With the crazy weather we’ve had this season, many people found themselves ‘cooped up’, staying close to home, staying local. One of the unexpected benefactors of this trend was the 77108_EdibSout_I009importance of shopping local being highlighted, and some local business seeing a few new neighbors during the storms. Sometimes we forget the many local options we have, and how spending in these shops keeps our money in the community. One such place is the Simpson Spring Company Store and their Saturday Marketplace both housed within the oldest bottling plant in the country.

The Simpson Spring retail store is much more than water and soda these days. I suggest stopping by to have a taste for yourself on a Saturday, while their ‘Marketplace’ is in full swing. Local retailers set up shop right inside the plant, like an indoor farmer’s market. Besides local water, you can pick up locally sourced grass fed beef, free range chicken, eggs, bacon, coffee, cheese, veggies, honey, and more. “There isn’t a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s close by, our Marketplace offers a great local alternative to get these products” says Bertarelli. She calls it ‘Main Street’, with the non-perishable and frozen items from the Marketplace available all week. ‘You can shop here everyday’ she added.

‘Main Street’ vendors include Jenny D’s Bees, Feather Brook Farm, (featuring those hard to find local chicken wings), Red Barn Coffee, Dolce Cupcakes, Homemade Heaven Bakery, A Summer Place Farm and many more.

Simpson Spring is located down a winding dirt road on 160 acres of protected land. As you drive through it isn’t hard to imagine a simpler time when water was simply water, and all the food was local. At Simpson Spring, they still are.

As the snow melts away and we are free to travel further distances, maybe those ‘next town over’ big box stores we habitually patronize will lose a bit of their allure, and instead you’ll stop at local merchant who epitomizes community and depends on the locals to stay in business.

Simpson Spring

719 Washington Street Rte.138
South Easton, MA 02375
(508) 238-4472
www.SimpsonSpring.com

Mike Gioscia is a writer, filmmaker, drummer, and green consultant from Halifax. Find out more about him at thegreendad.com