique mix of cultures our city represents, we want to keep El paso unique and different from any other city. Plus, how can downtown benefit if when we eat at a chain restaurant, more than 85% of the money spent goes out of town? (see the Austin’s City Economics Report).

If you doubt that there is a local restaurant that can bring crowds together, I invite you to read Lisa Degliantoni’s post about the Cheesecake Factory vs Chicos Tacos (I agree, not my preferred choice for a local restaurant), and  if you haven’t been to any of the following restaurants, let me know, I will personally take you.

The Greenery, Singapore Cafe, Los Bandidos de Carlos and Mickeys, Cappetos, L&J Cafe, Cafe Central (this one is actually downtown already), Ardovinos Dessert Crossing, Great American Land & Cattle, Los Gallegos, or Michellino’s (just to name a few).

Don’t worry, the bill is on me. These restaurants add a unique flavor to El Paso and they could easily be “crowd pullers”. Just try to get a table in any of them during lunch time.

Just like Don Baumgardt says, “I’ve never heard of anyone who wants to go to San Francisco because they have a great Olive Garden”.

On a side note: Homegrown El Paso was thinking about advertising Independent’s week in The El Paso Times. Chris was on a meeting with Don, Nancy and the rest of the editorial board of The EP Times a week before he posted his blog. The meeting was about Homegrown’s Independent’s week. Maybe Chris’ blog post will be a big influence on the board’s decision to buy a very expensive ad in The EP Times or not.

Well, first of all, it is possible. I noticed that in general I don’t buy tons of stuff (which is good I think). During this week, I bought pretty basic stuff such as gas, a little bit of groceries, lunch, ice cream, some pictures…

I found myself asking other people (mostly Don) if a business was local or not, or where could I go to get this or that. Also, I found myself going to the Homegrown site to see which businesses offered things I needed (members: your membership is worth it).

I realize that you need some organization and thinking ahead to do it. We are so used to “our little routines” that breaking them is a not so easy. What I mean by “our little routines” is that we are so used to going to the same stores, or we just stop in the stores that are on our way home or to work. Even for people like me, who sometimes drive as much as 80 miles a day visiting clients and prospects all over town, it’s hard to go to different stores than the ones I am used to because most of the time I don’t think about it. So I just say, “I will buy it when I am going back home”; it makes sense, doesn’t it? Therefore while taking the challenge you need to plan ahead. Think about where you are going, what you need and where your local options are. This will only take a few minutes of your time but it will make things much easier.

You may have problems finding/discovering local places. A good way for you to find them is, well (clear throat), this site, ask co–workers, friends, or if you can, take the opportunity to “explore” those little shopping plazas on your way to work. You never know what you will find, and what experiences you may get.

To be honest with you the hardest part about the challenge for me was to give up my “regular” (sadly) coffee place which is a walking distance from home. The same thing may happen to you; you may find having to go that extra mile (literally), it may not seem as convenient, but think about how you are helping our local economy, and that very likely some of that money is going to be given back to you one way or another (think about donations from those business to your schools, those same businesses using your services, etc.).

I think the most important thing that I got from this “pre-challenge” is that I can see myself changing my consumer behaviors, not just for a week, but forever. It makes me realize how the service that I get is much better, it makes me realize how much money I can save, it makes me realize that they know me by my name at those places, it makes me realize that I am doing my part. Are you?

P.S., I will do another field trip tomorrow, this time I am going to Doniphan st. I want to find where to buy groceries in the west side, and something tells me that I will find it somewhere there. I will let you know.

In our way there, we were looking for other local alternatives. First we stop at a “Tortilleria” on Montana close to Piedras but once inside the store we realized the place was too small, and almost no produce. Finally we arrived at JR Produce on Montana almost with Raynolds. Don, being as prepared as he is, brought a copy of the Homegrown Directory with him, since he wanted to talk to the owner into Homegrown. But as soon as we got into the stored he realized that his language impairment was going to be a problem, so he handed out the copy to me.

Anyways, the place is very…. El Paso! It feels a little bit crowded but I think this just adds something to it. As soon as I came in I saw the Milk fridges, but instead of rushing to them I took my time to see what was in the store and to check out the prices. I am the one in charge of doing grocery shopping at home so I am somehow used to “regular” prices at the chain stores. I noticed the produce was a little bit cheaper, but since those prices change pretty much daily I didn’t pay much attention.

I arrived at the Milk fridges and I was surprised about the prices. I have to be honest here I thought the prices were going to be a little bit higher than at the chain store. In my twisted mind I always thought that since chains were able to buy bigger quantities, the y would get a bigger deal, which is probably true, but they also have to pay higher rent, more employees, higher electricity bills, etc…  A gallon of Price’s Milk is usually somewhere between 3.20 – 3.50. It is rarely less than 3.00. Well, at JR Produce a Price’s gallon of milk is $2.50. That is at least 22% cheaper.

I am not saying that everything is cheaper at JR Produce, it is probably not. However I think a lot of things are. So if you save a few dollars, in most products and over pay in some others, you are still very likely to end up saving, and with this economy who can afford not to save?

After I was pleasantly surprised, and happy about my savings. I looked for someone who worked at the store, so I could ask her if the place was locally owned (who knows may be I was not a local place). Yes, they are local. Another victory during the challenge.

The only problem is that for people who live in the west side their locations are not very convenient, unless you go to the east side often.

I may do another experiment and do my regular grocery shopping there next week. I will keep you updated.