Las Cruces has several grocery stores and most people’s immediate go-to would be Walmart or Albertsons. Why not? Both are convenient and affordable. A few people will prefer to buy their groceries locally and go to the awesome farmers market in downtown! However, there is one more place in Las Cruces that isn’t very well known because it’s on the edge of town. It doesn’t advertise very well, and as a result is never extremely busy like all the other places are. This grocery store is Natural Grocers.
Natural Grocers is the kind of grocery store you go to if you want that small business quality customer service. It’s the place that if you go to enough you’ll be greeted by name. If you want to buy meat guilt-free, Natural Grocers goes above and beyond to make sure that the farmers they buy from have healthy, and happy animals. They’re also surprisingly reasonably priced for the quality of the product. Natural Grocers only sells organic food so there’s no risk of cross contamination. In addition to being a grocery store that goes above and beyond to provide only the best service and product, they have been around for 64 years, most of which has been a family owned and operated business. Natural Grocers also has a nutritionist on staff who can do free consultations. If you ever feel anything just slightly wrong with your body, it might be worth it to go talk with them.
One of Natural Grocers goals is to provide affordable, healthy food to everyone. They were founded on this very idea in 1955 when co-founder, Margeret Isely, was forced to turn to better nutrition to improve her health. If you were to visit the Our Story page on the Natural Grocers Website, you would see this quote, “From the smallest detail to the largest, whether it’s refrigerating our nuts and seeds for freshness or only selling 100% organic and GMO-free produce, pasture-based dairy and antibiotic and hormone-free meats… we are, and have always been, your original good4uSM Grocers,” which goes to show how much they care for the quality of their products and their customers health and happiness. When was the last time you walked into a grocery store and felt like your health and happiness was the number one priority? Natural Grocers website is full of good information that helps promote why you should shop there but also information about nutrition, and even some great recipes! They don’t just carry food too, they have supplements, body care, and even some random items like loofahs that help you in your daily life to improve your overall health.
As a student, I have been made to believe that my studies are my number one priority. However, it should be obvious that my health is my real number one priority. NMSU even has a health center that provides many good options to make sure their students are healthy so that they can keep up with their studies! As a student who wants to keep her health in check, it is important for me to take the extra step by visiting a grocery store that cares about my health, so in turn I can care for my health. In my experience shopping there, I have found items that I have looked for in every other store in Las Cruces and have failed to find. They have an extremely large selection of dietary supplements and medicines. So, as a person who cares about other people, I recommend going to Natural Grocers to at least look around at what they have, ask questions, look at products and prices, and I promise that you won’t be disappointed. Maybe buy yourself a bottle of kombucha and an organic chocolate bar on your way out. They are located on the south side of Lohman, between Dion’s and Walgreens.