About 2 blocks away from my house in Greensboro there is a dusty little grocery store that has tons of charm, Bestway. A lot of their business comes from UNCG students picking up beer, cigarettes and toilet paper at the last minute. Bestway type grocery stores are everywhere. They aren’t large chains; they still place price stickers on every can of soup and every 4-pack of butter. \n\nLook hard enough and just about every one of these little markets taps into their patron’s local pride. Bestway recently started carrying Old Guilford Mill products; this mill is 15 minutes outside of Greensboro. It started in 1767 and still stone grinds grits, corn meal and sells pancake mixes, muffin mixes, flour, etc. We’ve tried two products both were rich with flavor - so much flavor that putting a corn syrup based product on the pancakes was not appealing at all (okay, so we are a little snobby when it comes to corn syrup).

We’ve visited the mill; the connection created between you and the product after you meet the owners and see everything going into the product is invaluable. So the next time your in the dusty little local market picking up the milk you forgot at the Harris Teeter - ask if they have any local products. If your lucky, you’ll find a gem.

Bestway has gone from my backup-last-minute grocery store to my regular stop for local milk, local grains, and bread.

*Photo credit: Ruth Anne Lee