Mother's Market Don't Know its Mexicans


Don't get me wrong–I like Mother's Market, our homegrown Whole Foods. I make it a point to support businesses that subscribe to the principles of the Slow Food movement–we all are sinners (except for the do-gooders at Avanti Cafe), so I understand slip-ups or exceptions occur from time to time. But I was still surprised when I saw Cacique cheese on the shelves of Mother's location in SanTana amongst organic, fair-trade offerings. I'm very familiar with the brand, having eaten the queso fresco my entire life because Mami conditioned me to eat every meal accompanied with a thick slab of the wet, creamy cheese. But there's nothing organic about the cheese–doesn't say anything about the website or the packaging. Perhaps Mother's figures its hippy-dippy clientele base will mistake the cheese for a vintage fromage?

Mother's definitely doesn't offer Cacique to attract more Mexicans. The price I saw yesterday was $5.95. At Northgate Supermarket, just a couple of minutes away on Fourth Street, the same wheel of Cacique was going for $4.49, almost a buck-fifty less. I don't mind paying more cash for organic, fair-trade stuff that tastes better than its mass-produced peers, but I also don't appreciate ripoffs. Get on the Mexican ball, Mother's–and, while you're at it, fix the spelling errors on the sign hawking cactus. In Spanish, it's nopales, not napales–and in English, it's cactus, not catus.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *