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• Strawberry Fields offers customers more than just granola

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(Carter Henricks, CreativeWorks photographer)

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Strawberry Fields in Urbana describes itself as “the premier natural food store in East Central Illinois” and it’s easy to see why. Open for over 30 years, the store has expanded to include an array of offerings beyond just natural foods including a café, bakery, on-site nutritionist, catering service and section of natural cosmetics, bath products and cleaning supplies.

Emily Reedy, retail director at Strawberry Fields explained that she always looks to find the best products that customers will also like. She also says that Strawberry Fields is unique for its concentration of organic products. “We have a large of selection of natural and organic products,” said Reedy. “I know you can find it at a lot of places around town, but we have the widest selection.”

Reedy stressed the Strawberry Fields customer service and explains that their knowledgeable staff is always willing to answer customer questions. “We have an in-house nutritionist who does a lot of work with both students who are athletes and also the general public,” said Reedy. Susan Kundrat is a sport and wellness nutritionist and has open time slots to answer questions on Wednesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and also schedules appointments.

The store itself is rather large, containing a separate room for the natural household and cosmetic products. The rest of the store has many types of dried pantry items, frozen foods, dairy products, soy substitutes, and an ample amount of organic produce.

An economical section in the store is the large aisle devoted to bulk items such as spices, nuts and grains. This section not only saves you money, it also helps the environment by eliminating unnecessary packaging that comes with many products – many cereals are double packaged these days, with a plastic interior bag and a cardboard outer box!

The Strawberry Fields café is newly remodeled and contains a full-service coffee bar. Patrons can enjoy a late to-go or while sitting at the tables near the café. In the summertime, Strawberry fields also provides outdoor seating. The baked goods from the café are all-natural and free of food coloring and other preservative measures. “We do carry some gluten-free products that are baked by a local bakery,” mentioned Reedy. She explained that this is necessary because of the high contamination risk when baking in a kitchen that uses wheat products.

Items of interest:

• Reedy’s favorite item right now comes from a local producer’s line called “Patrick’s fresh raw vegan creations.” Patrick has a line of dried kale crispies that come in a cheese and a lemon tahini flavor. Reedy described the crispies as a “great way to get some extra nutrition, some extra veggies. I eat them in place of chips when I want to snack.”
• Organic hemp plus granola in the bulk food section sells for $5.25 lb
• A fresh sourdough baguette pairs well with chili on a cool fall evening. A mini loaf runs $1.25