Whole Foods opened its second area store in Bellevue.
Photo by Richard A. Huston
August 2004 | Evergreen News
Market Conditions Looking Up on Eastside
If you’re the type to fill up a canvas reusuable grocery bag — or paper or plastic for that matter — with natural and organic foods, then follow your bliss to Bellevue. Whole Foods Market opened its second area store June 30 to rave reviews from both customers and company headquarters back in Austin, Tex.
“The store’s sales numbers have been a smashing success,” says David Hulbert, marketing representative for the Bellevue location and the original Seattle store in the Roosevelt neighborhood. The new store is 56,000 square feet and 20,000 items strong — the largest Whole Foods store in the region comprising northern California, Oregon and Washington. A plus for Eastsiders: There are more than 200 parking spaces. The store is located at the corner of NE 8th Street and 116th Avenue NE.
Each Whole Foods store offers its own set of unique features. Among the appetizing possibilities at the Bellevue store: a gelato bar, sushi counter, olive bar, hot dessert counter, coffee bar, brick pizza oven, cheese-aging cooler with just-sliced cheese, wine cellar, fresh crêpe station (very popular with customers in the first month, says Hulbert) and an on-site cooking and lifestyle school, which proved very popular with Seattlites at the Roosevelt location.
Store manager Seth Stutzman (called a team leader in Whole Foods speak) honored the company’s tradition of breaking a 20-foot long baguette to officially christen the store on June 30. Stutzman previously worked as an assistant store manager at the Seattle store, noticing first-hand that lots of Eastsiders were making the trip for the natural, organic and gourmet goodies. He says customer comment cards every week campaigned for a Bellevue store.
Well, those customers got their wish. What’s more, it’s expected that nearby Larry’s Market (a half block) and QFC (about eight blocks) will be responding in kind with larger selections in the natural and organic categories. The Larry’s Market store was recently renovated for just that purpose.
Who knows, maybe the area will become known as Feastside?
Hulbert says Whole Foods has plans to aggressively expand in the Seattle and Eastside areas. Grocery-industry insiders consider it no coincidence that Whole Foods conducted its annual meeting in Seattle earlier this year. A new store will be built in Redmond, probably ready for 2005, while a smaller downtown Seattle store might open sooner if the company can acquire property with an existing building.
— Bob Condor
Smokesceens, Part 1
Where there’s smoke, there are accusations. At least if the smoldering subject is smoking bans proposed for the state ballot this fall.
Initiative 891 proposed to retain smoking in places not frequented by minors, such as mini-casinos and taverns. During the petition phase, in which supporters of 891 and opponents must each gather 180,000 signatures to qualify the issue for state referendum, pro-891 officials reported some imposters were picking up petitions.
“It never occurred to me that someone would have the audacity to walk into a place and steal our signatures,” said Linda Matson, executive director of the Entertainment Industry Coalition.
Some petitions reportedly were picked up by a hired signature-gatherer who hoped to be paid for signatures he did not collect, but Matson said she believes other petitions were taken by 891 opponents. About 20 of 700 businesses collecting signatures were duped.
— Andrew Mulholland
Smokescreens, Part 2
Where there’s smoke, there is apparently more hot air than anything else. Neither Initiative 891 (see preceding Evergreen News item) nor the broader Initiative 890, which would have banned smoking in all indoor public places throughout Washington, gathered enough petition signatures to make the fall ballot.
But supports of 890 pledged to bring their passion and the issue to the state Legislature instead of voters. Bellingham activist and physician Dr. Christopher Covert-Bowlds has fielded the first document to the Legislature. He collected 4,000 signatures.
“This still needs to be done,” Covert-Bowlds said. “As a family physician I’ve seen far too much suffering from the effects of secondhand smoke.”
The 891 measure was dropped when the 890 issue was snuffed out because it was introduced to retain smoking in a subset of public places.
So here’s where we stand on public smoking: The state’s Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking in most indoor public places, but exempts bars, restaurants, taverns and bowling alleys. A bill to ban smoking in all indoor public places was defeated earlier this year in the Legislature. Antismoking activists can either lobby the next Legislature to get a bill passed or gather signatures for an initiative. If an initiative is accepted by state legislators, it becomes law. Otherwise, it goes to ballot in a subsequent election.
The restaurant exemption is most troubling to antismoking activists, especially in eateries with what is effectively phantom separation between smoking and nonsmoking areas. The antismoking lobby is determined to keep the issue going.
“Doing nothing is not an option,” said Scott Peterson of the Breathe Easy Washington campaign.
— A.M.
Public Domain: Checking access to places and spaces
Situated on more than 200 acres in the Broadview neighborhood, Carkeek Park (950 NW Carkeek Park Rd.) has a lot to offer Seattle. Among the highlights: six miles of trails, four varieties of wetlands, a 13-acre beach, a salmon creek and the first Seattle building to receive a gold rating from the Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design.
The Environmental Learning Center earned that honor, the second highest awarded from the national program administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, after its opening in July 2003. The building is constructed of 80 percent recycled or salvaged materials, and is equipped with a plethora of environmentally friendly features, including solar electric panels and a rooftop rainwater harvest that provides water for the toilets and landscaping.
The multilayered park also boasts a playground, lush grassy fields and several picnic tables. But despite its many assets, park naturalist Brian Gay estimated Carkeek only receives 10,000 to 20,000 visitors a year, a much lower number than other Seattle parks, such as Discovery Park.
Still, both the lower and upper levels of the park were filled with visitors during my recent visit, including sunbathers, dog walkers, picnickers and a large group having a reading of The Great Gatsby.
Hank Pelto and 11 of his family members and friends were celebrating the fifth of July with a picnic, the food splayed out on two picnic tables covered with stars-and-stripes tablecloths.
“We thought the Fourth would be too crowded,” Pelto explained.
Pelto, a middle-aged man from Bothell, had been to Carkeek only once before, but said he enjoyed it both times.
“It’s one of those places I think Seattle needs to know is here,” he said. “It’s a good getaway.”
Carkeek Park is open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The Environmental Learning Center is open Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For park inquiries call 206-684-0877.
— Emily Garland
Maddening Report on Mad Cow Disease
File this in the Lose-Confidence-in-the-Feds file. U.S. Representative Henry Waxman (D.-Calif.) released a U. S. Department of Agriculture draft report in which the USDA’s own inspector general highly criticized the government testing program for mad cow disease.
Among the conclusions: The highest-risk cattle are not being screened; testing is not random; rendering plants and other facilities participate only on a voluntary basis.
Another disturbing finding: The USDA program sticks to the model that only old, sick animals are likely to be infected, despite the documented fact that nearly 300 healthy-looking animals have tested positive in Europe.
Stay tuned — and stay mad.
— Cathy Davidson
Hemp Legal Battle May Not Be Over
Despite a recent victory for the Hemp Industries Association in a federal circuit court, the future of hemp products still may not be secure.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has until the end of September to take its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. In late June the Ninth Circuit Court denied the DEA a rehearing in its case against the manufacturers and merchants of hemp products.
Hemp seed, oil and fiber are used in the production of various products: soaps, candles, clothing and foods such as breads, waffles, cereal, nutrition bars and salad dressings.
The June 28 decision capped a two-and-a-half-year court battle. The DEA requested the rehearing after the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that hemp fiber, seed and oil are exempt from the Controlled Substance Act.
“If the DEA does not act by Sept. 26, their only recourse will be to completely change the Controlled Substance Act,” says Adam Eidinger, communications director of Vote Hemp, a national organization that lobbies for hemp merchants and growers. “I don’t think the case will get to the Supreme Court. Our main concern is that the DEA will get someone in Congress to issue a bill that would ban hemp altogether.”
The DEA has the case under review, said Rogene Wait, a spokeswoman for the agency.
Hemp-product manufacturers argue that the DEA has not fought to ban other popular baked-goods ingredients, such as poppy seeds, which contain high levels of opiates, said Eidinger.
Hemp advocates contend that the DEA’s case is baseless since producers regulate the levels of THC (the plant’s intoxicating component), and some doctors recommend hemp food products for their nutritional value.
Hemp fibers are particularly durable for clothing and other fabrics, said Jessica Stiegler, who sells diapers that use hemp at babiesunderwraps.com, an online baby boutique, because hemp has no pesticides and is more environmentally friendly.
“No one is trying to smoke hemp food products, just like no one is trying to smoke the diapers we sell,” she says.
— Erin Meyer
Bank of America: Ultra Eco-Friendly
Let’s hear it for Bank of America, which has evolved from one of Wall Street’s 10 most environmentally destructive mega-banks into a progressive pacesetter.
This comes following Rainforest Action Network’s campaign that last January targeted the 10 mega-banks and investment firms it said had the investment policies most abusive to the earth. It challenged them to meet or beat the best environmental practices of Citigroup, the world’s largest financial institution.
Citigroup has embraced a landmark set of green initiatives in response to Rainforest Action Network’s four-year direct action campaign. The campaign aims to stop financing of deforestation and resource extraction (mining, oil, gas, and logging) from rainforests and other endangered ecosystems. It also calls on multinational lenders to shift investment to clean energy and sustainable development.
Only two (SunTrust and John Hancock) of the original 10 ignored Rainforest Action Network. Goldman Sachs declared the organization’s demands would “impede real thinking” around environmental and social issues, but the other seven responded positively.
Bank of America stepped forward with a set of targets and timelines that address climate change. These include reductions in the overall greenhouse gas emissions from their sizeable client energy/utilities portfolios and a pledge to transparent public reporting to all stakeholders. The mega-bank ended investing in areas that have outstanding land claims with indigenous peoples or in companies that practice resource extraction from old-growth tropical rain forests, temperate or boreal forests operations.
To get involved, visit www.ran.org.
— Carl Nagin
WHOSEZ
ADAM SMITH, U.S. Representative (D-Tacoma), responding to local outcry about his decision to vote with the Bush administration (one of only four Democrats to do so) and successfully block proposed changes to the Patriot Act: “It is quite possible that I looked at it incorrectly.”
ADAM SMITH, when asked if he now wishes he could change his vote: “Yes, in all likelihood.”
JERRY SHEEHAN, legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, defending Smith on the basis of Patriot Act complexity and Smith’s stellar record voting in alignment with ACLU values: “No one should be faulted for being uncertain or incorrect. ... [The Patriot Act] is a very, very complex thing.”
HEATHER WEINER, Northwest regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, discussing a U.S. Congress bill that designates funds to buy more land for Mount Rainier National Park, including a canyon and one of the few remaining inland rainforests in the state: “[The vote] couldn’t have come at a better time. The landowners are very willing to sell their land to the park; they see it as their legacy, but they are aging. It’s a phenomenal area.”
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