By JENNIFER MOLK - For The Outpost

There is no busier time of the year for food shopping, and Perry McNeese knows that. He’s been in the grocery business for 40 years.

As general manager of Good Earth Market located in the heart of downtown Billings, the last few years he’s seen a surge of a different kind: that of more and more people choosing the healthy alternative of buying organic, combined with the commitment to supporting local farmers.

The shelves at Good Earth Market are stocked with both local and organic foods, and you’d be surprised at the choices available these days – from gourmet wines and cheeses to everyday items such as baby food and diapers, you’d never know by entering the doors you were in something just a little different, and healthier.

“We really pride ourselves on being a full service supermarket,” Mr. McNeese said. “We have all of the commodity groups that Albertsons would have, but we carry the healthful alternative.”

In doing so, Mr. McNeese assured he tries his best to avoid selling foods that might have been genetically modified, which are plant or animal foods that have had their DNA altered or engineered for a variety of economic reasons.

The practice was introduced in the 1990s and remains a controversial one: On one side are scientists who believe the growing population demands a more productive food supply; on the other are people who believe there is more than enough food to go around and that it boils down to the politics of how it’s distributed.

“What we try to do is if there is an organic alternative, we’ll carry the organic,” Mr. McNeese explained. “If not, we carry things that are from companies that work hard to produce natural product and avoid GMO. Some of our products say GMO-free on them, and then we know it’s been certified as such. Most of them don’t say GMO-free because they haven’t gone through the process of certifying it so yes, I may have some genetically modified products in my store.”

McNeese explained the government does not yet require labeling; so many manufacturers have to go to places where people are buying GMO-free.

Food that is genetically modified is heavily regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration.

“We do our best to avoid things with artificial ingredients and colors,” McNeese said. “There are produce growers out there who would love to sell to me but if they use chemical fertilizer or pesticides I won’t buy their product. In my meat products we work real hard to stay away from antibiotics and hormones. I’m not aware of any in my meat products. My dairy products are hormone free.”

His efforts are paying off. At the store’s annual membership meeting last month (Good Earth Market is a co-op) McNeese made a presentation about the store’s progress.

“One of Good Earth Market’s five strategic objectives is to support local producers and business to strengthen the local economy while reducing transportation pollution,” he recapped. “We are currently buying 28 percent of our products to resell from local producers and or businesses. The purchases amounted to over $425,000 for the year. This is up from 18 percent in just two years.”

Additionally, the store spent a little over $500,000 on wages and benefits that stay in the community, representing 60 percent of overall expenses.

“While we only do about $2.5 million a year in sales,” McNeese concluded, “we contribute over a million dollars back into the local community each year.”

McNeese’s road to better health began in his own kitchen. “I’ve been in the grocery business for 40 years,” he said. “I used to run the County Markets and worked for Albertsons for a number of years, so I lived off the food that everybody eats.”

But after moving 21 times in 28 years, living in Florida, Iowa and California, McNeese had enough of the corporate world.

“I left Albertsons in 2000 to avoid moving nationally again and went to work for County Market so I could live and stay in Montana,” he remembered. “When they dissolved, I decided I wasn’t going to move and I was kind of tired of corporate America, so the co-op had a great idea and had great people and a great board.”

Good Earth Market is a co-op that was formed in 1994. Its legal name is Yellowstone Community Cooperative. While it is not a 501c 3, it is what McNeese calls a not-for-profit co-op, which means that any profits that it generates go right back into the business. In other words, it doesn’t pay dividends to members.

“We are a dues-driven co-op vs. an equity base, so they don’t actually own a share. The co-op really started as a buying group and there were a group of people that got together and they wanted healthy alternatives they couldn’t otherwise buy,” McNeese explained, “so they started buying collectively and there began to be enough buyers, 50 to 100 members in the beginning, and it’s just grown.”

Despite the need for a strong membership base, Good Earth Market is open to the public, member or nonmember.

“Anyone can shop here,” McNeese said. “The difference between member and nonmember is significant in the fact that members have a price incentive. If you’re a member, once a month you can take a 5 percent price cut with a savings of up to $6 or $8 on supplements.”

McNeese tries to have at least 600 member monthly specials that are marked throughout the store.

McNeese joined Good Earth Market in 2006. Today the organization has 4,100 members, the bulk of whom are from Yellowstone County, but McNeese is quick to recognize that the boundaries have stretched a bit.

“We have a real strong presence in Red Lodge, Cody, Sheridan, Miles City and Big Timber,” he said. “Others come from Hobson and Plentywood and buy and stock up.”

Memberships are just $10 per year, which also buys the recipes to his celebrated homemade soups and such, but to raise capital the board of directors has in the past solicited lifetime memberships.

“One has since moved to New York, but every time they come to town they stop in and have lunch. It is a real sense of community for most of my customers. I would say a third of my customers feel vested and really feel like it’s their store. The other two-thirds are good members, good customers, but they’re shoppers. But we’re growing at a pretty good rate.”

Slowly but surely, McNeese said Billings residents are catching the wave of health conscious trends occurring around the rest of the nation.

“Montanans tend to be pretty traditional eaters,” he acknowledged. Health food stores “in Missoula and Bozeman are doing well. In Billings, we have four health food stores in town but only one grocery-store setting. We’re growing well. I think we’re going to catch up. Members grow 75 to 90 each month that are new shoppers.”

McNeese conceded his customer is not the average 20- or even 30-something shopper raising a young family, partly because of the slightly higher cost of buying organic.

“I think the cost hurts a little bit,” he admitted. “It definitely costs more to buy healthier foods. I try to keep it as economical as I can, but there is more cost involved. It is money well-spent, and I think it’s a short term expense.

“People who are not eating healthy are going to pay for it in medical bills,” he said with a laugh.

“There’s a company in the food business called Golden Plump,” McNeese referenced. “They’re a family owned company, a national distributor doing about $400 million a year. They did an interesting study. They sold for years as a conventional chicken supplier, selling processed chicken. They believed there is a shift to more health conscious so they are now raising a line of chickens they call Just Bare and it is cage-free, hormone-free and antibiotic-free.”

In addition, “they’re using a recyclable packaging process, so they’re targeting a customer like mine: 27.3 percent of Americans are what they’re calling mindful eaters, healthy, like to try new things, will pay for the extra product because it does cost a little more; 26.4 percent are what they’re calling wholesome providers – they’re traditional eaters but they try to eat healthy. So you’re talking 54 percent of Americans. Six or eight years ago when I was in the conventional food business, that wasn’t the case.”

The nearly 100 local companies throughout Montana that supply Good Earth Market are growing as well, thanks in part to the upward trend to support buying local product.

“The tomatoes I get are from Negaard’s in Grass Range,” he said. “She picks them on Wednesday off the vine and they’re in my store on Thursday. So even if you buy them the last day, most of my produce and all of my local produce is eaten in less time than it takes to transport” from a major city to Billings. “That’s going to give you better nourishment and better vitamin retention. Produce is alive. As soon as you pick it, it starts to die.”

McNeese then laughingly posed the question: “Now, do you want a tomato that’s been dying for three weeks or just four days?”

Most of the store’s leafy greens come from Danly Farms in Laurel when they’re in season. “They come twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays and that product was grown the day before it got here.”

McNeese said there are other benefits to buying local. “I think it contributes to the local economy. It reduces the carbon footprint. I think the product is fresher. Whether you’re buying jellies or you’re buying produce, it’s much fresher and better,” which in turn, he says, leads to a better quality of life.

“If your overall lifestyle is healthy, you’re much more vibrant. I think you’re physically in better health. I think you’re more mentally alert. I think your immune system is higher.”

He referenced his own employees who shop at Good Earth Market.

“This year I’d typically be short 20 percent of my crew. But I’ve had one cashier call in sick in recent weeks. And I think my crew is pretty typical of my customer. I think their medical bills and prescriptions are probably lower.”

Good Earth Market is leasing the decades-old former Archie Cochrane body shop on 30th Street North and Second Avenue North, and in keeping with his commitment to sustainability, McNeese and company have salvaged all they could in the building they’re in as they were renovating the space to accommodate a supermarket environment.

“One of our goals is to be a sustainable business so our primary heat source is capturing heat from our compressors. We supplement that because we don’t generate enough internal heat.”

They’ve replaced windows but the north wall is hollow brick. “I’ve got a fund-raiser going now to try to insulate that north wall and I still have single pane windows in the deli and we want to replace those. That’s our next big project.”

Other plans include putting in a glass parking lot and a new roof. “When we put the new roof in we want to put in solar skylights.”

The store also has a deli and features a loft area with comfortable couches and chairs, wireless Internet and a bookshelf stocked with books on healthy eating for diners to peruse.

“I think Americans as a whole are starting to wake up,” Mr. McNeese said. “We try to give people a better choice.”

Good Earth Market is located at 3024 Second Ave. N. in Billings. Visit www.goodearthmontana.com.